"Hey, if I had somewhere to go, I certainly wouldn't be in Cleve-Land." -Howard the Duck

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas to all !



OK...so I'm a bit petrified by Santa in this pic...but it's my favorite of all the Santa photos I have from my childhood.  It's 1954 & I had just turned 2 in November.  Every year we would go to downtown Cleveland to see the major department stores all decorated for Christmas.  Santa would have his very elaborate & special room in a wonderland of Christmas displays.  The Halle Bros. with Mr. Jingaling...the keeper of Santa's Keys. Higbee's with lunch at The Silver Grille, where the children's lunch was served in a little wooden sideboard & later in a cardboard oven...complete with little plates sized just right to fit inside. Sterling Linder with their amazingly tall decorated Christmas tree each year.  All these stores have long since gone out of business & mall stores no longer go to those elaborate extremes to create a Christmas wonderland, but it was a very special part of my childhood & I cherish those memories.

We had a very nice & quiet Christmas Eve here, noshing on some shrimp & cheeses & such.  Watched "A Christmas Story", of course, just before midnight.  Did you know that the original house where Ralphie lived is now a museum?  And it's right here in Cleveland.  We haven't been able to get over to see it yet, but we will one day. 

Nothing creative going on here today...except maybe trying some new goodies to nosh on.  I'm wising y'all a very Merry Christmas, one spent doing things that make you happy.

7 comments:

  1. Hello Debbie,

    I wish you a happy and creative 2010 and don't let the cat overrule your life ! :) ( says someone with 6 cats in the house and hardly find a seat for herself...)

    greetings from belgium
    Inge

    ( an ATT-er)

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  2. Love the pic!!!

    Merry Christmas, Kitten -
    Love,
    Sandi

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  3. Great picture!!! Happy Holiday!

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  4. I LOVE your santa picture!! THAT would make an adorable rubber stamp image with the title..."define naughty" LOL
    Hugs,
    Dottee

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  5. What a wonderful Santa pic. Red Lead should add this to their vintage holiday collage sheet for sure! How cute you were! Thanks for sharing your memories of the holidays....isn't it a shame that stores don't celebrate like they used to?

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  6. debbie, you could have given shirley temple a run for the money. definate movie star potential there! oh so cute! happy new year! linda

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  7. Wow! Holy cow I loved this post! I Love "A Christmas Story" movie and we watch it every year, too. Knowing there's a whole museum makes me want to come to Cleveland--never been there before. I also liked your memories of Higbee's and the restaurant where they served children's plates in a little oven with little plates. How wonderful! I HATE that it's so hard to find wonderful places like this nowadays. "The Man" and the Corporate Giants have taken so much of life beauty away with their big box malls and shopping centers. Ugh! I guess the only way to keep it alive is via memories, such as what you've shared here. Thank you!

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