This past Thanksgiving I did something for the first time in
many years. Most years I catch maybe 20 or 30 minutes of the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade, and many years have skipped it altogether. This year, my family and
I watched darn near the entire thing.
I thought it was great this year, especially the music acts
that stopped and performed on the “main stage” area of 34th Street,
in front of The World’s Largest Store. I have a wide range of musical tastes,
and felt that even those outside that range were presented very well. I was
impressed.
Now I’ve always been impressed by that great structure
behind the “stage”, the Macy’s flagship itself. It looked very nice that
day, decorated with a kind of simple elegance, reminding me of the way it
looked in 1947’s “Miracle on 34th Street”, something we do watch in
its entirety each year.
But I can only imagine what their incredible facade displays
of the late 50’s and early 60’s looked like in person. These were put together
by the long defunct Bliss Display Corporation of New York. They often fully
obscured the first floor, replacing the regular display windows (nothing to
sneeze at in themselves) with scenes from a European-inspired Christmas fantasy
world, framed in white and gold. This photo, scanned from an original slide,
shows the 1963 version. As is often the case, I don’t know who the photographer
was, but I’m grateful they documented scenes like this for some to remember,
and for all to enjoy.
And I’m very grateful for all of you, for your holiday
wishes, your kind words and your support of PFS throughout the year. Wishing
for each of you and your families Joy and Peace this Christmas season, and a
great New Year!
Dave
Great post Dave. Merry Christmas. I wish there was more info on the Bliss Company.
ReplyDeleteAnna
Thanks Anna, and I hope you had a Merry Christmas also! There's a really great book on the subject of store Christmas displays called "Holidays on Display" by William Bird. It discusses Bliss in detail and has many excellent photos of their work and others. I think you'd love it!
ReplyDeleteHoping your Chistmas was a great one. Thank you for sharing this photo. I really like the display that Bliss put together; it has a certain elegant charm that I think appeals to me in part because of the color scheme. I like blue, ivory and gold together!
ReplyDeleteMike - I like it too - it's an extremely classy look. Christmas was great and I hope yours was as well! Thanks for your kind words and encouragement over the past year.
DeleteThanks, I'll check it out!
ReplyDeleteI set it out in our living room through the holidays each year. It's a fun read!
DeleteHappy new year Dave, You may or not know it but Macy's is starting a major redo of the inteior of 34th street. It is expected to take 4 to 5 years to finish. This info I have from someone on the inside
ReplyDelete