{ Impromptu
44 O v ertur e |
L aura Farmer
Michael Lisicky
BSO oboist
Chronicling an era of retail.
Many can still recall the era of the department
store. It was a simpler time, when families got
dressed up to spend an entire Saturday taking
in grand old retailers like Hecht’s and Hutzler’s,
where, in addition to shopping, families could
enjoy lectures, concerts, meals, and more.
To say BSO oboist Michael Lisicky has always been
interested in department stores is a truth as large
as the organ at Wanamaker’s. The gregarious musician has a tattoo of Philadelphia’s Strawbridge
& Clothier’s Seal of Confidence inked on his leg.
His teenage daughter, Jordan, was named for the
Jordan Marsh chain in Boston. And his Fells Point
home holds the largest newspaper archive on
department store news in the country. “I don’t
know why I like department stores so much,”
he says. “I’m starting to realize that it is the
social component, nostalgia and the memories
wrapped up in each store, and memories of
visiting them with my family.”
Raised in Cherry Hill, N.J., Lisicky fondly remembers frequent outings with his late mother, Anne.
The pair would trek to department stores located
all along the Eastern seaboard and Lisicky loved
every moment.
M itro Hoo d
Today, Lisicky’s enthusiasm has launched his second
career as an author and preeminent department
store expert. With six books and counting to his
credit, he regularly receives invitations to lecture
at symposiums and events across the country.
None other than “Project Runway” host Tim
Gunn wrote the forward to his most recent book
about Washington, D.C.’s Woodward & Lothrop.
And the producers of an upcoming movie set in
a department store, starring Cate Blanchett and
Rooney Mara, have invited Lisicky to serve as
the onset expert. But his journey began close
to home, when he wrote his first book about
Baltimore’s now-shuttered Hutzler’s.
“When I wrote that first book, I didn’t think that
anyone really cared,” says Lisicky. “I’m so happy to
be proven wrong. These department stores are
part of our identity as a nation. I’m so happy to have
a role in preserving their memory.”
www. bsomusic .org