Here is what I took, and wrote, last year. The displays are the same this year.
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The Bay department store continues with the tradition of decorating its windows during Christmas with seasonal scenes. Even the mice get to enjoy this holiday- the "underground" scene in the image above is the mice quarters, replete with matchbox beds. (Click on the image to view a larger version). The bottom image with what look like Salvation Army carolers has a realistic dog (more so than the humans) sitting by the paper boy. Everyone, animal and human, gets to participate - or is at least placed in the created scene by a generous artist. The scenes evoke Victorian Toronto, traditional and confident.
Both these scenes are filled with comfort and color. Yet in the real world of Toronto, despite adorned Christmas trees coming (sprouting) up everywhere, and carols filling every space we walk in, there still isn't the sense of a holiday. But, I've already talked about the multi-culti aura that permeates the city, which seems to affect even this most vigorous of our Christian holidays.
In front of the Bay yesterday, there was a bus load of people who looked like out-of-town Canadian tourists. They had made it part of their itinerary to stop and look at the windows. Parents with small children in tow are also frequent visitors to these windows. This will be a special memory for these small children to have: going all the way to Queen and Yonge on a cold winter's day, just before Christmas, to look at the window displays with carols sounding from the speakers. The Victorian era is an apt time for a return to tradition. It evokes nostalgia. Yet it is not too far gone, since the tradition is still practiced, and it still affects our modern spirit. The Bay (and Eaton's) haven't given up on continuing the tradition of Christmas, at least in their modest store decorations. We will have to wait and see if that is enough.
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(Photos by KPA)