Webb's City Dancing Chicken - Animal Acts

by Jonathan Morrill

Original - Sold

Price

$300

Dimensions

16.000 x 20.000 x 0.500 inches

Title

Webb's City Dancing Chicken - Animal Acts

Artist

Jonathan Morrill

Medium

Painting - Acrylic On Canvas

Description

This acrylic painting, part of the "Remembrances of St. Pete Things Past" exhibit,
depicts the animal acts that used to entertain guests,
as they shopped at Webb's City Department Store.

Webb's City was a one-stop department store of sorts that was located
in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was touted as "the World's Most Unusual Drug Store".

It was founded in 1926 by James Earl "Doc" Webb in a building 17 by 28 feet.
At its peak Webb's City had 77 departments and measured about ten city blocks.
It was considered a forerunner to the shopping center.
As shopping centers became popular, business dwindled at Webb's City.
It was eventually closed in 1979.

Doc Webb's philosophy regarding to Webb City was "stack it high and sell it cheap." This similar philosophy years later led to the success of Sam Walton and his Walmart empire.

Webb’s City, once the largest drugstore in the world,
employed tactics during its over 50-year lifespan to draw in locals and visitors alike.
Like its equally famous sibling at Weeki Wachee, the store put on a mermaid show using both live actresses and dummy figures.
Additionally, mannequins on sidewalk displays were voiced by actresses
behind a double mirror, startling adults and youngsters alike;
there was even a two-cent dancing ‘chicken’ that would entertain those who paid it. However, declining tourism and neighborhoods forced the
“World’s Most Unusual Drugstore” to close in 1979.
One legacy of the famous store that is almost universal today
was Doc Webb’s ingenious method to increase the speed at which people purchased items, and the 10 item or less lane was born.

Urban legend suggests that the 'Dancing Chicken' danced because it was on a hot plate. Having investigated this concern, one former employee, who worked with the animal acts at Webb's City, declares, "There was no hot plate. I put those animals away every day.
I had to fix the machine several times. It was a wooden turntable, the belt used to come off."

Uploaded

March 21st, 2019

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