Old Store Window Displays

When I was a kid the major department stores in my city were all family owned. Each store owner did their best to offer a bigger and better holiday display.

I remember one year each window of the Dey Brothers department store had mechanical displays of elves creating different types of toys and performing different tasks. The displays appeared on three sides of the building that took up half of a city block.

The Salvation Army had a huge drum with a bell ringer inside to collect money for the annual red kettle campaign.

Each year the downtown businesses sponsored a Christmas parade. In the 40s it used to bring over 100,000 people downtown to shop and and share a meal or snack.

1637875020780.jpeg

It was a time when you could tell where the bustling shoppers had been by the distinctive color combinations each store used for their boxes and shopping bags. A time when every pair of socks and gloves purchased was carefully wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a box.

Then there were the ponds of slush on every busy street corner! 😊
 

I was raised in the city, and when Christmas came around, and the shop window displays were in full beautiful force.. all decorated and lit, in a way that was so much more magical back then than they are now.. it was a joy to walk around literally window shopping along miles of busy bustling streets of shops and big stores,pressing our faces against the windows and gasping at the toys and the animated displays...and especially so at Christmas time because it was dark by 4pm... and so the beauty of the lighted displays and the Christmas street lights, are memories I love to visit...
 
45423a72df58ac71d6acd318cc3981090168b69a.jpg
 
This really brought back a memory to me. When I was 15yrs old I met a boy I fell in love with at first sight. When Christmas came he wanted to buy me a nice gift, So he started painting displays in store windows. He was and still is very artistic. He made enough money to buy me a Beautiful ring. I still have the ring and him too.
 

Back
Top