including carvings of a manufacturer, bookbinder, and the ancient god of trade Mercury. The ceiling beams were intended to resemble "old oak timbers" with their close spacing. These lowest floors featured extensive oak paneling, oriental carpets, and antique furniture, similar to those in an old English manor house. According to the company's published promotional literature, this style gave one "the feeling of having entered a hundred-year-old tavern". Upper stories The upper 27 stories originally held displays of manufacturers' goods. The concept was explained as "the museum idea applied to commerce" by a writer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Bulletin. Each story was typically occupied by a single industry or by a collection of related products. The spaces, divided into units of , were divided by low rails, glass partitions, or booths. The exhibits were overseen by trained salesmen hired by either the Bush Terminal Company or the manufacturer exhibiting the product. The displays were protected by fireproof construction, efficient ventilation, and ample lighting, according to a Bush Terminal Company promotional brochure. There was also a 400-seat auditorium on the ninth floor. These stories were converted into regular office suites after 1938. History Irving T. Bush developed Bush Terminal in Brooklyn in the late 1890s. That complex grew into a facility of large loft buildings, piers, warehouses, and railroad sidings. To assist business at Bush Terminal, Irving Bush devised the idea for the Exhibition Building and Buyers' Club (later the Bush Tower), a sales showroom and buyers club in Midtown Manhattan, in 1916. Although numerous showroom high-rises had previously been built in Manhattan, such as the Hampton Shops Building on 18 East 50th Street, none had such a wide scope as the Bush Terminal Exhibition Building was planned to contain. Construction During April 1916, the Bush Terminal Company signed a long-term lease for vacant property at 132–134 West 42nd Street. The plot extended the depth of the block, with of frontage on 42nd Street and on 41st Street. The Bush Terminal Company then announced plans for a 25-story showroom skyscraper on the site, to be designed by Helmle and Corbett. This site, near Times Square, was "one of the most central in the city" as described by the Real Estate Record and Guide. Furthermore, the proximity of Times Square's Theater District allowed tenants and visitors of the Exhibition Building and Buyers' Club to partake in leisurely activity. The plans were