What department store had the best Christmas window display when you were a kid?

[ohiosmith]

For me it was Lazarus on High St. in Columbus, Ohio.

[LisaM]

1. Hudson's in Detroit always had the best Christmas displays

And they had something called, I think, the Fun Forest upstairs.

[mykpart]

2. The original Neiman-Marcus store in downtown Dallas.

In the 1950s. Sorry I have no pictures. But Titches in downtown Dallas had the best "Santaland" inside the store. *Sigh* I haven't been downtown Dallas in years!

[lizziegrace]

3. McAlpins in Cincinnati

:)

[bikebloke]

4. In DC, they were all good.

The old downtown area with the big department stores all had moving christmas displays. It was an annual ritual to go there and walk around looking at them all. I think they were Woodward & Lothrop's, Hecht's and Landsberg's. I was too young to really notice.

[MorningGlow]

5. Sibley's in downtown Rochester, NY

It was an old-fashioned many-floor privately owned department store kind of like the one in A Christmas Story. It was on Main Street, across from Midtown Plaza, which was one of the first indoor shopping centers (malls) in America. Sibley's had major decorations including a narrow hallway with decorated displays on either side that led you to Santa. Midtown had a monorail to ride and Magic Mountain where another Santa sat (although I think they did that after Sibley's closed...I can't recall). One of the two places used to give you a present after visiting Santa--a gold trombone that was really a kazoo. I'll bet parents all over Rochester HATED whoever came up with that idea.

[Arugula Latte]

6. Probably Macy's in San Francisco

And some years ago they started featuring adoptable animals from the SPCA! :woohoo:

[yellowdogintexas]

7. Cain-Sloan in Nashville, in the big downtown store, definitely

Harvey's across the street didn't do a lot with the store windows but for years sponsored a huge lifesize nativity scene in Centennial Park, with a new figure added each year. It was gorgeous, with the Parthenon for backdrop.

Neiman's still does the great tree unveiling.

[livetohike]

8. Kaufmann's in downtown Pittsburgh was known for their

Christmas window displays. They were beautiful :-).

[enigmatic]

9. Higbee's, Downtown Cleveland

In the 1970's:

http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/higbees.shtml

[DeepBlueC]

10. G. Fox & Company, Hartford, Connecticut

I still miss middle-of-the-road department stores with class. All gone from Hartford now, G. Fox. Sage-Allen, Brown-Thomson.

[madinmaryland]

11. I remember Lazerus in Lima, Ohio, though you couldn't adjust your package in the window!

:hi:

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. It was probably Sak's or Macy's. Of course, I was never in NYC until I was an adult,

but I imagine that, when I was a child, it was Macys or Saks that had the best window displays. Just as they do now.

[trueblue2007]

13. Meier and Frank in downtown Portland, Oregon

WONDERFUL displays in every HUGE window. Macy's doesn't EVEN COME CLOSE.

Macy's....where is your Christmas spirit?

[haele]

14. The Bon Marche in Seattle -

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/97768_shops29.shtml (this year's window)

The main store downtown fronts 3 and one half streets, and was all windows. One year, they did a toy train set-up (S gauge?) with three trains that ran across all three whole sides, "spiraling up" a mock hill or tree where there was an entrance. Too cool.

Haele

[KitchenWitch]

15. Dayton's in downtown Minneapolis

They also used to do a walk through thing of one fairy tale on the 8th floor. The one that was most memorable to me was the Pinnochio one.

[Capn Sunshine]

16. Western Auto

a mundane hardware store 11 months out of the year, they got in a huge supply of toys every Christmas and staged a toy wonderland that was minimalist on decor, but maximum on toy. The place was winter wonderland and the best place to buy lights at a time before the little twinkle ones that are everywhere now, back when a cheap set could burn your house down.

[erinlough]

17. Marshall Fields, Chicago

Now it is Macy's and a poor imitation it is. But when it was Marshall Fields,,,,,,,,,wow! http://darrid.com/windows.html enjoy!

[hippywife]

18. Exactly the one I was going to say!

We lived in the Grandview area and my mom used to take us downtown on the bus to see it. :hi: