{"id":68104,"date":"2023-12-13T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=68104"},"modified":"2023-12-12T11:04:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:04:36","slug":"the-tradition-of-christmas-window-displays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2023\/12\/13\/the-tradition-of-christmas-window-displays\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tradition of Christmas Window Displays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holiday-themed window displays have long been part of our retail landscape. This story, originally published by Torontoist on December 23, 2015, touches upon the greatest Christmas window rivalry in 20th century Toronto, and how modern displays can be used to address social issues.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

During the 1926 holiday season the Globe<\/em> illustrated the annual pilgrimage of shoppers to the Christmas display windows of downtown Toronto\u2019s consumer temples with prose as colourful as holiday lights:<\/p>\n

There is a peculiar fascination in Christmas window-shopping, and for the lucky beggar whose purse is at once portly and elastic there is a stimulus in a leisurely stroll along main thoroughfares gazing upon the wonder display flaunted through polished glass plate. On a pre-Christmas afternoon\u2014the purple twilight shattered with shafts of rosy light gleaming from a thousand meteor-lights illuminating the shopping district of the city\u2014men and women, boys and girls loitered in the glare, finding appeal in the magnificence of the Yuletide exhibit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Christmas<\/a>
Christmas window at Simpsons. Canadian Grocer, December 24, 1920<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For decades, Christmas wasn\u2019t complete without viewing the holiday window displays of the rival department store giants at Queen and Yonge<\/a>: Eaton\u2019s (which also decorated its College Street store) and Simpsons. At their peak during the 1950s and 1960s, crowds jostled for the best view as children and adults stood transfixed by each year\u2019s animated presentation of nativity scenes and Santa\u2019s workshop, and families drove for hours to view the spectacular scenes.<\/p>\n

In her book Eatonians<\/em>, Patricia Phenix described the craft and creativity presented in these via one created for Eaton\u2019s College Street store (now College Park) by Merchandise Display Manager Ted Konkle and his wife Eleanor:<\/p>\n

In one illuminated window, movable figures skated figure eights on a Teflon rink; in another, a baby Jesus figure lay in his cr\u00e8che, surrounded by the figures of three wise men, their velvet costumes designed to Italian Renaissance exactitude. The figures, modelled in Styrofoam, were moved electronically after heated brass rods were inserted in their bases.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Konkles prepared much of the installation at home, where their clothesline was loaded with papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 figures. \u201cWe remember our son sitting in a high chair pounding Styrofoam with something or other,\u201d Ted Konkle recalled. \u201cWe were weirdos, let me tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>
Globe and Mail, November 30, 1953<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Weird perhaps, but such efforts worked, pleasing the public and corporate accountants. But something was lost when Eaton\u2019s replaced its downtown stores with its Eaton Centre flagship in 1977\u2014with only three windows along Yonge Street to work with, executives decided there wasn\u2019t room for a holiday display. When the decision was passed off an experiment to gauge public reaction, the Globe and Mail<\/em> had a simple reaction: \u201cboo.\u201d It\u2019s tempting to treat this as foreshadowing for the retailer\u2019s unpopular decision to drop the Santa Claus Parade in 1982.<\/p>\n

\"Simpsons<\/a>
Simpsons window display featuring some Star Wars toys, December 15, 1981. Photo by Harvey R, Naylor. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1526, File 17, Item 91.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, high-end retailers like Creeds on Bloor Street utilized holiday displays inspired by fashionable New York windows, where the icy creepiness of mannequins was used for dark comedic effect. The shock value of designs which skirted the boundaries of good taste made good headline fodder.<\/p>\n

For Holt Renfrew, as fashion director Barbara Atkin told the Star<\/em> in 2001, a good store window is like good sex: it\u2019s all about the fantasy and allure. She noted that any retailer who just filled the window with merchandise didn\u2019t appreciate, in the Star\u2019<\/em>s words, \u201cthe gentle teasing, the fervent anticipation and the climax of landing the sale.\u201d Since the late 1990s, Holt Renfrew has drawn gazes for themes ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Moulin Rouge.<\/p>\n

Beyond consumerism, holiday window displays can provide a forum for social issues. For example, in 2015 the scene at Untitled & Co on Queen West resembled a stereotypical nuclear family enjoying Christmas dinner\u2026 until the husband slaps the wife. The Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses (OAITH<\/a>) intended to raise awareness of the spike in domestic violence the stresses of the season create.<\/p>\n