Constructed in 1929 by J.C. Penney, the Edison Brothers Warehouse has seen its share of history and defeat. From its roots as a shoe store in Atlanta in 1922, Edison store is a historic retail company known for its menswear chains such as Bakers/Leeds and large space entertainment centers including Dave & Busters. The company had been a huge success, raking in a total of $3 Million in sales from its 17 stores in the south and soon its headquarters moved to St. Louis, until the unforeseen economic collapse in 1930.
This Mural was commissioned in 1984 to be painted by Richard Haas, a well know artist for his trompe l'oeil, which in French means "trick of the eye." A form of art used to make two dimensional object seen to be real. The mural in St. Louis covers three sides of the building.
All themes shown in Richard Haas' piece depict some aspect of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The south elevation (the biggest section of the mural) of the building features the image of King Louis IX, based on the statue now located in front of the St. Louis Art Museum. The late 1970s and early 1980s witnessed a brief trend of architectural mural painting. Critics hailed such building decorations as an antidote to the problems modern architecture had brought to cities. According to the general opinion at that time, modern buildings had become dull and predictable, unlike the whimsical character of Haas's murals. The mural in St. Louis covers three sides of the building. The fourth side of the building is more or less obscured by surrounding structures.
This cache is easy to get to with St. Louis' multiple modes of transportation. This mural's adjacent location to the Scottrade Center, Busch Stadium, the historic Peabody Opera House, and a major downtown MetroLink station is well positioned to capitalize on the St. Louis tourism market. Please be aware of the heavy traffic that runs at the intersection, and bring a flashlight and writing utensil for the cache. To get the best look at this mural is to stand close to the Metrolink's Civic Center platform.
This geocache is the second installment of caches strategically hidden throughout the city of St. Louis. The STL Murals series is dedicated to encouraging geocachers to explore the diverse works of street art that creatively interact with and transform city spaces.