Charles C. Milliken: Whatever happened to Christmas?
After eight decades on this planet, one thing I can safely say is things aren’t the way they used to be, and Christmas is no exception. So, with the mythical Santa Claus about to spring down the occasional chimney — how he got into homes without chimneys was a mystery to me as a young lad; fortunately, our house had a genuine stone fireplace with a real chimney welcoming the old elf — allow me to share some thoughts.
I must warn you in advance what you are about to read is purely impressionistic, with no research or carefully culled statistics to back me up. Those of you under 40 might wonder what I am talking about, but anyway.
In the good old days — say the mid-1950s — Christmas was a serious matter. Every year my brother and I would be taken on a special trip to downtown Cleveland to the fifth floor of Higbee’s Department store. There we would encounter Santa. For those of you not familiar with historic downtown Cleveland and Public Square, and I suspect that is about all of you, be sure and watch “A Christmas Story,” the 1983 classic about Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun. The store scenes were shot in Higbee’s. It was a magical time of year, no longer possible. In every major city across this land, the old, big emporia of every kind of merchandise imaginable is entirely, or nearly entirely, gone. (As I said, my remarks are short on research. There may still be, somewhere, a surviving downtown department store.)
Many’s the preacher who used to use these stores as examples of materialism at Christmas, instead of its “true meaning.” While materialism is perhaps more prevalent than ever, somehow online shopping isn’t as evocative as a massive pile of brick and stone and glittering merchandise as Higbee’s was.
Back then, school let out for about two weeks for Christmas vacation. Before it let out, there were Christmas presentations, assemblies featuring Christmas music with classic carols and much else. No more. Now it is winter break, or vacation, or whatever. Any mention of Christmas must be scrubbed, lest someone, somehow, somewhere be offended because they don’t believe in Christ or Christmas or even Santa Claus. Back in the day, Christmas was supposed to soften hearts and do away with “bah, humbug.” Now “bah, humbug” reigns supreme. Notice how assiduously most store clerks will avoid wishing you a “Merry Christmas”? I saw an excellent cartoon recently, featuring a chief executive sitting with his board proofreading a Christmas card, “Seasons Greetings. Seems right to me, but you better run it past legal.”
What we watch at the movies, or on TV, has radically changed as well. The truly classic Christmas movies are decades old. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 1946. “Miracle on 34th Street,” 1947. “Holiday Inn,” 1942. Bing Crosby introduces “White Christmas,” perhaps the most recorded song ever. Also the loose remake, “White Christmas,” 1954. “A Christmas Carol,” 1951, is often rated as the best of the many adaptations of Dickens’ “immortal” story (much as I prefer to avoid cliches, somehow nothing else will do). My personal favorite stars George C. Scott, 1984, even though it is only a made-for-TV version. Let us not forget “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” originally 1966.
Since then Christmas movies have migrated from the traditional to mockery. National Lampoon's “A Christmas Vacation,” 1989, got the ball rolling. Very funny, but not exactly “Miracle on 34th Street.”
The best 27 minutes of TV I’ve ever seen is the “Amos 'n' Andy” Christmas show, originally airing Christmas Day, 1952. Brilliantly written, touchingly and outstandingly acted, with an incredibly moving Christian theme, you’ll never see it on TV today, because its racial stereotyping has long since been deemed unacceptable.
What happened to Higbee’s epitomizes what happened to Christmas. After sliding downhill, it was sold to Dillards, until 2002 when it closed entirely. Today it is a casino. I find it sad to go from Christmas to crap shooting.
Charles Milliken is a professor emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Charles Milliken: Whatever happened to Christmas?
