Community Chat

[Trailrun23]

II remember we would go downtown to see the beautiful windows at Neiman Marcus, A. Harris, Titche's, and others...the windows were so magical...all kinds of animated figures, trees, and lots of sparkle. I and my brothers and sisters would stand there mesmerized. Sad that those days are long gone. We actually had a clothing store that had two large glass enclosures of live monkeys....we would watch their antics while my mom and aunts did their shopping.
shopping on the internet is faster and easier, but it has none of the holiday experience we once enjoyed.

[ScarletDove]

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@Mershawrote:

The picture is of an iconic department store located in the DC Metro area, Woodward & Lothrop in 1957. It was a wonderful store that closed years ago. I still miss it.

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I am sure there were stores such as this one all over the country. The picture took me back to being a little girl. We dressed up and then traveled downtown to the department store to look at the beautiful displays in the windows and ooohhh and ahhh.

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Growing up in Pittsburgh, the trip usually involved snow of some sort. Then, if we promised to be good, we were allowed to go inside and view all of the decorations. It was so magical.

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@MershaYou resurrected very fond memories. As a DC native, spent many holiday seasons as a little girl going downtown with my mother to see the Christmas windows at Woodies, Garfinkels, Hechts and other department stores. At the end of the visit day, we would go to the magnificent Velatis Candies Shop on 9th Street and wait in line for their wonderful caramels...this was the very special sweet treat reserved for Christmas. Anyone who lived in DC would have known of Velatis, having more than 150+ year history in VA/DC/MD, they are still in business in suburban MD. Still tastes wonderful....

[PA Mom-mom]

@MershaLove this post! I'm late to this fun party due to flu; but, for those John Wanamaker lovers like @on the bay and @Catstamper and others whom I may have missed, those trips to see the Christmas light show at Wanamaker's were so special to me. It was a one hour train ride in from our rural area. You could view the light show from the main floor, and the room was too hot and smelled like perfume, but the show was the best! We just came for the show, because we couldn't afford to buy anything. There were dancing fountains, as I recall.

We were also near Allentown, PA, where Hess Brothers department store (Hess's) was located. It was a world class retail store, with models walking through the restaurant showing the latest fashions. For some reason, a lot of celebrities made appearances there. There was a perfume fountain inside the main entrance. Once a year, there was a wild sale, where many things were pennies on the dollar. When they opened the doors, people just ran, knocking others over. Us kids went for the records. 45's were a penny, and albums were 10 cents.

[Kitty Galore]

Oh how I wish it could be like that again ! Macy's was a must do every Chrustmas time fir our family . We would dress up , go downtown everything was decorated it was just magical . It was always very cold., sometimes snowing , Christmas music playing as well. I miss downtown 's . What great memories . Those window displays were so beautiful I used to wish I could live in them and play with all the toys ! There was one other major department store can't recall the name of it nice and they had a fancy luncheon area and my grandmother always took me there at Christmas time for lunch and then took me shopping for a new dress winter coat and a doll ....what wonderful memories. I loved going to Woolworths !!! . Everything nowadays is just shopping for convenience online , what a different world for children today. Glad I was brought up in those day's.

[Boehm Collector]

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@Straywrote:

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@Boehm Collectorwrote:

@MershaThis photo reminds me of when I would go shopping with my mother when I was a child in Manhattan. We would go to B. Altmans, Bonwit Teller, Saks Fifth Avenue. Around Christmas we would go and look at the windows decorated for the Holidays. They were beautiful!

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@Boehm Collector- I have beautiful memories of NYC as well. Macys always looked beautiful & their Santa was always perfect but as a young adult and until it closed, B.Altman's was my favorite. Now, I go to Bryant Park which is my favorite Christmas place but I was heartbroken when L&T closed as they always had magical windows. NYC is still wonderful at Christmas but just not the same, sadly.

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Oh, @Stray I forgot to mention Lord and Taylor. That was another store I went to with my mother. Brings back so many memories.

