Hudson's at Christmas

[David L]

Hudson's in its heyday, employed two display personnel per floor. At Christmas the main floor was decorated with dozens of Christmas trees impeccably decorated in different themes. Literally thousands of glass ornaments were strung together and hung in bunches in the inner part of the trees, and amazing themed ornaments on the tips. The other floors were also decorated lavishly. When the trees were taken down, all the glass ornaments were crushed.
[[they were dusty and required too much time and money to store) On the long walk to see Santa,miniature amazingly elaborate displays at kid's eye level were created in windows along the route. No expense was spared. Compare that to the paltry and unimaginative Christmas displays in department stores, including Macy's today. Only Manhattan department stores retain the tradition today.

[beachboy]

Thank you for resuscitating this thread!! Am listening to Xmas music on my
office surround-sound system as I work on a late-nite proposal effort, and I
can recall the special Christmas music at Hudson's ... everything was special
and oh-so-beautiful ... the mezzanine bookstore always had post-Xmas sales -
one could purchase an "art book" for a fraction of pre-Christmas price, making
it affordable [[just.. saved all year for one of those ...)

Each year, we drove 3.5 hrs "south" from the Thumb to see the pre-Xmas
beauty and shop the post-Xmas "specials". Only memories now ... <sobble>
but so grateful that I experienced such wonderful things.

[G-DDT]

What about Crowley's or Kern's at Christmas? I always feel they get the short end of the stick because they weren't as large as Hudson's. Kern's though didn't even see the 1960s.

Anyone have memories about those places at Christmas?

There was a Crowley's at the Livonia Mall and one in Dearborn [[now a Kroger's across from another Kroger's). No toys, but my mom bought a few gimmicky Christmas stuffed creatures from that time. Wish I was around for Kern's. That clock is mighty snazzy.

I hated Service Merchandise in Southfield. The toys were cheap and you had to wait in some odd customer service line for what seemed hours, while there was a chaotic mess all around you. There was a Kingsway next to the school I attended, but the toys were even cheaper. It was the kind of place you went to if you wanted all aluminum cookware and gaudy hookrugs of Siberian tigers hanging from your bedroom walls.

Nope. Hudson's was the place. They had a dining area at both Fairlane and Northland [[just recently drove past the vacant Northland getting my mother to her doctor appointment; we both just gazed at the emptiness and sighed heavily). Even when the downtown location was still standing, I knew some guys who would raid around in there, and they made off with a stairwell floor indicator sign [[too bad it burned up in the punk rock house fire).

[G-DDT]

Thank you for resuscitating this thread!! Am listening to Xmas music on my
office surround-sound system as I work on a late-nite proposal effort, and I
can recall the special Christmas music at Hudson's ... everything was special
and oh-so-beautiful ... the mezzanine bookstore always had post-Xmas sales -
one could purchase an "art book" for a fraction of pre-Christmas price, making
it affordable [[just.. saved all year for one of those ...)

I was working at a crummy calendar kiosk for Waldenbooks [[remember them?) at Fairlane in the '90s, and on my lunchbreak, I browsed the Hudson's book area and saw a book on Paul Klee, where I spied the art piece the "Tightrope Walker"http://i12bent.tumblr.com/post/23656...923-lithograph I said "Yup, I know what I want for Christmas". Just one of those memories I have of that muted tone track-lit post modern section of that department store

[mikefmich]

The 12th floor was not "Toys" in the eyes of this pre-teen. It was Lionel trains. The adjacent "toys" were just fluff in comparison.

^^This^^
My first Lionel installment came 60 yrs. ago this December, straight from Santa aka Downtown Hudsons. Never thought I would, but I'm probably going to peddle my stuff soon.

[mikefmich]

What about Crowley's or Kern's at Christmas? I always feel they get the short end of the stick because they weren't as large as Hudson's. Kern's though didn't even see the 1960s.

Anyone have memories about those places at Christmas?

One of my sit on Santa's lap pictures came from Kerns downtown. When I asked one year how can Santa be everywhere, I was informed the REAL Santa was at Hudson's. The rest were helpers that looked like him. I bought it.

