A few scenes of holiday shopping from yesteryear
December 12, 2017 7:29 AM   Subscribe

 
Window displays are still a thing! Our town (Asheville NC) has a holiday window contest every year, and my wife puts a ton of work into our windows year-round (self-link). I'm always tickled by the folks who walk in and tell us how wonderful the windows are.
posted by rikschell at 8:18 AM on December 12, 2017 [2 favorites]


If I could time travel, I think I would probably spend a lot of time going back to experience Christmas in other eras.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:33 AM on December 12, 2017 [4 favorites]


Most of these range from charming to dazzling, but there are some examples in the 1950s that look like they were created solely to use up a metric ton of spackle.
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:35 AM on December 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was a child of the 50's. We lived in a small town but would always drive into Houston for our Christmas shopping. You entered the toy area at Foley's through a dark tunnel with HO scale model railroads running through bucolic settings on either side. There were tiny lights, crossing guards, diminutive cars and trucks scooting about and everything dusted with the holiday snow we never got in Texas. That was essentially Christmas for me...
posted by jim in austin at 8:39 AM on December 12, 2017 [5 favorites]


I love the ones that include the people looking into the windows. Not often you see people lost in their own worlds like that these days.
posted by yoga at 9:26 AM on December 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


Randomly, I did a little research on store windows for a project a while back, and learned that L. Frank Baum, of Wizard of Oz fame, started out as a store window designer in the era when department stores were just getting going. He started a magazine on it: The Show Window. After reading that stuff I can't stop thinking about them as proscenium stages for object theatre.
posted by Miko at 9:37 AM on December 12, 2017 [3 favorites]


Windows were better in the past. It may be that glimpses into the past were better in the past as well.

I’m nostalgic for the nostalgia of my youth, is what I’m saying.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:51 AM on December 12, 2017


Not just a great article, but a great site. Nice find.

Ugh, can't get link to work properly. Sorry.

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/home-in-a-can/
posted by Beholder at 4:36 PM on December 12, 2017


In the late '70s a nearby dairy had a decorated window for people to come and see. Honestly maybe it was just a picture window in the family home. They had a handful of motorized carolers and music piped through speakers in the eaves of the roof. We made a special trip to stop by and watch for a few minutes. Nothing at all like the spectacular windows shown in the article from the post. Just four figures who rotated their heads, not even in time to the music. There was a steady stream of families coming to stand and watch for a few minutes.

Thanks for a lovely memory, jjray
posted by ob1quixote at 6:18 PM on December 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


« Older Struggle for the Heart of Dixie   |   Kipple Field Notes Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments