As we continue our look at Castle Noel in Medina, OH this post will focus on their window displays from NYC. The owner, Mark Klaus, has traveled to New York to take possession of department store window displays after the Christmas is over and bring them back to be featured at Castle Noel.
Castle Noel’s window displays are from New York’s Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor and Macy’s. Each display has a different theme. There is one that is a Christmas tree made up entirely of shoes and even a gummy bear tree. My favorite has scenes from around the world – New York, Paris, Rome to name a few. Most of the displays are animated and tell a story. They are quite impressive and combined with all the movie props and Christmas fun, they do truly make Castle Noel the largest, indoor, year round Christmas entertainment attraction in the US!
Window displays in downtown department stores have long been a major part of Christmas culture in the US. In fact in Cleveland, the staff at Halle’s would begin their preparation for Christmas in March. Every June they would go to a conference in New York to see all the latest advancements in technology as well as the up and coming trends. Today, in the Jack Casino (the old Higbee’s department store downtown) they still put up Christmas window displays, paying homage to the buildings past! We’ll take a look at those soon.