[WKL]

Not quite 60 [[probably about 56 or 57) but straight from Hudsons [[customization by my Grandfather which at GM Diesel). I rescued it from my folks attic couple of years ago and it's around my Christmas tree right now. Not running right now, I need to clean the engine and get a new transformer. The transformer is down right scary looking.

[Sandhouse]

"customization by my Grandfather at GM Diesel"

Oh no! You've triggered the J.L.Hudson/downtown/Lionel trains nostalgia reflex!

I'm sure your granddad knew those were Alcos, not GM Diesels, and got a kick out of applying that sticker. My dad could never afford the Lionel GM models either, even with his Hudson's employee discount. But I've got lots of the Alcos from Christmases in the early sixties. All they need is a cleaned commutator and brushholders, some light oil where the armature shaft comes out of the bottom of the motor, and some grease on the gears, and you're rolling again for another 50 years. Don't be too afraid of the transformer if its circuit breaker works reliably when you intentionally short it, and the cord isn't crusty. I'm still using my 1950's models, but don't leave `em plugged in.

[WKL]

My grandfather did some modifications that put a door bell button into the electrical loops so a 4 year old didn't have to deal with the throttle on the transformer. Dad just set the speed and I got to push the button. Let go the train stops. My own personel deadman's switch.

[p69rrh51]

One small problem. This is an uncatalogued Lionel Sears #9656 set from 1958. The black #6476 Hopper and the #6802 flatcar with girders were only available in this set. Do you have the original boxes and the set box?

[WKL]

Yes I do. I even have the Lionel box that it all came in. Not all the boxes are in great shape, but I have them.

[p69rrh51]

Yes I do. I even have the Lionel box that it all came in. Not all the boxes are in great shape, but I have them.

Nice! The original boxes, especially the set box are highly desirable. The missing cannisters for the gondola can be found, although reproductions are much easier to obtain than the originals.

[Now&then]

Just went to the Macy's at Fairlane [[which was Hudson's), and I always got a kick at seeing the Christmas stuff available [[-even on sale after the holidays, which I got great things I still have today back when Hudson's was around). When we asked a salesperson about the Christmas decorations for sale , he said "nope. we just packed them up and put them in storage." I was shocked. ten days before Christmas! I don't know if this was for all Macy's or just that location due to bad sales figures.

[Beech Cricker]

All this Lionel talk, sigh. I much prefer American Flyer [[Gilbert) trains...for one, they operate on two-rail track, not the goofy three-rail that Lionel had.

[WKL]

Hey - found the original "Instructions for Operating Lionel Train Outfit with Cam-Trol Uncoupling" in the bottom of the box. Don't ever remember having the Cam-Trol, guess it was a little much for a 3 years old. Nasty warning about "short-circuits" damaging the transformer. I guess #91 circuit breaker, sold separately, solved that.

[p69rrh51]

Hey - found the original "Instructions for Operating Lionel Train Outfit with Cam-Trol Uncoupling" in the bottom of the box. Don't ever remember having the Cam-Trol, guess it was a little much for a 3 years old. Nasty warning about "short-circuits" damaging the transformer. I guess #91 circuit breaker, sold separately, solved that.

You can find any of the more powerful transformers KW, TW, LW or ZW at very good prices at the moment. They have a built in circuit breaker.

[Honky Tonk]

You can find any of the more powerful transformers KW, TW, LW or ZW at very good prices at the moment. They have a built in circuit breaker.

ZW! Go big or go home.

[p69rrh51]

ZW! Go big or go home.

You got that right but make sure to purchase the 275 watt and not the 250 watt ZW.

[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.

[EastsideAl]

My grandmother worked at Hudson's and my great-aunt worked at Crowley's Their rivalry burned at least as hot as the rivalry between the two stores. We were always supposed to keep quiet with grandma about going to see auntie over in "that other store."

