For some, a big family Christmas dinner is how they celebrate, while for others, it is baking cookies, singing carols or remembering family members who have passed away. Sangamon Experience asked several individuals to share their special holiday memories of growing up in Springfield.
For those whose memories go back far enough, nothing will ever compare to the era when downtown was the heart of retail and crowds thronged its sidewalks during the holiday season. In the past, the streets of downtown Springfield were decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving, the holiday season’s opening. Children could stop by Santa’s house on the Old State Capitol grounds in the 1940s to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.
Myers Brothers, Sears, Bressmer’s, Herndon and several other national retailers, including Montgomery Ward, were spaced out within an eight-block area. You could go to every type of retail operation, from small dress shops and shoe stores, to full-size department stores.
John Simpson grew up in Taylorville in the 1950s. He stated that most of his memories of Christmas shopping were in Springfield, considering it was the closest place to shop.
“Our holiday shopping in Springfield was usually on a weekday night. [One of] my sisters was in nurses’ training at Memorial Hospital. The student nurses lived at the hospital. Both my parents worked; Sunday was for church, and Christmas shopping in downtown Springfield was so crowded (on Saturdays) that my parents avoided that. So as soon as my parents were home from work after 5 p.m., we would drive to Springfield to pick up my sister at Memorial, and the shop-a-thon was on,” Simpson said.
“The first floors of Myers and Bressmer’s were overwhelming to a kid. The smell from the perfume counters near the door nearly knocked you over. Dozens, hundreds of people milling around the cosmetic and ladies’ accessory counters on the first floor were a maze to find your way through. When headed upstairs to the clothing and furniture floors, you rode in the elevators. All the floors were covered in holiday decorations and trees, and young women in elf costumes directed the customers.
“If the gift was more upscale clothing for a woman relative or friend, you went to Roland’s or Herndon’s. Sometimes I would get dragged in there by my sister or mother. Inside was a completely baffling multitude of dresses, skirts and blouses. I do recall that Herndon’s had elevator operators who sat by the buttons and levers and guided you up and down. And they always seemed to have another suggestion – the operators had excellent merchandising training.
“Often, my father and I would escape the clothing stores and head over to Fishman’s at Sixth and Washington streets. We both fished, hunted and camped. The place was a multistory jumble of everything outdoors. I do not recall any particular order to the store. You just wandered around, which was actually perfect from the store’s perspective, because you always found something you wanted. If a particular item was desired, you spoke to one of the ancient clerks, and they shuffled their way through piles and stacks and invariably found the exact item.
“Of course, the Old Capitol square was also surrounded by many specialty shops – The Hub for men’s clothing; B & F and a number of shoe stores; candy stores, small restaurants, florists, drug stores and many others. Downtown even had a barber college. Several barbers were around the square, and most had a shoeshine stand.
“Finally, exhausted from shopping, my parents’ wallets depleted (no one had credit cards), we would head home and drop my sister off. But one more stop was on the agenda. At South Grand and Ninth stood The Georgian restaurant. We might get a sandwich and a drink, but we always got banana cream pie. Sitting by the windows looking out on the street, maybe snow falling, the booths hung with pine garlands, a Christmas tree up at the hostess stand, a sprig of spruce in a tiny vase on the table, we would enjoy our pie, imagine what we’d open on Christmas and whether Aunt Bea would like her gift. I suppose my parents would count up the evening’s financial toll. But I didn’t worry about that.”
Steve Myers started working in his family’s business in the late 1970s. He worked in the warehouse and distribution center for Myers Brothers at 118 S. Fourth St. At the time, the company had 10 department stores throughout central Illinois. “All of the 18-wheelers would pull down that alley between Fourth and Fifth streets, and they would offload goods to be tagged with price tags,” Myers said. “We distributed out the merchandise… Some would go across the alley into the main building, and then the rest would be distributed to the other stores for products that would go out on the floor for sale, but Christmas was always the magical time of the year.”
According to Myers, display windows were the key to attracting attention to the products and hopefully motivating people to walk into the store.
“There were about seven or eight different windows that went around Washington and Fifth streets,” he said. “When you look at recounts on social media of people’s favorite memories of the holiday season while shopping downtown, many recall walking by those stores and seeing what was in the display windows.”
While working at the family department store, Myers would enter not through the front doors on Fifth Street, but the door right at the corner of Fourth and Washington. It was across the street from the parking ramp, and many people parked in that parking ramp at that time.
“You walked in, and guess what? The first department that you walked into was cards and candy, and it smelled like peppermint and roasting nuts,” Myers said. “It made you want to buy something and eat it right then and, on the way, out, you got that smell too, and you had to buy it before you walked out. Santa was there during business hours, and the decorations throughout the store were orchestrated to set a mood, a tone and a feeling. There was no way you could not get that feeling when you strolled through the store, so the activity and the bustling nature of the holiday season is something that can translate every year. Our key now is to recreate that feeling (in downtown Springfield).”
A magical Christmas experience awaits all interested in making memories that will last a lifetime.
Anne Moseley is the director of engagement and curator of the Sangamon Experience at University of Illinois Springfield, a multifaceted initiative highlighting the history of the Sangamon region of central Illinois.
This article appears in Project Censored 2023.
