A NOSTALGIC RIDE.

  THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH., 2018
              A NOSTALGIC RIDE.

       I found myself taking a nostalgic ride
Wednesday afternoon. Unlike previous
adventures this trip was not in my little
red sportscar but, rather, on an escalator
in Boscov's Department store in Scranton!
       As I rode the moving staircase from
first floor to second the sight of shoppers
amid the merchandise and wonderfully
colored Christmas decorations carried me
back to my home town around the same
time of the season many years ago.
      Most communities of any substantial
size had at least one downtown Department
store. We had several in Hazleton. The
Leader was always my favorite as Department
stores went. Now, admittedly, I was probably
a lot more anxious to stop at American Auto
or Jerry Woodring's Hardware Store to pick up the
newest Lionel Train Catalog or see the actual
train displays that were always set up around
Thanksgiving.
        But the Leader store offered both mystery
and adventure. It had an escalator. The first, as
far as I know, in our city.
         Each floor offered the excitement of
seeing new merchandise as you made your
way to the top. That's where the kept their
Top Department. And that's where Santa
waited for the kids to either share their wish
list or scream as well meaning parents forced
them onto his lap for a photo op! I don't
remember ever having to be forced to give
anyone my Christmas list! I still offer it
willingly to anyone who asks.
           There's something very special, in my
mind at least, about a downtown Department
store at Christmas time. That being said I'd
often stop in the Leader at any time of the
year just to ride the escalator!  I guess in
"my day" it was our "X-Box!" Things were
a lot simpler then, not to mention less
expensive.
           Think I'll stop by Boscov's again
next week and just go up and down the
escalators a few times for old times sake.
            Hope they keep running for many
years to come and that all your NEWS is
good.