New York City's 2007 Holiday Windows

Some of the best and most popular Christmas traditions in New York city are the annual Christmas window displays, created by some of the city's biggest stores. Each year the stores use a different theme, attracting kids and adults alike to peer through the windows and feel a wonderful Christmas spirit.

During the busiest times of the holiday season it is thought that the Christmas windows receive as many as 6,000 visitors an hour. Taking some time to visit the various displays is certainly a yearly tradition for many families, who enjoy viewing the glittering and moving scenes. So what are New York City's stores up to this Christmas?

Lord & Taylor
Traditionally the themes created by Lord & Taylor for their holiday windows are usually classic Christmas stories. The 2007 Christmas window theme for Lord and & Taylor is Christmas' five senses, taste, feel, smell, sight and sound. The senses are shown in a series of scenes that have a traditional look and very European feel. The display begins with taste, where viewers will get a peak inside an upper class, New York family's home as they enjoy Christmas dinner. The next scene depicts the sense of feel. This scene is set in a snowy Copenhagen with children enjoying typical winter activities, such as snowman building and making snowballs. The smells around Christmas time are many peoples favourite part of the holiday. Where is better to depict smell than a Parisian patisserie and bakery during the preparing of delicious breads and treats. The sense of sight scene is placed in the city of Venice and shows Santa Claus arriving in the city. The final sense displayed is sound. This charming scene has a second message of joining together and getting along. It shows children, each dressed in a traditional costume from the country they represent, enjoying Christmas celebrations. Lord & Taylor is located at 39th Street at Fifth Avenue.

Barneys
The 2007 holiday window at Barneys combines magical scenes of Christmas with and important issue of today, the environment. Their eco-themed Christmas window is another message from Barneys who have been trying to do their bit for the environment. In recent times they have started to use recycled paper for their shopping bags and catalogues. The holiday display this year uses a classic theme and makes it an eco-message. One part depicts the 'Twelve Green Days of Christmas' and the other is 'Rudolph the Recycling Reindeer'. So while entertaining and keeping with the Christmas spirit, Barney's holiday window also sends an important message. You will find Barneys at 660 Madison Avenue.

Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks' 2007 Christmas window display is inspired by a wonderful children's book called 'Snowpeople', written by Rick and Ryan Zeeb and has illustrations that were done by Trish Burgio. This is a special book that was created by Saks and the publisher HarperCollins, if you want to get a unique Christmas gift for a child consider this book, as it is only available new from Saks. This holiday window is very active, with a variety of fun snowmen and snowwomen moving about on various adventures. Saks is found at 611 Fifth Avenue.

Macy's
Each year Macy's Christmas window displays are probably the most technologically involved of the city's windows. Their 2007 scene takes you straight into Santa Clause's inner sanctum, where he is keeping track of who is being naughty and nice. Viewers themselves will become part of the scene as they see their faces appear on Santa's high tech naughty and nice TV monitors. This is a fun and creative Christmas window that is sure to be a hit with viewers. Macy's is located on Herald Square, Broadway between 34th and 35th Streets.

Bloomingdale's
Another of New York City's biggest department stores that always puts up a great holiday window display is Bloomingdale's. Their 2007 Christmas window has been created bye Bloomingdale's, Children's Museum of the Arts and Children's Museum of Manhattan. The scenes are inspired from children's images of Christmas. Children were asked to create scenes by painting and sculpting. Then a number were chosen to come to life in the Christmas display. Because the children were free to use their imaginations the scenes are far from traditional and include some very interesting characters including robots, and glowing snowflakes. The display is called 'Tis the Season to Be Gifted'. Bloomingdale's is located at 1000 Third Avenue at 59th Street.

Bergdorf Goodman
The holiday window of Bergdorf Goodman this year is intricate, glittering, unusual and shows clear signs of influence from Asia. Each scene is earth related, with fire, water, ice and green used in the themes. Fashion lovers will want some of the beautiful gowns used in the display. This window is elegant and is probably more geared toward adult enjoyment than children. The store is located south of Central Park, on Fifth Avenue.

These are just the major holiday window displays found in New York City, but certainly not all of them. Many stores throughout the city create enchanting windows each year to celebrate the holiday season.