I came across this image on the internet and was immediately attracted to something that I have not seen in many years but, often think of when the holidays roll around. This scene is on the site of the the existing Main Place Mall. I never saw this devastation in person and though the subject of this picture is surely the half demolished building, it is not the focus of my interest. I am interested in the light pole Christmas trees (green arrow).
Back in the 60’s when downtown was still extremely vibrant Main Street was the holiday shopping destination of choice. Tagging along with family on downtown shopping trips as a kid during the holidays was always a great adventure. The crowds, the toy departments, and the AM&A’s windows are ingrained on my memory. Also among those memories are the wonderful holiday street decorations. For some reason these now long gone light pole decorations have stuck vividly in my mind. The pole decorations were abstracted Christmas trees.
As a kid I remember thinking what a great idea it was to make trees out of the poles. They were formed by a series of hoops with imitation pine tree needles and ornaments surrounding the pole which gradually decreased in diameter toward the top to form a very geometric tree form. It was just such a natural and simple way of making these mundane street objects into something special. I remember looking forward to seeing these pole trees every year until one year they disappeared only to be replace by half hearted candy canes. There was nothing special about the candy canes and over the years even these forgettable decorations have been replaced many times over by other equally forgettable themes of angels, snowflakes, and what-not. Was this change some kind of misguided means of boosting downtown retail? At first I thought the trees would come back. I thought people would realize that the hoop trees were so perfect no replacement was needed. But they have been gone for at least 30 years, so I guess they are gone for good.
Does anyone else remember these decorations? Does anyone have any better images of them? Does anyone else think they should bring these back? What if they brought these back with 21st century technology? I could envision hoop trees made with computer controlled LED encrusted hoops. Maybe that would generate some downtown buz.