[Boehm Collector]

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@JaneMarplewrote:

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@Mershawrote:

The picture is of an iconic department store located in the DC Metro area, Woodward & Lothrop in 1957. It was a wonderful store that closed years ago. I still miss it.

------

I am sure there were stores such as this one all over the country. The picture took me back to being a little girl. We dressed up and then traveled downtown to the department store to look at the beautiful displays in the windows and ooohhh and ahhh.

------

Growing up in Pittsburgh, the trip usually involved snow of some sort. Then, if we promised to be good, we were allowed to go inside and view all of the decorations. It was so magical.

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Wow does this take me back, wonderful memories of going downtown during Christmas time in NYC. Macys, Gimbels, B Altmans etc.

The first six years of my life my family lived in the city then moved to suburban New Jersey where I grew up. Nothing was as magical to me as the decorations in these stores and visiting Santa. Thank you so much for the beautiful memories.

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@JaneMarpleI lived in Brooklyn until I was 5. Then we also moved to suburban New Jersey and I'm still here.

[Boehm Collector]

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@4kittieswrote:

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@RedTopwrote:

The memories stirred by this picture remind me how every year I see pictures of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, very striking over the top, trees. I enjoy the pictures.

However, the trees that really mean Christmas to me, are the tinsel covered trees shown on old tv shows like Andy Griffith.

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@RedTop

Oh yes, the tinsel!💕

I remember my Mom teaching me to do just one strand at a time. I tended to use "clumps" of it when I was little and trying to "help" her decorate!🤣🤣

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LOL @4kitties .. my Dad also had my brother and I put the tinsel on the tree one strand at a time.

[JaneMarple]

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@Boehm Collectorwrote:

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@4kittieswrote:

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@RedTopwrote:

The memories stirred by this picture remind me how every year I see pictures of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, very striking over the top, trees. I enjoy the pictures.

However, the trees that really mean Christmas to me, are the tinsel covered trees shown on old tv shows like Andy Griffith.

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@RedTop

Oh yes, the tinsel!💕

I remember my Mom teaching me to do just one strand at a time. I tended to use "clumps" of it when I was little and trying to "help" her decorate!🤣🤣

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LOL @4kitties .. my Dad also had my brother and I put the tinsel on the tree one strand at a time.

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@Boehm CollectorMy mother never had much decorating sense and literally threw the icicles on the tree. LOL

[LuvSoCal]

Oh, yes! I have very fond memories of us taking the bus downtown (before my mom learned how to drive) during the holidays and looking at all the Christmas decorations and window displays. Before shopping centers and malls we had the dept. stores with several floors. The fanciest one was Marston's. My mom and I were always dressed up and would have lunch at the tea room.

[gardenman]

I grew up in the heyday of the department stores in the sixties near Philly when you had Lit Brothers, Wanamakers, Strawbridge and Clothier, and Gimbels all going strong. My hematologist and ocularist both had offices in Philly, so I would often get to spend a day up there wandering the department stores.

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We always ate lunch at Lits as they had the best waffles I'd ever eaten. There was no debate as to what to get for me for lunch as it would be the waffles. They always came with a small pitcher of melted butter and were delicious. Strawbridge's had a specialist Christmas ornament buyer who would travel the world to find the best ornaments. I have about ten of them on my tree to this day. They're still kept in their original yellow Strawbridge boxes when not on the tree.

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The toy departments and pet departments were a special joy for me. I bought several HO gauge race sets from them. The pet departments were fascinating as they had unique, fancy, bird cages, and very high-end stuff that I'd just never see elsewhere. Some of the dog clothes cost more than my clothes. Lits had a bargain basement that my mom loved. She'd often find very nice clothes there deeply discounted. She even had a Lits credit card for most of my youth and much of our furniture came from Lits.

It's all different these days. Stores are more cookie-cutter than they used to be.

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I think there's still a market for an old-style department store, but the startup costs and operating costs in cities these days are absurd. You'd need Elon Musk kind of money to start one these days and keep it running. I do think there's a market slot there though.