Potter & Bertha Palmer

* Opened a women-focused store in 1852 * Pioneered window displays, free delivery, returns, and charge accounts * “Palmer system” changed retail practices forever * Partnered with Field and Leiter—became Marshall Field & Co. * Later built the Palmer House Hotel * Helped plan 1893 World’s Fair * Bertha was half his age * Became queen of high society and “invented” the brownie * Brownies debuted as “portable desserts” * Packed in box lunches at the 1893 Fair, baked at Palmer House kitchen * Inverted torches symbolize death