The Store of the South
DECEMBER 3, 2017 / BIENVENUEPRESSBLOG
The always entertaining Lee St. John stops by The FrontPorch today to share with us a hometown holiday story. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!
My hometown holiday memory is composed of a mother-daughter excursion to Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta. Our agenda included reveling in my ‘Breakfast with Santa’ in the Magnolia Room Restaurant where all the children squealed with delight as Santa meandered around and spoke to each of us, visiting St. Nick to have my picture taken on Santa’s knee while I whispered my Christmas desires, flying high in the Pink Pig monorail above the toy department, being able to independently shop for my parents in Santa’s Secret Shop, and becoming mesmerized by the lighting of the GREAT TREE at the end of an adrenaline-induced day.
Founded in 1867, Rich’s Department Store came to symbolize the retail shopping experience in Atlanta during the twentieth century and was inextricably linked with our capitol’s history. In the 1950s and 1960s, Rich’s Magnolia Room Restaurant was generally known for the fashion shows, called Rich’s Fashionata, which were held while ladies enjoyed a light luncheon fare including their delicious chicken salad, cheese straws, and fabulously famous coconut cake (which I learned about later when I was old enough to be included in that divine tea room). But before those recollections, Rich’s hosted their Christmas Breakfast with Santa. My favorite menu choice was rice crispies mixed with vanilla ice cream. Wearing my best green velvet dress, ruffled ankle socks, black patent leather shoes, and carrying a white faux fur muff with matching hat, my picture with the jolly ‘ole man took place after breakfast.
The lines were extremely long. I was never frightened of him because he looked just like the picturesque Coca-Cola Santa. The black and white 5” X 7” photo was mailed to your home shortly after the photograph was taken. Santa’s helpers gave the participants green Christmas tree shaped candy for sitting on his knee.
I looked forward to riding Priscilla, The Pink Pig. In 1956, the bright pink monorail excursion debuted with a piggy snout and curly tail. This magical journey around the toy department with all the toys, decorations, and sparkling lights was only 3 ½ minutes long and cost a quarter. It was later moved to the rooftop circling the GREAT TREE. Your car moved onto the Crystal Bridge, a four story all-glass bridge that stretched across Forsyth Street, connecting Rich’s two buildings. There you had an enormous view of all the glistening ornaments as large basketballs. It then carried you around the base of the tree as you looked over the city streets. I still have a white, satin sticker with Priscilla’s smiling face declaring, “I Rode the Pink Pig.”
Our activities were not over. I remember shopping at Santa’s Secret Shop on the fifth floor. The emporium allowed me to privately pick out inexpensive gifts for my parents because adults were not allowed in. Santa’s elves assisted me with what I bought while my mother shopped elsewhere in the store. Rich’s set up accounts where parents paid for their children’s acquisitions using what was then called ‘the charge plate’. All purchases were secretly wrapped, of course.
As the day stretched into dusk, mother and I, along with tens of thousands from all over the South, attended the lighting of the GREAT TREE. To generate more anticipation for the ceremony, the city lights were turned off for about thirty minutes after a complete sunset. Then the freshly-cut 75 foot tall Georgia White pine came to life with its miles of sparkle and 7-foot-tall star. Atop the Crystal Bridge, the tree’s first bedazzlement began Thanksgiving night and continued every night through Christmas Eve. Each of the bridge’s four levels provided Christmas carols from heralding choruses. Rich’s GREAT TREE was featured on the cover of Time Magazine on December 15, 1961.
New York’s tree lighting comes fairly close to the GREAT TREE but everything about Rich’s was OURS. It was home in so many ways – not just at Christmas. It was as much a part of the Atlanta landscape as the statue of the Phoenix (bought by Rich’s) which was once featured downtown and known as “Atlanta from the Ashes”, a symbol of Atlanta’s revival. This Christmas memory’s afterglow warms me since this tradition at this location no longer exists. But once there was a time that was magical and Southerners came near and far to spend a part of their holiday at “The Store of the South”.
