The wife and I went Christmas shopping today (Friday Dec. 22) and how that brought back memories.
That’s an affliction of people my age. We find reminders of the past in the present. Sometimes they are refreshingly pleasant and today was such an example.
It was surprising on a positive note to see the crowds throughout today. I recall a time when people jammed stores virtually nonstop from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
As a child in Johnstown, the retail activity centered on the downtown, with Penn Traffic’s holiday window display much like the one portrayed in the movie “A Christmas Story.” Glosser Bros. department store also was festive back then, as were the many smaller retail outlets that dotted the downtown landscape and – get this – stayed open after five p.m., particularly during the holiday season.
Through the years the action migrated to the Richland area, with the strip of stores along Scalp Avenue and the late Richland Mall, formerly on the site of our current WalMart. During my early days working for the Tribune-Review, I recall needing to find an alternative way home from the Greensburg office during this time of year to miss the traffic tieup on Route 30 associated with Westmoreland Mall shoppers.
Those scenes had waned decidedly in recent years as a combination of online shopping and overhyped viruses had people observing holidays in relative isolation.
A maskhole or two was witnessed today, despite overwhelming evidence the masks do little more than encumber the wearer, both in terms of breathing and also in terms of giving wearers an unrealistically high level of confidence that infection can’t work it’s way through that cheap piece of cloth.
The majority of our fellow shoppers were unmasked and having a good time. My wife even had a mini-reunion with a cousin she had not seen in many years.
The shoppers were courteous for the most part and spending plenty as judging by their jammed shopping cart. Workers, who in past years had been limited to “Happy Holidays” greetings so as not to offend the Woke crowd, are back to saying “Merry Christmas.” A positive there.
The story was the same at Ollie’s along Scalp Avenue, at WalMart and satellite shops around it, and at the Galleria.
The Galleria was especially encouraging, considering that the last several times I’d been there the place had been virtually dead. Now there are smaller shops springing up. The once vacant food court has numerous dining options, and seemingly a good flow of pleased customers
A small train was offering children rides (for $6) in one common area and the engineer sang Christmas carols. I repeat, no canned soundtrack, the guy actually sang – quite well, I might add.
Families with small children stood in line nearby eagerly anticipating a moment with Santa and a photo opportunity.
No Galleria visit is complete without a stop at Boscov’s, which is sort of a combined Penn Traffic/Glosser’s. Again, the memories.
As we left the WalMart area to motor over to the Galleria, there were cars lined up on Theatre Drive. Coming back past that area to meet our son for dinner, the backups were even worse.
There was excitement in the air, the sort you don’t get sitting in front of your computer clicking a mouse to make purchases.
This reminds me of some of the commentary from Ed McMahon, the second banana to The Tonight Show headliner Johnny Carson for about three decades, beginning when I was seven years old. Back then, staying up that late was something that happened for me only this time of the year.
McMahon and Carson loved to chitchat about Christmas shopping. McMahon preferred to wait until the last minute and go dashing around up to and including on Christmas Eve to make his purchases. Carson was more of an early shopper. McMahon simply enjoyed the exciting atmosphere as Christmas neared.
About a week later each year, Carson and McMahon would host a New Year’s Eve show, cutting to Ben Grauer at Times Square for periodic updates and, finally the countdown to a New Year as the ball dropped.
This eventually gave way to over-the-top network celebrations, devoting hours and copious amounts of entertainment to the ringing in of a new year.
Somehow, I preferred the old way, just as I prefer seeing families out shopping in stores and making precious memories.
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