


Oh, man, Christmas at Lazarus was a true celebration, says Rick Linville, who has been coming to the store since he was a child. Perhaps it will be at Christmas that the citizens of Columbus will most grieve the loss of this store. In addition, we are grateful to The Columbus Foundation for supporting this production. Visiting Santa at Lazarus was equally a tradition. We are indebted to several institutions for sharing the wonderful images that bring this story to life: The Ohio Historical Society, WBNS, and The Columbus Dispatch. Your support enables WOSU to produce quality programming about Ohio culture and history. Lazarus Home | Family Tree | Lazarus Timeline | Retail Firsts “If there were Santas anywhere else, they were pretend,” insists Jean Harkless, a long-time customer. The Talking Tree greeted children as they made their way to see the Jolly Old Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares. The Lazarus toy department sales staff, which usually consisted of seven or eight associates, grew to 140 after Thanksgiving. “It was the most exciting time of the year for us.” “Oh, man, Christmas at Lazarus was a true celebration,” says Rick Linville, who has been coming to the store since he was a child. It moved to a magnificent six-story building in 1909 and added 20 departments, including apparel for women. Perhaps it will be atĬhristmas that the citizens of Columbus will most grieve the loss of this store. German immigrant Simon Lazarus opened a one-room men's clothing store in Columbus in 1851.
Lazarus store kids christmas windows#
Those store windows became part of a Christmas tradition: “Let’s go down and see the Christmas windows!” Visiting Santa at Lazarus was equally a tradition. The annual unveiling of the store front windows on High Street brought delighted children and their equally enchanted No where was this more true than in Columbus, Ohio, at the Lazarus Department Store. Someone once said that “Christmas, children, is not a date it is a state of mind.”
