Macy’s aims for biggest and best holiday windows

NEW YORK — Retail visionary R.H. Macy was friends with legendary showman P.T. Barnum — two rich guys hanging out in the 1860s.

Why is this important now? Because had Barnum not suggested that Macy show off his prized collection of mechanical toys in his store windows at Christmastime, we might not be able to enjoy the over-the-top holiday displays — filled with dazzling high-tech elements unimaginable when wind-up toys drew a crowd — that we do today.

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Seth Wenig / AP

A detail from the Macy’s holiday 2008 series, which is themed ‘the making of Christmas magic.’

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AP Photo/Macy's

This undated photo shows Macy’s holiday windows in the early 1900s.

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• Photos of Macy's and other holiday windows

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The theme of this year’s display at the Herald Square flagship — which bills itself as the world’s largest store and is celebrating its 150th anniversary — is the making of Christmas magic. The six oversized windows facing Broadway depict the detail, hope and love that go into different elements of the holidays, such as tree lights, ornaments, snow and tinsel. There’s no merchandise along the main thoroughfare, although gift ideas are featured in smaller windows on other facades of the block-size building.

“I think kids will love it with all its crazy moving parts, and I want them to believe this is how things are made,” explains Paul Olszewski, Macy’s Herald Square director of windows.

It’s not quite that easy: The windows are the result of a year’s worth of work and a lot of fretting. He then spends the better part of the holiday season outside the windows with the crowd, hoping to see kids say, “Wow!” and also seeing what could work better.

Company historians trace the windows back to the end of the 19th century, when Macy had to hire extra workers to wind up the toys on a schedule to keep them humming. For a few years, he abandoned the moving-part windows because of the staff costs in favor of seasonal doll displays.

In 1899, technology caught up and Macy reinstated animated motors (which are now often run by computers).

The birth of the Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924 convinced the company to even further ratchet up its Christmas display, considering there were crowds dozens deep on 34th Street, plus it was a prosperous time, so Macy’s found itself in a friendly competition with other retailers, says Bob Rutan, the retailer’s historian and director of event operations.

From the 1970s to early ’90s, though, the store pulled back, instead filling its ample display cases with products and pondering whether the investment in blockbuster windows was worth it.

Macy’s decided it was — especially after seeing other retailers step up their decorations, says Rutan.

Rutan says the competition is good, and indeed there are lots of beautiful windows to see this year.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday display touts the beauty of the snowflake, drawing inspiration from its new children’s book, “A Flake Like Me,” while Lord & Taylor celebrates favorite Christmas traditions in its windows. Typically fashion-forward Barneys New York is looking back at the ’60s, prominently featuring a Volkswagen Beetle covered in peace signs, flowers and other retro symbols.

“It’s all getting more magical and that’s what the holiday season is all about,” Rutan says.