Saying adieu to beloved Ogilvy Christmas window tradition

Dancing hedgehogs, fishing frogs in corduroy coats and a bunny in boots turning the water mill: For many who grew up in Montreal, making the trek down to the OgilvyChristmas window was a requirement, and I was no exception.

I have found myself reminiscing ever since hearing the news that the cherished window will now be housed at the McCord Museum and no longer at the Ogilvy storefront.

• Ogilvy moves iconic Christmas windows toMcCordMuseum

The first Christmas windows went on display in 1947 and alternated between two scenes "The Enchanted Village" and "Mill in the Forest."

Both of my parents were born and raised in Montreal and still remember going to see the window as children themselves.

Faces smushed up against the glass, they stared in awe at the mechanical animals hard at work.

It was only naturalthen, thatas parents, they brought us to see the fantastical scenes.

I still remember going when I was about six or seven years old, on a cold night with fluffy snow falling from the sky.

Picture the quintessentialChristmas scene, then add a light-up window, stuffed animals moving about and a crowd looking on. It can't get more perfect than that.

Even when we moved to the Eastern Townships when I was a pre-teen, my father made it a point of going to the department store at least one more time before our surly teenaged years kicked in.

So imagine his delight when his grandkids finally reached an age where they too could appreciate the magic.

After learning the display would be no longer,I asked my father, an Anglican reverend, to eulogize the window.

"How time flies. It was a long time ago that I stood in front of the Ogilvy's Christmas window in wonder and just wanted to stay longer," the Venerable Ralph Leavitt said (his actual title).

"As soon as I had children, that window became an annual destination for everyone to look at. And now I have brought my grandchildren. They were fascinated. Each had one section that thrilled them. 'Look, grandpa'one of them said, 'you can see his bum.' We laughed with joy and the joy was all mine."

Preserved but tradition broken

"Nooooooo!"

As my colleagues can attest, that is how I reacted when the news release about the future of the Ogilvy window appeared in my inbox.

Holt Renfrew Ogilvy as the department store is now officially named, although I still call it Ogilvy's says the move of the window to the McCordMuseum is "to protect, preserve and ensure their continuity as a landmark of Montreal's Christmas atmosphere."

Continuity as alandmark? Atmosphere?

Remember that picture-perfect scene I described before? Part of the magic of the window was that it was on a street corner in downtown Montreal and we had to bundle up in all our sundry winter attire to see it.

Three generations of Leavitts took in that scene for so many years. And we are far from the only ones.

After expressing my (somewhat exaggerated) disappointment on Twitter, many people reached out with memories of their own.

Share your own memories with us!

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