NO LIFE BUT THIS: A Novel of Emily Warren Roebling is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


It is biographical fiction based on the life of Emily Warren Roebling considered to be the first female field engineer and highly instrumental in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.


http://atbosh.com/authors/diane-vogel-ferri/

Friday, December 19, 2008

Cleveland Christmas Memories



In the first half of the twentieth century Cleveland was a well established major city, endowed with the cultural arts thanks to people with names like Rockefeller. Christmas was a magical time. I grew up in a village in the eastern suburbs about 20 miles from the city, but it seemed like another world. In the city I saw people with different skin color than mine for the first time. The gaseous fumes from buses was foreign to me. My mother and I would venture downtown on the "rapid transit" and visit my great-aunt Irene who worked at The May Company, which later became Kaufman's and now Macy's. Sadly, all the downtown department stores are now gone. Back then the store windows would display elaborate Christmas scenes with moving figures. At The May Company I remember being relegated to a children's playroom so my mom could shop.

Higbee's was another department store. Established in 1929, it became Dillard's in 1992. Higbee's was a store with wooden escalators and revolving doors. It had a well-loved restaurant called The Silver Grille. It was THE place to see Santa. At Twigbee's, children could do their own shopping. But the best thing was to see Mr. Jingaling! Mr. Jingaling was a Cleveland Christmas institution for 25 years. His real name was Earl Keyes, which is ironic because Mr. Jingaling was the keeper of Santa's keys. Not only could you visit him on Halle's seventh floor (the other big store), but you could receive a coveted cardboard key. I still have one stashed in a trunk somewhere. Mr. Jingaling would come on the local TV station every evening during the season, so he was a celebrity.

I still remember his song -
Mr. Jingaling, how you tingaling
Keeper of the keys
On Halle's seventh floor
We'll be looking for
You to turn the key.

We still saw him occasionally until his death in 2000. Once I saw him in a store and practically had a conniption. My children were with me, but were completely unimpressed by the weird looking dude.
If you watch "The Christmas Story" this season you will see Higbee's prominently featured in the movie. Part of the movie was filmed on Public Square in Cleveland and you can go to see "The Christmas Story" house which is now a public attraction in an area called Tremont. (I was hoping to report first-hand, but I haven't made it there yet.) There was a "Christmas Story"convention in town a few weeks ago and 4000 people traipsed through the house to see the leg lamp.

From 1909 to 1968 there was another large store called Sterling Lindner. Every year it would put up a Christmas tree that was purported to be the largest in the nation. Another must-see. Other attractions from childhood included the lighting display on Public Square and at Nela Park (the GE plant). My dad made sure we had an annual trek in the station wagon to see all the lights.

These are a big part of my Christmas memories and I know they are to others my age as well. The magic existed because there weren't a lot of special things the rest of the year. My childhood was somewhat prosaic and normal, so an animated store window was something special. Making an effort to go all the way downtown to see the one and only Santa was so believable. Meeting Santa's helper in person - priceless!

I don't want to sound like an old fart, but I wonder what is special to children now? They don't have to wait in anticipation all year to see Rudolph or Frosty - they own them on DVD. Animations and special effects are a part of their everyday lives. Maybe - I hope - there are magical experiences to replace the ones we had. I know nothing stays the same - but sometimes I wish it would.




9 comments:

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

Great memories. Thanks for posting them.

Daniel Bell said...

What Cleveland kid of a certain age doesn't remember Mr. Jinaling? I couldn't wait for his show on channel 5(?) To me, he was every bit as important as Santa. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my cousins from Florida or New England had no idea who he was.

John Ettorre said...

Good point about how different it must be now for children. I unfortunately missed the Sterling Linder tree, because I was 10 when it closed, and somehow our family never made it for that. But the rest of your list resonates for me. I'd also add in there the Christmas specials on TV, especially the Grinch that Stole Christmas and the Charlie Brown Christmas special. With no other way to see them each year, that became true appointment TV, an integral part of the whole holiday season.

Sandy said...

Just reading about Cleveland when you were younger warmed me up. I lived between Akron and Cleveland for a number of years, visiting the city was common for me. I didn't get to see it in it's prime though; that's the thing that makes me sad about change. I wish at times, that I could go back in time.

What a wonderful post. I think kids have their own majic, mine did. We have to make it for them, just like your parents did for you.

Erin O'Brien said...

You want to see magic? Take your kid on down to that little domed room between the Ohio and State Theaters and tell them to look up.

Presto! Gods and Goddesses walk upon a blue velvet blanket sprinkled with stars.

Take them to Pier W and shiver on the outdoor deck as you stand above a frozen Lake Erie. Tell them, "Canada's over there! Right over there!"

Go on down to Tower City and watch some fountains dance. Throw in a handful of dimes. The sound they make when they splash into the water is a few dreams coming true.

There is magic everywhere I look.

Don't believe me? Then how do you suppose I put that smile on your face?

Merry merry merry!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Oh what a picture you paint if your childhood Christmases....And I wonder, too, what kids have to look forward to that is as "Magical" as all those things were......Texting??? Help Us! LOL!

Tim Ferris said...

I used to look like this guy last year, for lack of a haircut. My kids made me go to the barber finally.

In the rearview mirror, this is sort of appearance is off-putting, not really terrifying.

Seeing this reminds me of Dorothy Fuldheim, whom I appreciate still, and the day our Katie, barely able to talk, "outed" Bruce the Spruce--at Higbee's, I think.

Anonymous said...

Not to be a pest, but I'm pretty sure his name was spelled "Jingeling."

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I still have my cardboard key & hang it on the Christmas tree every year.