Strouss' Archives - Bob on Books

free_personalized_santa_claus_video_for_kids Santa Claus has been making a grand entrance into Youngstown going back nearly a century, at least. I came across this item in A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Mahoning County and Youngstown, Ohio, from 1921:

SANTA CLAUS CAME TO FORDYCE’S

“Evidence that the characters in the Santa Claus scene have undergone change over the years is found in the fact that on December 12th, a number of Santa’s surrogates arrived via the Erie Railroad to prepare the way for the later arrival of the jolly old gentleman himself. Chris Claus, brother of Santa, and “Toofy”, his companion, whose job it was to look after Santa Claus’s mail during the rush hours, came in via railroad because ‘they ran out of snow about 200 miles north of here and were compelled to forsake the reindeer and dog teams.’ Some 200 children met the pair at the railroad station and escorted them to the George L. Fordyce Store where Santa maintained local headquarters until Christmas. There were so many adults in the crowd, pushing and shoving to get their children’s letters into the hands of Santa Claus that the reception committee was lost in the crowd and the ropes that were intended to hold back the crowd proved utterly ineffective. In regard to the effect of the Santa Claus traditon upon children, Superintendent of Schools O. L. Reid said it should be encouraged. ‘Whatever tends to develop or prolong imagination is well worth while’, he told members of the Sunday School Institute at Central Christian Church” (p. 241).

With air travel and the opening of the Youngstown Municipal Airport, I’ve read a number of accounts of Santa arriving from the air in the 1940’s. Until the 1980’s, Santa’s arrival was heralded in the Strouss’ Thanksgiving Day parade in downtown Youngstown. Santa also made a big arrival at Hills Department Store, landing in a helicopter. Many of the stores (Hills, Strouss and McKelvey’s) had some version of Christmas land with the chance for children to sit on Santa’s lap, have their pictures taken with him, and tell him all the things they wanted for Christmas.

I don’t remember ever going to the airport or the parade or visiting a department store Santa. I do remember a Christmas party held for families of lodge members at my dad’s lodge where we got to sit with Santa and went home with a stocking full of goodies.

The tradition continues. Santa will be visiting Mill Creek MetroParks this weekend. Today (November 28, 2015) children can give Santa their wish list from 11 AM to 5 PM at the Old Fashioned Christmas at Lanterman’s Mill. Tomorrow (November 29, 2015), Santa will make his appearance from 11 AM to 2 PM with some unusual animal friends like camels, yaks and reindeer at Santa’s Winter Barn at the Metroparks Farm. Since the barn is not heated, dress for the weather!

Then on Friday December 4, Santa will be part of the Youngstown Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting in downtown Youngstown. Festivities begin at 4:30, the parade starts at 5:30 and the tree-lighting is at 6:30. This year’s Grand Marshal for the parade is Sister Jerome Corcoran, who is nearly 100 years old. According to the Vindy.com article Santa’s arrival will coincide with the tree-lighting and kids can get their pictures with Santa afterwards.

I’m glad this long tradition is continuing. I’m with that former Superintendent in thinking that “whatever tends to develop or prolong imagination is well worth while.”

What are your memories of Santa’s arrival?

Growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s in Youngstown, going downtown was a big deal. You dressed up. I remember going downtown with my grandmother and having to get out of summer play clothes and dressing up in my Sunday clothes. My wife, who also grew up in Youngstown, remembers this as well–in her case, the girls even wore white gloves. By the mid-1960s, things probably started loosening up, which is also about the time that the bustling downtown of my childhood began dying. More on this later.

Home Savings and Loan

We lived on the west side of the city, off of Mahoning Ave where there is a bit of a hill. I could look out the back window of my bedroom and see downtown, parts of the mills, and the north side of the city, where St. Elizabeth’s Hospital (now Medical Center) is located. What stood out on the skyline was the Home Savings and Loan bank tower, which was lit at night. It is so iconic that the bank still uses this in their logo.

Strouss’ Logo from the 60s

Shopping in downtown Youngstown seemed a bit of a magical experience, whether it was going to get a malted shake at Strouss’, one of the big department stores along West Federal Street, or looking out on all the shoppers from the Mezzanine level. I went through a phase where I collected stamps, and one of the best places in the 60s to get stamps in Youngstown was the Mezzanine level stamp counter, so it was kind of a “twofer” for me. Strouss’ eventually built satellite stores in the shopping strips and malls that sprang up in the late 60s. Later on, they were bought out by the May Company.

McKelvey’s logo

The other big department store was G.M. McKelvey’s, which always had incredible Christmas displays, the “Hall of Music” where you could take your kids for music lessons, and a grille on the first floor that my father managed for a time. My first (and only) experience of punching in and out on a time clock came when I worked as a stock clerk through high school and college. My wages (and some scholarships) paid my way through college, as it did for a number of friends I made there, most of us students at Youngstown State. Eventually, Higbee’s in Cleveland bought them out, and then closed down the store in 1979. The building, which was actually a maze of several building when you explored all the stock rooms in the place, was eventually torn down

Of course, there were a number of smaller businesses and several theatres there at the time. The first movie I ever saw (I think) was “Babes in Toyland” in the State Theatre. The Warner Theatre was eventually turned into Powers Auditorium, the home of the Youngstown Symphony. As rock ‘n roll took off, the Record Rendezvous was the place to get your latest hits. You shopped for shoes at Lustigs. There was a Woolworth’s and Kresges with soda fountains. Many doctors and lawyers had offices in Central Tower on the square. My orthodontist was there-not such a happy memory! Nor was registering for the draft in the Selective Service offices which I believe were in the main post office building.

St. Columba’s Cathedral still presides over downtown Youngstown from a hill just north of the downtown. The Cathedral burnt down in 1954 and was rebuilt on the same site. A number of other church buildings also were located in or near downtown including First Presbyterian Church, St John’s Episcopal, and my own church, then known as Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, at Wood and Walnut Streets. In the 1960s the church relocated to a west suburb.

And that tells the tale of what happened to downtown Youngstown as so many other downtowns. Suburban communities grew up around the city as the more affluent moved out. More retail shopping occurred in strip plazas and the two shopping malls eventually built in the area. As people moved from foot and bus transportation to the automobile, bus service to the downtown dwindled. And when the steel mills closed in 1978, the stores soon followed.

In more recent years, the city has torn down dilapidated buildings. Government offices occupy the old McKelvey building space. Restaurants have opened and cater to the crowds attending events at the Covelli Centre. A “business incubator” occupies the old Strouss’ building. Youngstown hangs on and is trying to reinvent itself.

In working class Youngstown, I think the downtown we grew up with represented the finer things in life one strove for in one’s work. It reminded you that there were times and places that were special–holiday displays and trees on the square, or going to the bank to get a loan to improve your house. You minded your manners, you dressed up, and you anticipated a trip downtown as something special. What was amazing was that things that special could be found not just in a few places like New York or Chicago, but even in working class Youngstown.