December 15, 2009

Animated Windows

I was thinking about the animated Christmas windows I used to see when I was a kid. Toronto had two flagship stores, virtually side by side. Simpson's and Eaton's (kind of like Macy's and Gimbel's). I must have only seen their windows three or four times because I grew up about 150 miles north of the city.

The Christmas windows were special in those pre-CGI days. People made a pilgrimage to them. Eaton's and Simpson's are gone. Replaced with The Bay and Sears. I was checking out youtube to see what The Bay was offering in its windows, when I came across this splendid animated window. This window from Le Printemps in 2006 is just my cup of tea. Enjoy.

thanks dearlayla.

5 comments:

Brian Miller said...

oh how very cool...would love to see this in person...

T. said...

Put me on the next flight to Paris! This is absolutely delightful!

StimmeDesHerzens said...

My girlfriend Shandra works for Marriott hotel, and every Christmas we would stay a few nites in the city, and check out the windows of the major department stores on Union Square.
Imagine!! Christmas windows on Union Square, and shopping, ALL MIXED INTO ONE !!!
But this Christmas Lily and I are going to Alaska. shiver shiver
But magnificent views of nature will always trump shopping, in my world...
Beth

Giulia said...

This was fun & brought back memories. From there & here.

xo

Kat Mortensen said...

We used to make the annual pilgrimage downtown to see the Simpson's and Eaton's windows. Then it was off to the O'Keefe for "The Nutcracker". We'd also have Chinese at the Nanking restaurant in behind City Hall.

Did you get excited over the "Christmas Wish Book" too?

This sweet Parisian window puts me in mind of the dancing cups and saucers in "Beauty and the Beast".

So, nothing from The Bay, then?

(By the way, my dad used to work on Adelaide Street for Revenue Canada and every Friday he'd head over to the bakery in Simpsons and come home with boxes of cherry-almond tarts and bags of hard candies with that fizzy citrus stuff in the centres. Fun days, they were!)