The lost art of store windows

Crowds outside Woodward & Lothrop. Theodor Horydczak photo, Library of Congress.

Storefront displays are one way for independent retailers to shine. Over the weekend, Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher wrote about the legendary holiday displays at Woodward & Lothrop, the old downtown department store now occupied by West Elm, H&M, Zara, and offices. See "Raw Fisher: Where Have All The Christmas Windows Gone?"

It's all about foot traffic. From the column:

It was an amenity of the walking-around town," says William "Larry" Bird, a Smithsonian curator whose new book, "Holidays on Display," tells the story of the art and business of the window shows. "Department stores lived and died by their windows. They spared no expense. This was the secular creche."


An article about the book in the Smithsonian Institution employee newsletter mentions an old trade magazine, Store Window, that I hope I can find back issues of at the Library of Congress.

Also see the story, "Holiday window creators put in many hours with hot glue gun."

Holiday window display at Lord & Taylor's flagship store, AP photo.

I seem to have lost a book I bought a few years ago at National Building Museum on Holiday lighting displays that included a section on business districts. Plus Bon Appetit magazine has run such articles (or maybe it is Gourmet?) in the past in their holiday issues.

From an out of print Downtown DC BID publication.