This week in history features the establishment of America’s two favorite pastimes: baseball and shopping.

March 12, 1877

The decades following the Civil War saw America emerge as a growing industrial power on the world stage.

By the close of the century, we had joined the imperialist powers of Europe, controlling colonies in the Pacific and Caribbean.

At the same time, some of the world’s richest men hailed not from London or Paris, but New York City and a new force began exerting itself on the nation’s economy: the consumer.

America was not alone in the emergence of conspicuous consumers by the mid-19th century – in fact, it was a bit late to the party.

The rise of the middle class in France and England by the early 1800s had already created an industry that served this clientèle before America even knew what was happening.

With the sudden appearance of a whole new group of people, and potential customers, businesses began to expand their production and rethink how they made and marketed their goods.

Common stores in cities at this time were haberdasheries, milliners, tailors and shoemakers. That virtually none of those stores exists on a large-scale to this day speaks volumes to the changes that were wrought during this time.

Gradually, some stores began to stock a variety of items on their shelves, expanding beyond their usual areas of expertise. You might find the occasional vest or suit sold at your local milliners (hat maker) shop, perhaps in a style that went well with the latest hat produced.

In the beginning, stores that made these concessions were often labeled as “novelty shops,” places where a customer could buy buttons, fabric and hats as well as clothes and shoes. In time, these stores began stocking their items by type, or department. So was born the department store.

Determining who can claim the title of first department store is next to impossible. Some would say that Harding, Howell & Co. in London, established in 1796, deserves that honor. Others would argue against that and claim instead that Bennett’s established in Derby in 1734 was the first.

In the United States, the debate for first American department store is more straightforward. It is likely that the first one was Arnold, Constable, which was founded in 1825 New York City.

Although not the first ever – either in the world or even the United States – Wanamakers in Philadelphia is often cited as America’s first modern department store.

Founded in time for the American Centennial Exposition of 1876 by Philadelphia’s by John Wanamaker, Wanamakers was completely refurbished a year later and reopened on this day in 1877. The new, expanded store included not only men’s clothing but also women’s clothing and dry goods.

In the next few years Wanamakers would roll out innovative solutions to the growing demand placed on stores by America’s consumers. These innovations included offering fixed prices marked on every article (the first ever price tags) and cash refunds for return purchases.

They were also the first to offer electrical illumination and a telephone for the benefit of the customers who visited their large building (formerly the Pennsylvania Railroad freight terminal in the city).

Perhaps thinking ahead to the popularity of malls and their food courts, Wanamakers was also the first department store to offer a restaurant in its building, truly making it a one-stop shop for middle class Philadelphians of the Victorian era.

Like their competitors, the early 20th century saw Wanamakers greatly expand. Their mail order business, especially, took off as more and more American’s from outside the major urban centers sought the same conveniences as their city-dwelling counterparts.

Although never as popular – or profitable – as the larger stores like Macy’s, Wanamakers remained in business for more than a century.

Presaging the troubles that would face all department stores two decades later, the struggling Wanamakers sold out to its competitors in 1978.

After being sold from one company to another, the Wanamakers stores finally went bankrupt when its then-parent company of Woodward & Lothrop filed its papers. The stores were formally dissolved a year later.

March 15, 1869

Baseball has long been America’s national pastime, capturing the imagination of children and adults alike.

For hundreds of thousands of Americans, going to a baseball game each year is akin to a religious pilgrimage. The sights, sounds and smells experienced and the memories made during a hot day of baseball is something shared from one generation to the next.

Over the decades the likes of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Lou Gehrig stand tall in American memory as colossuses without equals. For all they do to entertain us today, professional baseball players are well compensated.

In 2015, the average MLB player made more than $4 million, over $1 more than just five years earlier, according to USA Today.

Of course, they ought to be given something, given that the top baseball teams in America are worth over $3 billion.

Leveraging the game and their players, a 2015 USA Today report said these big-money teams make extra profit directly through television deals and indirectly through real estate ventures near their stadiums. Baseball in America is big business.

Although it might be difficult to comprehend now, there was once a time when America’s greatest athletes weren’t paid a nickel to play the game they loved. In fact, for years baseball in America consisted of city clubs of amateur players who, although no doubt talented, were not expected to be paid for playing the sport.

That all changed on this day in 1869 when the Cincinnati Red Stockings Baseball Club became the first openly professional club in America.

Certainly, by 1869 baseball players had experienced a form of compensation, but it was all under the table. That is, until the Red Stockings came out in the open and won every single game they played that season.

Nothing quite convinced the rest of the industry of the need to pay its players than a paid team going undefeated right out of the gate. Baseball hasn’t looked back since.

Antone Pierucci is the former curator of the Lake County Museum and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.