Downtown Cleveland Nostalgia

Courtesy of Life Magazine and
Cleveland Memory Project

Since I was a young, I've had a soft spot for eras long past.  Especially the 1940's and 1950's.  Perhaps it was being raised on Pleasant Company's American Girl Dolls (sorry, Mattel, it just isn't the same since you bought the doll line).  Or maybe it was my affinity for pearls and housekeeping.  Whatever the reason, every so often I will get an ache in the pit of my stomach and a feeling of all encompassing sadness for the fact that I will never experience "simpler times".  It passes quickly; however, I realized early on that this isn't a response most people have.


The holidays seem to bring on this unjustified nostalgia.  The cocktail of classic Christmas movies, Rat Pack music, and sharing memories cause it to rush over me like a tidal wave.  The other day, while randomly surfing the web, I came across a documentary that made me so desperately want to find a Delorian and travel back in time.  Cleveland's PBS station (WVIZ) apparently made a special called The Way We Shopped years ago and I found it on YouTube.  The hour long special takes viewers back to the golden age of shopping in Downtown Cleveland: Higbee's, May Company, Sterling Lindner, and Halle's.  The talk of dressing up in your best to be seen Downtown, uniformed elevator operators, and the famous Sterling Christmas Tree put me in awe.  I now officially declare that I hate shopping malls and the 1960's and 1970's urban sprawl that ruined it for everyone.

Courtesy of CSU Digital Library

If the idea of wearing your hat and gloves out on the town puts a slight smile on your face, I suggest checking out this special.  It transports you to a time when Christmas window displays were a quarter of a million dollars of a store's annual budget.  The stories remind you that no one had heard of "customer service" because it didn't need a name: it was simply implied.  Stores were closed on Sundays and shopping was as much a community experience as it was an errand.


Who wants to grab a penny for the streetcar to Public Square and eat lunch at the Silver Grille after an afternoon of last minute Christmas shopping?



Courtesy of the Cleveland Memory Project
http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/u?/press,180