Ogilvy moves iconic Christmas windows to McCord Museum

For decades, thousands of Montrealershave flocked to the iconic Christmaswindows at the Ogilvydepartment store on Ste-Catherine Street.

But this year, families will need to head over to the McCord Museum in orderto keep that long-heldholiday tradition alive, as the historic displays have been donated to the museum.

The displays will be on exhibitat the McCordMuseum every holiday season from this year forward, Holt Renfrew Ogilvy said on Wednesday.

The company said it decidedto move the displaysin order"to protect, preserve and ensure their continuity as a landmark of Montreal's Christmas atmosphere."

It also made a $50,000 donation to theMcCordMuseum Foundationto help maintain the mechanical displays.

"Thanks to its highly-skilled restoration team, the McCordMuseum will be able to revamp, restore and continue the tradition of the windowsfor the pleasure of all Montrealersfor years to come," the company said in a statement.

A decades-long Montreal tradition

The first Christmas windows went on display at Ogilvyin 1947.

Constructed by German toy company Steiff Co., they were made of more than 100 moveable parts, including a variety of animated stuffed animals.

The two scenes "The Enchanted Village" and "Mill in the Forest"aimed to "illustrate the traditional aspects of Christmas," the company says on its website.

The window displayswere featured at the store between mid-November and early January every year.

Suzanne Sauvage, president and chief executive officer of the McCord Museum, said conservation experts on staff will be able to maintain and restore the displaysif need be.

Sauvage said she remembers going to see the storefront window herself as a young girl with her mother.

"Then I took my nieces. Now I take the children of my nieces and I go myself, by myself, every year," she told CBC's Homerun.

Sauvage added the window displayshave become "part of the history of Montreal now."

"And it seems like the natural home for them is the McCord Museum, the history museum of Montreal."