The Word - Vol 50

This is Christmas

As we head into the festive season and once again trot out Bing Crosby singing White Christmas, I’ve been wondering, did we have many white Christmases in Vancouver when I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s? If we did, I don’t remember too many?

If there was snow on the ground on December 25th, it seemed to last only a day or two before the “West Coast Snow Shovel,” (also known as pouring rain) washed it all away. Was there a need for a snow shovel? I don’t remember our family owning a snow shovel back in those days. I know for sure we didn’t own a set of snow tires for the family car. The family car didn’t go out much, especially in the winter. The exception would be the night the whole family would jump in the car and drive around town looking for houses decorated with Christmas lights. It was a marvelous night, and now that I think back on it, we didn’t have any lights up at our house except for the ones on the Christmas tree.  

Ah, the Christmas tree, it had to be a “real” tree, and it had to be “perfect.” We would spend hours searching through tree lots on the west side of the city looking for that perfect tree. Mother insisted that it couldn’t have any bare spots amongst the branches, it had to be a certain height and it had to have that “freshly cut smell.” Each year we somehow managed to end up with the perfect tree. 

The night of decorating the tree was quite a ritual that involved all the old decorations, the strings of lights, and always a search for the one bulb that was burned out that would throw the whole string of lights into darkness! And something that both Mom and Dad insisted on was the placement of the silver “tinsel.” And I mean placement. Each strand, (saved from last year’s tree), had to be hung straight, not touching each other, gently placed on the branches, and certainly not thrown onto the tree! Of course, when Christmas was over and the tree had to come down, the job of removing the tinsel and saving it for the following year was just about as big a job as putting the tinsel on the tree in the first place! Heaven help us that we might have to go and buy a new box of tinsel! I guess after the exhaustive and probably expensive job of buying the perfect tree, it didn’t leave much money for new tinsel. 

Presents ‘neath the tree were never hugely expensive gifts, but there was always a present for everyone. And the one special gift we always looked forward to was not the one from Santa, although that was exciting, it was the present from our Uncle Tunney and Aunty Gee Gee. They weren’t our real Aunt and Uncle, just very close friends who had no children of their own and spoiled my sisters and me every year. You might call them unofficial Godparents.

We looked forward not only to the gifts but for the amazing job Gee Gee did every year wrapping the presents. The wrapping was something out of a Better Home and Gardens magazine and always included a gift tag that would double as a tree ornament. I still have the gift tag/ornament from my very first Christmas in 1949. The Santa riding a bicycle tag has been on every Christmas tree we’ve ever had for the past 73 years and will be on the tree again this year making it 74 years. Thanks to my Mother who tucked it away every year for safe keeping, and gave it to me when I was on my own to keep the tradition going. 

Tradition is such a big part of the Christmas season, and one of the big traditions for years for many Vancouverites was to head downtown to look at the window displays in the major department stores. The Hudson’s Bay, Eaton’s, and Woodward’s stores all had beautiful Christmas-themed displays. I think I remember the Woodward’s store displays most fondly because of the animatronics of elves, reindeer, and festive scenes. We’d get on the bus and start off at Woodward’s store, then walk up to Eaton’s and finish off at the Bay. 

And now that wonderful tradition is alive and well for you to enjoy once again. Some of the original Woodward’s window displays are being featured at Canada Place, made possible by David Rowland, of Creatix Studios International. When Rowland heard that Woodward’s stores were closing forever, he negotiated a deal to purchase the historic Woodward’s window displays including all the elves, geese, and teddy bears that came with them. But then he faced the dilemma of finding somewhere big enough to display these wonderful windows. Enter Canada Place. 

At first, Rowland was looking to rent the displays, but Canada Place wanted to buy them, so the deal was made and Canada Place became the owners of most of the window displays. Rowland kept a few of his favourites for himself, and some of those can be seen at venues throughout the city. 

So, if you’d like to relive some of your youth, or introduce some of your fond Christmas memories to your family, the nostalgic tradition of the Woodward’s Windows is now on display at Canada Place, presented by the Port of Vancouver. 

The display opened on December 1st and will be there till January 2nd 2024, from 8am to 10pm daily including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. And the cost?…. It’s free!

Thank you Woodward’s, thank you David Rowland, and thank you Port of Vancouver for keeping a Vancouver Christmas tradition alive.

Till next week...
Wayne

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