Wheeling glowed well before the Festival of Lights.
Long before Oglebay launched its annual 12 miles of holiday displays during the mid-1980s, the city of Wheeling already was known as the city of lights because, in most neighborhoods, house after house had those big, multi-colored bulbs hanging on the porches, bushes, fences, and trees.
The family cruise was common in many neighborhoods like Woodsdale, Elm Grove, Wheeling Island, and South Wheeling, and there always was that Bethlehem Star along Interstate 70. That star, annually illuminated by the Bachmann family the evening after Thanksgiving, always was the first true sign the season had arrived.
Along some roads the streetlights were unnecessary during the month of December because of the unofficial competition taking place between neighbors. When Santa, his sleigh, and reindeer started showing up on porch roofs and front yards, people were getting serious.
There is no record of the Friendly City being visible from space at this time of year, but if someone was purposely looking, even from the Moon, the twinkle had to be admired.
A Cooey Christmas
By Thanksgiving, the department store’s windows were paper-covered along Jacob Street In South Wheeling because the preparation for Santa’s arrival had begun. Waiting in line outside the store was OK because it offered the opportunity to enjoy the Creegan Co.-created animation in the front windows. Some were classic Christmas scenes while others involved the mainstream popular at the time.
Once a family entered the store, the crowd was strategically woven through rows of shelves of the most demanded Christmas wishes just before the big day. Row after row of G.I. Joe’s, Barbie Penthouses, the Evil Knievel action figures, Baby Alives, and toy trains were just the beginning of the cornucopia of shock and awe on your way to Santa Claus.
He seemed like the real one, that Cooey Benz Santa, and many will swear such, and even though many more Jolly Old St. Nicks appeared around town, the man performed magic, right?
It Had to Be Perfect
You watched the lot once flurries were flying. You peered out of the car window looking for the lights to be up in the Duplaga family’s Swing Club parking lot at the bottom of Wheeling Hill in Fulton. Once up, the trees were coming, and that meant the evening for the family to load up to go pick a tree was imminent.
It had to be at least six feet tall, and its belly had to be as round as Santa’s but still sturdy enough to support far more than just pine cones.
The first morning after the tree was up, even without the lights and the ornaments, the aroma reached bedrooms and tantalized the anticipation even more. Once the bulbs and sparkly globes were placed, the haven where the presents would magically appear Christmas morning had been created.
‘And I Want …’
Once upon a time ago there were 73 Elby’s Family Restaurants in five states, and Santa Claus was always outside to greet the children during the month of December. At some locations, Santa gave the kids cheap, little figurines they could play with at the table until the Big Boy interrupted the child’s concentration on Christmas.
Interpret the corporation’s history any which way, but those Boury boys did what they did first class, and that included their support for the city of Wheeling and for each of the communities in which the eateries were located. One fact, though, perhaps something likely remembered only by former employees, was that Elby’s was open every day except for one each year, and that was Christmas Day.
Big, Bright Bulbs
It had to be a competition. Neighbors versus neighbors, one section of the city against the others, because the majority of residents decorated their homes in some form or fashion.
Family driving tours were popular, too, whether it was in your own neighborhood or on Wheeling Island, down in Center or South Wheeling, over in Elm Grove or out the pike, and if there was a packable snow on the ground those slow-moving gawkers made for good targets, too.
Even from the interstate one could see extravagantly illuminated homes in Dimmeydale, Pleasanton, and Fulton, and those traveling through had to believe Wheeling was, for the most part, a New Testament kind of town.
Eight Floors of Tinsel
There was no better day in downtown Wheeling than when a child strolled into Security National Bank and walked out with $120 thanks to the cashed-out Christmas Club. Once those bills hit a kid’s hands, surrendering half of that weekly allowance was suddenly worth the sacrifice.
And Stone & Thomas was the ideal place to venture when trying to find those perfect presents for Mom and Dad and siblings and have plenty left over for, well, the best Christmas present of all. Stones was eight floors high and was jam-packed with 10 of everything anyone could possibly wish for under the tree like the $10 necklace, the $6 pocketknife, or the $5 Barbie Doll.
The department store’s display windows on both Main and Market streets were special, too, with animated, big-city displays, and during the evenings Stone & Thomas illuminated Market Plaza with hundreds of lights dangling from the back of the building.
As High as the Eyes Could See
If you entered from Market Street, it was a right turn and a couple of steps up.
And then, POW! The toy department at G.C. Murphy, and there they were: the board games, Lite Brights, action figures, Army soldiers, race cars, fire engines, and the Mr. Potato heads that were stacked to the ceiling in aisle after aisle. If you could reach an Etch A Sketch, you could spend a bit of time drawing anything in the imagination.
The store was always teeming with patrons weeks before Christmas, and an open stool was difficult to discover along the lunch counter during those days. The aroma of fried chicken, grilled burgers, and French fries teased taste bunds as it filled the entire first floor.
Murphy’s was yet another one-stop-shop because the retailer offered everything a person could need, from boxers and briefs to blouses and sneakers, but it was that toy department that brought those Sears-Roebuck & Co. catalog pictures to life.
Lining the Streets Six People Deep
It was held on Saturday afternoons unlike these days, and mothers and father toted their children from the Wharf parking garage to a splendid spot along Main and Market far before the noon start time.
Wheeling’s annual Christmas Parade attracted folks from throughout the tri-state region because of the many bands, elaborate floats, and of course, Jolly Old St. Nick at the very end. Most businesses, whether located in the downtown area or on the other side of the Ohio River, entered floats for the publicity, sure, but it seemed it was about more than just advertising because of the obvious efforts to make their cruising displays more special than the one before it.
The marching bands would perform Christmas carols, and all of the elves would wave, but as soon as children caught a glimpse of Kris Kringle, suddenly they were on their best behavior to try one final time to get off Santa’s naughty list.
Store to Store
If your mother took you to downtown Wheeling, you were usually stuck trying on shirts and pants and shoes and getting nothing before lunch at the Tea Room in the basement of Stones.
But if you traveled to town on the bus alone or with a few friends, there were many more stores to visit because they sold what you really wanted for Christmas: the ball gloves and baseball bats at Banov’s or Kelly-Mike’s; the rock albums at Slater’s Record Store; the bikes at Becker’s Hardware; and the pinball machine at Boury Inc. were most popular, and so was the tour of decorated Christmas trees inside Mendleson’s and the fancy displays in the front windows of Sears and J.C. Penney.
Downtown Wheeling popped at Christmas time and places like Louis Hot Dog, the 12th Street Grill, Elby’s, McDonald’s, Pappas Roast Beef were hard to get into during the day or night. A December visit to downtown, though, was never complete until a child popped out of nowhere striving to startle the Talking Christmas Tree in the Market Street window of L.S. Good.
“WHAT’S MY NAME?!”
And she usually knew it, too, now didn’t she?
(Photos archived by James Thorton)
Thornton has published several volumes of history on the city of Wheeling, and those interested in purchasing one of them can do so by contacting him at cre8m@comcast.net or visit the Creative Impressions website. The books can be purchased at the Wheeling Heritage Center, Kroger on Mount de Chantal Road, Miklas Meat Market, Nail City Records, the UPS Store in the Washington Avenue Plaza, VC Wares at Centre Market, Bower’s Decorating at The Highlands, and on the website www.wheelinghistory.net.ons website.
