Originally Posted by
Sandhouse
I better steer this back from Lionel trains to Hudson's. [[Although I do have an uncatalogued Sears Super "O" set with two Alcos, 3 aluminum "President" passenger cars and a KW, a weird combination I've never found in any reference book.)
Now I know I wasn't the only little kid to be told that the REAL Santa was at Hudson's, and not just because my dad worked there. But so great was the loyalty to the store that so far as I can remember, I never even went into Crowley's or Kern's. I remember being appalled to learn that the elaborate Christmas decorations were all pitched at the end of each season, but it was a good lesson in labor costs. I still enjoy hanging up Christmas ornaments I bought at the after-Christmas sales bins on the 4th floor. They're a bit faded now, but the memories aren't.
As I got older, my favorite department shifted from the toys and art supplies to the book department and the art gallery on the 7th floor. For a while in the late `60's, there was a counter by the Farmer Street entrance, carved out of the women's beauty stuff, where they sold unusual games and puzzles and "executive toys" and that was fun, too.