Fare Saved, Five Cents

One of the fondest memories of the Christmas holiday season of my childhood, living on Aubert Avenue, was going to downtown St. Louis to the two major department stores, the Famous-Barr store on Sixth and Olive Streets, and to the Stix, Baer and Fuller store on Washington and Seventh Streets, to look at the animated window Christmas displays. This was the time before my parents bought our first family car.

Going downtown to the Christmas displays was an event my siblings, Olympia, Platon, Johnny and I looked forward to with great anticipation. Several years, I recall we went downtown with our cousins, Joanna, Marie and Dessie, and their mother, Aunt Anna. They also lived on Aubert Avenue. Those trips were a real treat, even though winter had set in, and the weather was cold. Bundled up with wool caps, scarves, coats and gloves, we were oblivious of the winter temperature.

However, using public transportation could be a problem. In the mid-thirties, in St. Louis, street car and bus fares for adults were ten cents, for children under twelve yeas of age five cents, and for children under five years, there was no charge.

There were two street car lines, and one bus line near our house. The closest street car line was the Delmar line, running east and west. One block to the east of our street, Aubert Avenue, was the Taylor Street car line going north and south; and one block to the west of our street was the Kingshighway bus line, also running north and south.

On Delmar Boulevard, the street car stopped at Aubert Avenue, so a person could board the street car, ride one block east and transfer to the Taylor streetcar or go in the opposite direction west one block and transfer to the Kingshighway bus with the same fare. As long as a person didn't backtrack, and continued in another direction, the transfer was good.

On many occasions, to save a nickel, when the Greek mothers we knew used public transportation to go any place in the city, they had a child board the Delmar streetcar at Aubert Avenue, pay the nickel fare, get a transfer, and get off at the next corner. The adult would walk a block and meet the child at the corner. This way a nickel was saved and the adult and the child would continue to their destination.

Also, those mothers were resourceful in several other ways. The children that were over twelve years of age they often managed to pass off as under twelve years of age, and children who were already over five years of age could sometimes be passed as under five years, thus saving those fares.

The children as a rule, hated being a part of the transfer routine, but obeyed and did it because they were aware that a nickel in those days was worth saving.

Another ploy those women developed was to have the mother who was the heaviest in weight, board the street car first; have her stand before the conductor to pay her fare, thereby blocking his view. Then all the children would get on and go towards the back of the car; I recall we would look at each other, smile, and silently giggle and scoot down in our seats, so as to be as far away from the searching eyes of the conductor as possible.

On the occasion our combined family group was to go downtown to see the Christmas displays, my mother, my siblings, my aunt, my cousins and I walked one block east on Delmar Boulevard to Taylor Avenue. The children in our little group ranged in age from four years to fourteen years. As our little group waited, one of the mothers took two of the children, ages nine and ten, and walked one block south on Taylor Avenue. She waited for the Taylor car, and the two children got on. They paid the nickel child's fare, and each one got a transfer. They rode one block north to Delmar, and got off. The mother walked the one block, and met them and the rest of the group. The transfers were given to each of the adults. Our little, excited group then stood on the corner and waited for the Delmar car, going east in the direction of downtown, to come for us to board and begin our adventure.

Each year each department store featured a different Christmas theme. I recall one year the Famous store had planned their display around Clement Moore's poem, The Night Before Christmas. In the window display was a four poster bed with mother and father mechanical dolls, each wearing a nightcap that had a puff of yarn at the end. Father wore a yellow striped night shirt and mother's nightgown was pink colored with small, dainty pink ribbons around the neck. They sat up in the bed, with jerky movements, father stiffly getting out of bed to run to the window with jerking movements. There was a small portion of an overhanging roof in the display, covering father as he peered out the window, watching Santa Claus in the distance approach with Rudolph pulling his sleigh loaded with fancy wrapped gift boxes, and a beautiful Christmas trees lit with blinking lights. There was even an animated brown mouse in the corner of the display, squirming in his hiding place, but never leaving it.

How excited we all were to see the displays. The Christmas displays attracted many other people with small children too. We were oohoohing and ahhhing, pointing out the different features of the characters, pushing our way through the crowd of children and adults, jockeying for position to get the best view of the whole panorama. We commented on different parts of the display, what features we thought were good, which parts needed improvement. We marveled how ingeniously the whole display had been put together.

Not to be outdone by the Famous-Barr Christmas display, Stix, Baer and Fuller had a glittering Christmas display also. Their Christmas displays had attracted many people with small children too. Also, there were crowds of people doing their holiday shopping, so the sidewalks were crowded and almost impassable. My mother and Aunt Anna would take the smaller children by the hand, Olympia my sister being the oldest in the group would shepherd the rest of us as we managed to make our way through the masses of people to walk several blocks from one department store to the other.

The Christmas display in Stix's window was fabulous also. A huge enchanting Christmas tree, covered with small candles that were lit and placed on the tips of the branches. The tree was covered with silver icicles and was in the middle of the display. Santa was on the side, sitting in an ornate silver covered throne, moving his arms about, occasionally kicking his feet up, nodding his head from side to side as deep sounds of "Ho, ho, ho" resounded. There were four small animated models by the side of Santa Claus, two girls and two boys. The girls were dressed in ankle length gold and silver lace dresses that had stiff pinafore underslips. Their hair was in tight Shirley Temple curls. The boys were dressed in blue velvet short pants, little Lord Fauntleroy suits that were all the rage at the time, with white satin shirts, and black bow ties. All four figures twirled around, moved a few steps forward and back, while Christmas carols played. Not to be forgotten were the adult figures, their parents, the female figures in beautiful evening gowns of the latest fashion, and the male figures in tuxedos. An elaborately carved fireplace was in the background, with an artificial fire showing logs burning, while a cat and a dog lazily sat and watched the activity, their heads raised to survey the scene with jerking movements, and their tails periodically twitching.

Again we found ourselves faced with many other children trying to be first, to stand next to the window, to get an up-front view. Again the pushing and jockeying for a good view of the display.

On our return trip to go home, tired, excited and exhausted by all the excitement of Christmas, the wonderful window displays, the crowds of people, we would begin our journey home. The same routine for the street car fares would be put into action, although the return trip and the saving of money was easier, because there was a crowd of shoppers waiting to board the streetcar, and the larger group of people made it simpler for the children to get on the streetcar unobserved by the conductor.

Trips to see the department store Christmas displays held a magic for all of us, through our teen years, and even into adulthood. It was fun taking our own children downtown to see the displays, although for us, no public transportation was necessary, all we did was drive our car downtown!

© 2003 by Jennie Constantinides Vlanton

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