bonacera
December 3rd, 2004, 11:32 AM
One 'must' is to stroll along 5th Avenue on a pleasant, brisk evening and take in the store windows decorated for the holidays
Start at Macy's on Herald Square, take a short jog over to Lord & Taylor on 5th and amble up the Avenue to Saks, maybe stopping for a bag of fresh-roasted chestnuts from a street vendor along the way. Be sure to make a stop to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Then it's on up the Avenue to continue your window shopping and a detour over to Bloomingdale's on Lexington Avenue. And hey! If there's snow on the ground, finish up with a buggy ride through Central Park. We usually take a stroll Thanksgiving evening to walk off a bit of our holiday dinner. It's a good night to see the holiday windows, not as many people as when the stores are open and a great way to get into the holiday spirit
A most frequently asked question "For how long do the department stores keep the windows decorated?" is one almost impossible to answer. The answer from one department store information lady best sums it up: "They don't like us to know that, though I think they will stay decorated until January 5th or 6th." We think that with New Year's Day on a Friday this year, we wouldn't be surprised if the windows stayed decorated only through that weekend
Bloomingdale's
Lexington Avenue at 59th Street
Unveiling Thursday, November 18, 2004 4:00P
Bloomie's has never been that big in the Christmas window display tradition. However, this year it's trumpeting a "Holiday Window Unveiling" themed to the Phantom of the Opera, the movie version which is to be released in December. We're not quite sure how this tie-in is going to work, specifically how Phantom is going to be redone for the holidays. The unveiling ceremony at least should be a hoot, with Andrew Lloyd Weber and stars Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson and Minnie Driver from the film on hand. We'll take a walk over to see exactly how well this works; hope we don't wind up too disappointed
Macy's Herald Square
Broadway & 34th Street
Unveiling Monday, November 8, 2004 4:30P
Macy's got a jump on everybody this year by unveiling its holiday windows very, very early. Quite frankly, they caught us by surprise and we haven't as yet gotten over to check them out; all we know at the moment is that they are themed after the new Tom Hanks film Polar Express. Should be a wild ride
Hint You can still find our favorite windows around the corner. On the 34th Street side of the store are, appropriately, the Miracle on 34th Street windows. These unpublicized windows charmingly depict scenes from the ever-popular film and are always worth a visit
Lord & Taylor
Unveiling Tuesday, November 16, 2004 5:00P
Lord & Taylor always does a splendid job of harking back to its New York City heritage. We're anticipating another knockout this year as L&T celebrates the US Postal Services "decades of delivering holiday joy through sleet, rain and snow." There should be plenty of opportunity for the designers to come up with those snowy, wintry, homey, holiday scenes for which Lord & Taylor windows are so well known
A bit of trivia Do you know why these windows are usually some of the nicest and most detailed? The building originally housed an auto dealership on the first floor; the showcase windows are mounted on hydraulic lift systems that lower into the basement where cars could be driven on, then raised back into position. Decorators work on the holiday windows in the basement while above, the day-to-day window displays are mounted on temporary flooring. Other department stores have to cover their windows during installation and, remember, time is money
Saks Fifth Avenue
5th Avenue & 49th Street
Unveiling Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The folks at Saks always outdo themselves. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us this year
Hint The Saks' location makes this area very crowded. In 2002 it took us three tries to see the windows; finally succeeded one morning when the wait in line was only 20 minutes -- and this was well before noon. (We were smarter last year and strolled by Thanksgiving evening.) The line to view the windows starts on the 50th Street side of the store. And please, don't be one of those folks who drag their kids past the merchandise windows and tell them they've seen the windows -- the real Christmas windows are in the center of the block, the ones with the crowds in front of them over which your 2 1/2 foot tall kids can't see.
Start at Macy's on Herald Square, take a short jog over to Lord & Taylor on 5th and amble up the Avenue to Saks, maybe stopping for a bag of fresh-roasted chestnuts from a street vendor along the way. Be sure to make a stop to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Then it's on up the Avenue to continue your window shopping and a detour over to Bloomingdale's on Lexington Avenue. And hey! If there's snow on the ground, finish up with a buggy ride through Central Park. We usually take a stroll Thanksgiving evening to walk off a bit of our holiday dinner. It's a good night to see the holiday windows, not as many people as when the stores are open and a great way to get into the holiday spirit
A most frequently asked question "For how long do the department stores keep the windows decorated?" is one almost impossible to answer. The answer from one department store information lady best sums it up: "They don't like us to know that, though I think they will stay decorated until January 5th or 6th." We think that with New Year's Day on a Friday this year, we wouldn't be surprised if the windows stayed decorated only through that weekend
Bloomingdale's
Lexington Avenue at 59th Street
Unveiling Thursday, November 18, 2004 4:00P
Bloomie's has never been that big in the Christmas window display tradition. However, this year it's trumpeting a "Holiday Window Unveiling" themed to the Phantom of the Opera, the movie version which is to be released in December. We're not quite sure how this tie-in is going to work, specifically how Phantom is going to be redone for the holidays. The unveiling ceremony at least should be a hoot, with Andrew Lloyd Weber and stars Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson and Minnie Driver from the film on hand. We'll take a walk over to see exactly how well this works; hope we don't wind up too disappointed
Macy's Herald Square
Broadway & 34th Street
Unveiling Monday, November 8, 2004 4:30P
Macy's got a jump on everybody this year by unveiling its holiday windows very, very early. Quite frankly, they caught us by surprise and we haven't as yet gotten over to check them out; all we know at the moment is that they are themed after the new Tom Hanks film Polar Express. Should be a wild ride
Hint You can still find our favorite windows around the corner. On the 34th Street side of the store are, appropriately, the Miracle on 34th Street windows. These unpublicized windows charmingly depict scenes from the ever-popular film and are always worth a visit
Lord & Taylor
Unveiling Tuesday, November 16, 2004 5:00P
Lord & Taylor always does a splendid job of harking back to its New York City heritage. We're anticipating another knockout this year as L&T celebrates the US Postal Services "decades of delivering holiday joy through sleet, rain and snow." There should be plenty of opportunity for the designers to come up with those snowy, wintry, homey, holiday scenes for which Lord & Taylor windows are so well known
A bit of trivia Do you know why these windows are usually some of the nicest and most detailed? The building originally housed an auto dealership on the first floor; the showcase windows are mounted on hydraulic lift systems that lower into the basement where cars could be driven on, then raised back into position. Decorators work on the holiday windows in the basement while above, the day-to-day window displays are mounted on temporary flooring. Other department stores have to cover their windows during installation and, remember, time is money
Saks Fifth Avenue
5th Avenue & 49th Street
Unveiling Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The folks at Saks always outdo themselves. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us this year
Hint The Saks' location makes this area very crowded. In 2002 it took us three tries to see the windows; finally succeeded one morning when the wait in line was only 20 minutes -- and this was well before noon. (We were smarter last year and strolled by Thanksgiving evening.) The line to view the windows starts on the 50th Street side of the store. And please, don't be one of those folks who drag their kids past the merchandise windows and tell them they've seen the windows -- the real Christmas windows are in the center of the block, the ones with the crowds in front of them over which your 2 1/2 foot tall kids can't see.