The always entertaining Lee St. John stops by The FrontPorch today to share with us a hometown holiday story. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!
My hometown holiday memory is composed of a mother-daughter excursion to Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta. Our agenda included reveling in my ‘Breakfast with Santa’ in the Magnolia Room Restaurant where all the children squealed with delight as Santa meandered around and spoke to each of us, visiting St. Nick to have my picture taken on Santa’s knee while I whispered my Christmas desires, flying high in the Pink Pig monorail above the toy department, being able to independently shop for my parents in Santa’s Secret Shop, and becoming mesmerized by the lighting of the GREAT TREE at the end of an adrenaline-induced day.
Founded in 1867, Rich’s Department Store came to symbolize the retail shopping experience in Atlanta during the twentieth century and was inextricably linked with our capitol’s history. In the 1950s and 1960s, Rich’s Magnolia Room Restaurant was generally known for the fashion shows, called Rich’s Fashionata, which were held while ladies enjoyed a light luncheon fare including their delicious chicken salad, cheese straws, and fabulously famous coconut cake (which I learned about later when I was old enough to be included in that divine tea room). But before those recollections, Rich’s hosted their Christmas Breakfast with Santa. My favorite menu choice was rice crispies mixed with vanilla ice cream. Wearing my best green velvet dress, ruffled ankle socks, black patent leather shoes, and carrying a white faux fur muff with matching hat, my picture with the jolly ‘ole man took place after breakfast.
The lines were extremely long. I was never frightened of him because he looked just like the picturesque Coca-Cola Santa. The black and white 5” X 7” photo was mailed to your home shortly after the photograph was taken. Santa’s helpers gave the participants green Christmas tree shaped candy for sitting on his knee.
I looked forward to riding Priscilla, The Pink Pig. In 1956, the bright pink monorail excursion debuted with a piggy snout and curly tail. This magical journey around the toy department with all the toys, decorations, and sparkling lights was only 3 ½ minutes long and cost a quarter. It was later moved to the rooftop circling the GREAT TREE. Your car moved onto the Crystal Bridge, a four story all-glass bridge that stretched across Forsyth Street, connecting Rich’s two buildings. There you had an enormous view of all the glistening ornaments as large basketballs. It then carried you around the base of the tree as you looked over the city streets. I still have a white, satin sticker with Priscilla’s smiling face declaring, “I Rode the Pink Pig.”
Our activities were not over. I remember shopping at Santa’s Secret Shop on the fifth floor. The emporium allowed me to privately pick out inexpensive gifts for my parents because adults were not allowed in. Santa’s elves assisted me with what I bought while my mother shopped elsewhere in the store. Rich’s set up accounts where parents paid for their children’s acquisitions using what was then called ‘the charge plate’. All purchases were secretly wrapped, of course.
As the day stretched into dusk, mother and I, along with tens of thousands from all over the South, attended the lighting of the GREAT TREE. To generate more anticipation for the ceremony, the city lights were turned off for about thirty minutes after a complete sunset. Then the freshly-cut 75 foot tall Georgia White pine came to life with its miles of sparkle and 7-foot-tall star. Atop the Crystal Bridge, the tree’s first bedazzlement began Thanksgiving night and continued every night through Christmas Eve. Each of the bridge’s four levels provided Christmas carols from heralding choruses. Rich’s GREAT TREE was featured on the cover of Time Magazine on December 15, 1961.
New York’s tree lighting comes fairly close to the GREAT TREE but everything about Rich’s was OURS. It was home in so many ways – not just at Christmas. It was as much a part of the Atlanta landscape as the statue of the Phoenix (bought by Rich’s) which was once featured downtown and known as “Atlanta from the Ashes”, a symbol of Atlanta’s revival. This Christmas memory’s afterglow warms me since this tradition at this location no longer exists. But once there was a time that was magical and Southerners came near and far to spend a part of their holiday at “The Store of the South”.
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