The burden most Freepers carry is we remember what America used to be like.
Thank you for this. I scream at the TV with the word “holiday” inserted into ads fifty times in a single commercial break with not one “Christmas.” I love Christmas, but despise their dreadful generic “holiday” they won’t even mention but laughingly sell items for.
My family would go into the city to see the windows of the department stores every year. We would shop for gifts and have lunch. It was an all day event. Sweet memories!
J.L. Hudson... Downtown Detroit...
Hens & Kelly. Buffalo, NY. Started in 1892. Closed in 1982. Old joke - “Why did the chicken cross the road?” To see the Hens in Kelly’s window!
I was with one of the last group of kids to ride the old Herpolsheimer’s train in the early 80s. Scared the crud out of me. I had no idea that a store like that even existed in the world of big box stores.
I was a mall fan, like most kids back then, so I found the old school city stores to be “quaint”, if not stuffy and dusty. Someplace for the grandparents.
But today I have no love for suburban shopping as those place lack the quaintness and local flavor of the old department stores.
So yeah.....I’m now the old guy.
I really miss old-fashioned dime stores. We had Woolworth’s, Murphy’s and Kresge’s here in DC.
I, my brother, and sister would dress in our best and were taken to downtown Cleveland by Mom to see the “real” Santa at Higbees. We were then told that the rest of the Santas we were going to see were “helpers”, so don’t tell the kids that were in line at those other stores.
We then would go to The May Co., Halle’s, Sterling-Linder-Davis to see an immense Christmas tree going up the center of the store (also got to see Francis the Talking Mule there), Bailey’s, and then Taylor’s, making a day of it carrying whatever dodads we got at each Santa visit.
We’d pass the Peterson Nut Store on the corner of Ontario and Euclid Ave., where the aroma of newly roasted peanuts would deliberately be wafted out on to the street. We’d stop at a Dime Store (remember those? I think it was Kresge’s where there was a grand piano with someone playing Christmas songs) and we’d stand at a counter to feast on a hot dog and birch beer.
Each store had elevators with operators who’d call out whatever each floor was selling. The May Co. actually had a big room somewhere on the 6th floor to babysit your kids while you shopped. I remember there was a big sliding board and lots of sand all over the floor.
Then we’d stop back later at The May Co. to meet our dad who sold furniture on the 6th or 7th floor, and we’d all go down to 9th street to an alley where we’d eat at Chef Hector’s (the original Chef Boyardee) and feast on delicious Italian food, each dish covered with a metal lid.
Then home again on a bus from downtown Cleveland back to Euclid, Ohio. Those were the days. I guess I could write a book, huh?