Advent Calendar: Christmas Shopping at Lazarus

When I think back to Christmas shopping as a child, it’s not the actual shopping I remember—it’s the store. And, as anyone who grew up in Columbus, Ohio in the 1960’s could attest, the store for Christmas dreams was Lazarus.

The downtown F & R Lazarus store was an elegant giant—six floors of glittering merchandise, plus an annex, two basements, and a parking garage. A series of huge display windows along High St. enticed shoppers year-round, but in December they became magical animated windows. Elaborate scenes of moving characters carried a story line through each window, so you had to look at them in order. I can’t remember what the actual stories they portrayed were. What I do remember are the crowds of people around the windows, Christmas music piping through the cold air, jostling for position so I could see clearly, and the sheer enchantment of the little moving figures and animals.

Once I could finally peel myself away from the windows, we entered through revolving doors into a retail Christmas wonderland. High ceilings and brilliant chandeliers revealed an elegantly decorated shopper’s paradise. If I remember correctly, the first floor offered men’s clothing, jewelry, and makeup counters. Escalators beckoned to the floors above, which held women’s clothing, shoes, bedding and linens, housewares, and furniture. My favorite was the sixth floor, home to children’s clothing and, of course, toys. There was even a pet department.

At Christmas time, the sixth floor was transformed into Santa Land. You could be whisked up to it (relatively speaking) in an ancient-looking elevator from the first floor, where one of Santa’s Helpers operated the metal cage door and pushed the button for you. The door opened onto an awe-inspiring scene. Mr. Tree, a life-size talking tree, stood at the entrance. As a character from the local TV show Luci’s Toyshop, he was familiar to most of us and drew a big crowd. A painted red footpath led from Mr. Tree to Santa Land, where elves, penguins, snowmen, and reindeer watched as we children snaked through a winding line toward Santa. I felt both excited and nervous as we got near the front of the line and one of Santa’s Helpers waved us forward. Would I remember what I wanted to ask for?

My brother and I with Santa

After sitting on Santa’s lap, we each got a candy cane and were released into toyland. Talk about paradise! The scary part was over and now we could check out the stuff of our dreams first hand. Lazarus had the most toys I had ever seen in one place. I found even more things to add to my list—could I go back and tell Santa? Eventually my mother pried us out of there and down the escalators, passing one bustling floor after another.

During the holidays, Lazarus offered a Secret Gift Shop in one of the basements or annexes where children could enter through a special child-sized door and shop for inexpensive gifts for their parents. Friendly attendants helped us pick out things and count our money. Finally it was time to go home, clutching our little bags, our heads spinning with all we had seen. From the car windows as we drove away we could see the giant tree glistening on top of the Lazarus building, formed by lights stretched over the store’s “L” rooftop landmark.

Sweet stuff, these memories of Lazarus and Christmas past.

(The Geneabloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories encourages bloggers to share their memories of Christmas seasons past and present. To participate, see the list of daily topics. To read posts from a number of participating bloggers, click here.)

Postcard, F & R Lazarus in the 1950’s, author’s collection

Blog Caroling: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas carols are a lot like potato chips: it’s hard to stop at just one. I gravitate toward different songs depending on my mood. Upbeat and festive for shopping, decorating the house, and running errands. Reflective and traditional for reading, wrapping gifts late at night, and writing cards. So choosing a favorite song for Footnote Maven’s Blog Caroling sing-a-long wasn’t easy. But in the end I settled on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” written by George Michael and immortalized by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis.

This instrumental version, performed by Kenny G, features a heartwarming video with clips from several Christmas movie classics. It’s a real treat.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on, our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

So hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

But if you’re in the mood for something completely different, here’s a second offering guaranteed to energize your day: "The Christmas Can-Can," written and performed by  Straight No Chaser. It's just plain fun. Enjoy!

Advent Calendar: Christmas Cookie-Making Fun

Making cookies has always been one of my favorite Christmas traditions. As a girl I loved helping my mom make cookies using the tube-shaped Mirro cookie press. It was fun to mix the food coloring into the dough, roll it into a cylinder and stuff it into the press. We used the recipes from the little booklet included in the box. Star-shaped spritz cookies. Spicy brown molasses camels. Delicate green wreaths piped in a circle and adorned with cinnamon dots. And my favorite, green almond-flavored trees, sprinkled generously with colored sugar or nonpareils. Getting the cookies to come out of the press just right was a bit of an art, and I remember lots of do-overs. But that was part of the fun of it.

I still have the Mirro press, and most years I still make the little trees. I’ve resisted getting one of the fancy electric presses or any modernized version. Why mess with tradition?

From the time my own kids were preschoolers, they’ve helped me make cookies at Christmas time. Those early years were messy affairs, with flour and sugar all over the counter and floor. Now it’s something my two daughters look forward to every year. We crank the Christmas music up, dig out the cookie cutters and rolling pin, and fire up both ovens. These days we’re a little neater, but let’s face it: you can’t have a good time making cookies and end up with a clean kitchen. And that’s okay by me.

Everyone has their favorites, and we try to make them all. Spice cut-out cookies with a light icing are the most fun (and most time-consuming) to make. It’s my mother-in-law’s recipe and now the one we can’t do without. Thumbprints, with a dab of colored frosting in the center, are my husband’s favorite. My son likes soft molasses cookies. My younger daughter likes chocolate crackles, rolled in powdered sugar. We all like Magic bars, made in a pan with a graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and coconut. Some years I make raspberry-filled bar cookies from an old recipe I got from my husband’s grandmother.

We start the cookie-making in one big day over Thanksgiving weekend, and continue off and on throughout December. It takes time, but it’s worth it. After all, what would Christmas be without cookies?  

(The Geneabloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories encourages bloggers to share their memories of Christmas seasons past and present. To participate, see the list of daily topics. To read posts from a number of participating bloggers, click here.)

Advent Calendar: Outdoor Decorations

My Dad always put lights on our house while I was growing up. They were the big red and green bulbs, colorful and cheery. He got up on the roof and outlined the whole roof of the house with them. My Mom hung wreaths with big ribbons and set out a lighted nativity set. I remember sitting in the back seat of the car, riding around the neighborhood at night looking at all the houses lit up with decorations. It’s still one of my favorite things to do, although now I’m usually in the front seat.

When we first moved into the house we live in now, my husband decorated our three pine trees in the front yard, along with the bushes close to the house, with mini colored lights. We tried the more elegant-looking white lights for a couple years but neither the kids nor I liked them as much. There’s something about colored lights that just shouts, “It’s Christmas!” Now, 14 years later, our pines have grown far too large to drape with lights. He still does the bushes and two smaller trees that frame our front porch. We’re never going to win a neighborhood decorating contest with our modest display, but the house looks cheerful and welcoming.

The most awesome Christmas light display I’ve ever seen, hands down, has to be the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios. It’s an amazing experience to walk through, surrounded by lights on all sides and overhead, pressed into a happy crowd with cameras held high. The lights dance about in synchronization to Christmas tunes as “snow” falls from the sky. These pictures don’t begin to do it justice, but I hope they bring you a smile and some holiday spirit.

(This post is part of the Geneabloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. You can find a list of topics and read posts from many participating bloggers by clicking here.)