Here's wishing you the happiest of holidays and the merriest of Christmases!

 

Ho-ho-ho!

 

It must have been about 1954 because my brother was born a bit later and he's no where to be seen in this group of photos from Mom. That's me with Santa. You probably have a similar photo too, and recognize it as the typical department store Santa image.

I'll bet anything that this one was taken in Cleveland at Sterling-Linder-Davis. The big tree was in the center on the ground floor and as I remember it, and granted that memory might be foggy, Santa was set up somewhere at the base of the tree. Maybe.

Downtown Cleveland, decorated for the holidays.

1954.

"BIGGEST EVER Sterling-Lindner-Davis' Christmas tree now is on display. The giant spruce is decorated with 1200 ponds of tinsel and 2400 ornaments, store officials report. The tree, 54 feet tall when it was moved in Saturday night, will grow six inches before it is removed after the holidays."

(Thank you, Cleveland Memory Project for these and other photos!)

We lived in the suburbs in a small Cape Cod style house in Maple Heights. Going downtown was a big deal, and going downtown to meet Santa was the very best a girl could home for, except for the presents later on Christmas day, obviously. We'd take the bus to the trolley and arrive at Higbee's in the Terminal Tower, then walk the few blocks to Sterling-Linder-Davis, and gaze in each department store window to see what wonders were on display. I can still smell the smell of arriving at the Terminal Tower underground and then entering Higbee's.

 

Mid-1950s store holiday windows were a wonder of mechanical ingenuity. I gaze on the electronic and digital splendor of today's store displays and long for the old 1950s train making its way around a tree and over a village and through a stack of presents. Does anyone even use tinsel anymore on their trees?

Higbee's window. The label on the Cleveland Memory Project says it's Christmas and I see a tree but is that Easter Bunny too? The back of the photo says: "Danny, 5, and Collee, 9, Majeske, son and daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Majeski, Lakewood look at Christmas displays in Higbee's window."

Good old Santa! What a good listener! Maybe he was the last male in my life who really listened to me spout off a list of hopes and dreams;) Here's hoping that your Santas of past listened to you too. Enjoy the holiday!

Higbee's Christmas window 1958.

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