But my second cousins always went to see Santa in the land of the deafening rattle of wooden escalators. I remember going with them once, up to the usually inaccessible 7th floor "auditorium" level of the Crowley's store. I was just old enough to be catching on that the whole "store Santa" thing was kind of a hoax, and that all big stores had their own Santas. Still, going to see Santa at Crowley's was somehow a disconcerting experience. Yes, Crowley's had a "village" with ornate displays, moving characters, music, and "elves", but it was all somehow a little cut-rate compared to Hudson's. And the semi-empty echo of the sparsely attended Santa display in the high-ceilinged auditorium lent it something of an air of pathos.

But the Crowley's Santa did seem a little nicer, and you did get a few more precious seconds with him without getting the kiddie bum rush you often felt with the hordes over at Hudson's. And one element of Christmas at Crowley's did make me more than a little jealous, which was the fact that you could reserve a lunch with Santa! Kids even got a free mug to commemorate their Santa lunch. My cousins had a little mini-collection of these mugs as evidence of their familial Christmas time devotion to Detroit's second store.

[the rock]

Not quite 60 [[probably about 56 or 57) but straight from Hudsons [[customization by my Grandfather which at GM Diesel). I rescued it from my folks attic couple of years ago and it's around my Christmas tree right now. Not running right now, I need to clean the engine and get a new transformer. The transformer is down right scary looking.

My Lionel collection, which now numbers about 12 locomotives and about 50 pieces of rolling stock got its start at Hudsons. All equipment is running well and is set up in the basement year 'round. My oldest loco is a "Lionel Jr." Which came out for a few years during the Great Depression, although that little piece was a gift from a friend. It pulls 7 tin cars.

[p69rrh51]

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.

Sandhouse, could you provide the catalog numbers of the Alcos and Passenger cars? The numbers should be on the sides of the equipment.

[Honky Tonk]

You got that right but make sure to purchase the 275 watt and not the 250 watt ZW.

Only Hipsters buy the 250 watt ones to heat their Craft coffees......

[Sandhouse]

Sandhouse, could you provide the catalog numbers of the Alcos and Passenger cars?

I guess this thread is hopelessly jacked to toy trains, but that's still intimately associated with Detroit department stores at Christmas. And I've always wondered about this train set. It doesn't appear in the published antiques guides.

It contained powered and dummy Santa Fe Alcos both numbered 218, the three "President" coaches Nos. 2521, 2522, and 2523 [[no numbers on the gold-foil labels, just the names McKinley, Harrison, and Garfield), a whopping KW transformer, and an oval of Super "O" track with a passing siding and a pair of powered switches. A weird combination for a department-store special, but I'm confident it came in a single brown box and wasn't thrown together by Sears personnel. I don't know if the 218 had a horn. I've got two pairs of these, one with and one without a horn, and don't know which came in the set.

I also don't remember which Christmas I got it. I want to say 1964 for various reasons, chiefly because I associate it in memory with the Sears Macomb Mall store, which Wikipedia tells me opened in 1964. But it could have been as early as 1962, which means my dad would have stopped at the Sears Gratiot store on the way home from Hudson's. That would have been a bit out of character, but he would have done it to pick this up for his kid, who always wanted a passenger train. Of course I yearned for the 4-car $100 sets at the back of the Lionel catalog, but these were out of the question. I believe this set cost less than that, which made it irresistible to my bargain-hunting dad, even if it did come from Sears instead of Hudson's 12th floor. I suspect he was steered to it by a family friend at the Sears Macomb Mall store. My guess is this set was put together of slow-moving items as the Super "O" line was about to be phased out, and the Lionel operation was collapsing in 1964.

Like a lot of kids from 1955-65, I distinctly remember the reflections of Christmas-tree lights on these fluted aluminum train cars. In fact, it's under the tree in the next room as I type this. Horn still works, too, if you tickle the adjusting screw just right with a narrow screwdriver. Beep! Beep!

[archfan]

I was just old enough to be catching on that the whole "store Santa" thing was kind of a hoax, and that all big stores had their own Santas.

Wait, what do you mean, hoax?