Christmas window facts for kids
A Christmas window is a special display that stores create for the Christmas holiday season. These displays are often found at large department stores and other shops. Many stores around the world are famous for their amazing Christmas windows. Some even become popular places for tourists to visit! These windows often have a special theme. They might even include moving figures called animatronics.
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Famous Christmas Windows in North America
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Many stores in New York City are known for their beautiful Christmas window displays. Stores like Macy's and Lord & Taylor attract many shoppers and visitors. Macy's started this tradition at its New York City store in 1883. They were the first to show an animated shop window. This means the figures in the window could move!
A company called Spaeth Design often creates these amazing window displays. They also design displays for big hotels and office buildings in New York.
In Buffalo, New York, the AM&A's department store was famous for its old-fashioned Christmas windows. These windows looked like they were from the Victorian era. Another store, Kaufmann's, also had special Christmas windows and a "Santa Land."
Some older stores were also known for their displays. Before it closed in 1989, Altman's had Christmas windows that were as good as Lord & Taylor's. In Pittsburgh, Horne's was a popular spot for Christmas window viewing. In Boston, Filene's had a Christmas tree lighting. Jordan Marsh created a series of festive displays called the "Enchanted Village." This "Enchanted Village" display has moved to different locations in Boston over the years.
In Montreal, Canada, a designer named James Aird Nesbitt created the Christmas window displays for the Ogilvy department store. In 1947, he asked a German toymaker, Steiff, to make two moving holiday scenes. These were called "The Mill in the Forest" and "The Enchanted Village." They had many handmade mechanical toy animals and over a hundred moving parts. These displays were fixed up in 2008 so people could keep enjoying them. Woodward's Department Store in Vancouver was also known for its Christmas windows.
Christmas Windows in Europe
In Paris, France, Tom Keogh designed the Christmas windows for the Galeries Lafayette department store. He did this in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
The Fenwick (department store) in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK is very famous for its Christmas window display. Since 1971, they have had a special Christmas display in their windows every year. People travel from far away just to see them! There are even records from the 1930s showing they had displays back then.
The themes for Fenwick's windows often come from fairy tales and children's stories. The figures in the windows move and play music. In 2009, the theme was a traditional nativity scene. This was different from their 2002 theme, "Christmas in Another World," which showed aliens celebrating Christmas! This alien theme caused a lot of talk in local newspapers. In 2011, the store celebrated 40 years of this special Christmas window tradition.
In 2011, artist Anthony Ausgang designed the Christmas windows for the La Rinascente Department Store in Milan, Italy. He used huge, three-dimensional models of his unique cartoon cats. Another artist, Bertrand Planes, designed Christmas window displays for Le Bon Marché in Paris.
Christmas Windows in Australia
In Australia, the Sydney department store David Jones creates an animated Christmas window display every year. For a long time, these displays showed snowy Christmas scenes, like in the northern hemisphere. But in 2014, the windows showed Australian summer scenes. They featured beaches and rainforests, based on a book called "Reindeer's Christmas Surprise." This book was written by Australian author Ursula Dubosarsky.
In Melbourne, the Myer department store started its yearly Christmas window display in 1956. They also added an annual Myer Christmas Parade. Their displays often show scenes from Christmas stories like "The 12 Days of Christmas" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." They also show nativity scenes and scenes from other children's stories and fairy tales. For many years now, their displays have featured animated characters that move. In 2007, the theme for the Myer Christmas Windows was "Uno's Garden."
Christmas Windows in Pop Culture
Christmas window displays have even appeared in movies! The 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street and the 1983 film A Christmas Story both show famous Christmas window displays.
The cover of the 1916 children's book Christmas Holidays at Merryvale by Alice Hale Burnett shows children looking into a Christmas window.
See also
- Christmas around the world
- Window shopping
- WindowsWear
