The Dayton Christmas Trolley, a seasonal tradition begun by City Transit Company in the 1960s and continued by Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority into the 1980s - photo from Wikipedia.com |
The bus was decorated on the outside with reindeer and inside there was a fake piano, fireplace and Santa... there he was sitting in the back of the bus, greeting everybody and passing out candy canes. As soon as mama dropped the tokens in the slot, I flew to the back. She knew me like a book, but she kept her eye on me. You would have thought he gave me a hundred dollar bill. I didn't dare eat mine, I needed it for proof to show my brothers :-).
Animated Santa's helpers |
I can still remember standing in the bitter Ohio cold, nose
pressed against the icy glass, literally trying to take in every single detail
of every scene. I later found out it was taken and replicated out of a big NY
department store after Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I guess if you looked really
hard you could see the strings, but I was so intrigued. It was so magical, I
could watch the scenes over and over again. This time my mama, would say,
"Come on Becca! We're going to miss the bus; it's cold out here!" I
would say, "One more time, Mama, please, just one more time." She would
smile and ask, "Girl, what am I going to do with you?" :-)
Later as a teenager, 15
or 16, I got a job working at this department store, and during Christmas time, the
hours were extended. I still indulged my holiday tradition. My father would say, "Becca, you bring yourself straight home when you get off." I would say, "Okay, Daddy :-)
~*~*~*~*~*~
Rebecca's story placed me right there on that Christmas bus, witnessing her excitement to get one of Santa's candy canes and take it home to show her siblings what they had missed! Thank you, Rebecca, for sharing your fondest childhood Christmas story. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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Readers, remember, you too can share your fondest childhood Christmas story for publishing consideration here between now and Christmas by emailing it to blackdolls @ sbcglobal . net (close in the spaces) along with your associated images.
Merry Christmas!
What a wonderful memory. I wish our Department stores had those animated Christmas Scenes
ReplyDeleteWow, it's so nice to hear about Rebecca's fondest childhood memories, Debbie! It's like our brains were synched when I was also sharing my memories in my post! Love love it!
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