Community Chat

[CatsyCline]

Macys 44th street  used to display  the most amazing windows. i don't know if they still do this at Holiday time. my parents had lived in NYC as newlyweds, " I Love Lucy  " era/style

One year as a treat my parents decided we would see these magical windows. Macys and NYC was close to 100 miles away from where we lived.

There was a special train that would go to NYC the first Saturday of December. it was called The Santa Claus Special with discounted tickets. well we were all there waiting on the platform for this train and it passed us right by. turned out it only stopped at one station in the next town over.

so, we never got to go to see the windows, or skate and have cocoa at Wollman Rink. but we got to see Santa at the local dept store, with the creaky wood floors and the creepy ceiling fans. and he was pretty good to us that year.  we got walkie-talkies and a Thingmaker to make creepy crawly plastic bugs

[spix]

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@SoX wrote:

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@hovis wrote:

If anyone is from the Chicago area they will surely remember Marshall Fields downtown on State St. It was just beautiful at Christmas. I remember going there with my mom and having lunch in the English Tea Room and the huge Christmas tree that went through the middle of the room. Even when the store wasn't decorated for Christmas it was always so much fun to go there. One floor was just purfume. Another floor was just china. And it went on and on. I don't remember how many floors the store had but there was no other store like Marshall Fields.

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@hovis

Oh, how I miss Fields!   Most of my  furniture is from there.  My girlfriends and I had lunch in the Walnut Room once a month for years.    There wasn't a week that went by that I didn't stop in for something ... my very favorite store of all time!

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Took our kids there every year to see the windows, magical. And their customer service was top notch, really miss it, most Chicagoans will not even go into Macy's, I never have, don't know why, guess it's just longing for what used to be, I know doesn't make sense but there you have it

[spix]

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@hovis wrote:

If anyone is from the Chicago area they will surely remember Marshall Fields downtown on State St. It was just beautiful at Christmas. I remember going there with my mom and having lunch in the English Tea Room and the huge Christmas tree that went through the middle of the room. Even when the store wasn't decorated for Christmas it was always so much fun to go there. One floor was just purfume. Another floor was just china. And it went on and on. I don't remember how many floors the store had but there was no other store like Marshall Fields.

t

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And it was "the" meeting place, under the clock at Fields

[Azcowgirl]

Any One remember Seattle down town back then...the store windows in the Bon and Frederick and Nelson's and Santa in the window where you get your picture taken, the Paul Bunyan room for lunch where the lady stood on a platform and told you your table was ready....and frango mint sodas .....and Woolworths ? Ahhh the memories (:

[Desertdi]

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@spix wrote:

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@hovis wrote:

If anyone is from the Chicago area they will surely remember Marshall Fields downtown on State St. It was just beautiful at Christmas. I remember going there with my mom and having lunch in the English Tea Room and the huge Christmas tree that went through the middle of the room. Even when the store wasn't decorated for Christmas it was always so much fun to go there. One floor was just purfume. Another floor was just china. And it went on and on. I don't remember how many floors the store had but there was no other store like Marshall Fields.

t

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And it was "the" meeting place, under the clock at Fields

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Yup..........I worked in The Loop for a while

[catwhisperer]

I grew up in Mpls. where the largest dept. store was Dayton's back in the 50's/60's/70's/80's (now Macy's). I still miss walking around the outside of the store looking at the beautiful Christmas displays in the windows. It would be snowing, freezing cold, and I would be shivering, but just had to see the displays. 

Across the street from Dayton's was Woolworth's, who had the best hot dogs ever!

[nomless]

I grew up in a Chicago suburb.  Every Christmas season, my dad and I would go to Field's early on a Saturday morning, have breakfast under the tree in the Walnut Room, and then shop for a gift for my mom. We did that for years and years.

[MacDUFF]

J.L. Hudson's Dept Store in downtown Detroit...back in the day, you could go there at Christmas to shop and wonder at the sparkling displays...easy parking, no one wearing their pajamas, courtesy and manners were the norm, you weren't afraid to be walking around...the 12th floor was just magical...it was almost another world.

[catwhisperer]

@MacDUFF...we must have grown up in the same era in the midwest. I believe Dayton/Hudson was one in the same. You are so right, no people wearing PJ's, no worries about crime, no rude pushing and shoving. We also had elevator operators in those days. The 12th floor in Dayton's was home to the Sky Room, a very fancy restaurant overlooking the city where I lived. My dad often took me there for lunch and I felt so special.

[gardenman]

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@jlkz wrote:

@gardenman

Remember the Wanamaker huge EAGLE and the Christmas light show done to real organ music?   I used to get a strained neck just looking up at that show !!!!

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I remember it well. I have tons of great memories of the old department stores. Lits used to have a great restaurant where I would always get the waffles which were excellent. I'm not sure which of the four it was, but one had an amazing pet department with some of the most fanciful bird cages you could imagine. One had a toy department with a working train that ran around the ceiling and lots of race tracks and train sets set up on display. Most of them had a bargain basement where you could buy marked down merchandise at a great price. 

When the holidays rolled around these stores went way over the top in decorating. I believe two had animated Christmas villages you could walk through. Wanamakers had their dancing fountains. It was a whole different shopping experience from what you see today.