The Santa in the Window

I have always had fond memories of growing up in Jersey City. To this very day, I hold those memories dear to my heart, especially those of when I was a kid in the 60s. 
My family and I lived on Hancock Avenue between Griffith and Hutton streets for a few years, and though our family did not have much at the time, as a kid, I had it all.
What I mean by “having it all” is that I had a great family and lived only a block or two from No. 8 school, so that was a big plus and having a cool five-speed Stingray bicycle with a 42-inch sissy-bar, a short ride would get me to any one of the best parks around.
There was Pershing Field, Riverview Park (Bowers St. Park), Washington Park (North St. Park), and Leonard Gordon Park (Mosquito Park).
But one of the best places to go and have a great time was Central Avenue. Central Avenue was a way of life for me as a kid. Up in the morning early on a Saturday with a stick-ball-bat in hand and a piece of gum, would get a kid like me rich back then (give or take a dollar or so).
I would hit every sidewalk grate from one end of Central Avenue to the other. At the bottom of those grates was loose change (somehow fallen from the pockets of the shoppers), a piece of gum stuck to the end of my stick-ball-bat would haul up pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and if you were really lucky, a half dollar.
Yes, life was good on Central Avenue, and at the time, we had all the good stores. Tom McAnn, where mom would take us for our sneakers and shoes, F.W. Woolworth (my first Beatle record), Myers Ice Cream Parlor and just thinking about it, I can still smell that distinctive, pleasant aroma that came from the store and taste the Italian ices they sold and let us not forget Texas Hot Wieners, where there was a cat that sat in the window.
But the best store of all was Silvers Savemore Toyland. Silvers Savemore Toyland for me was another world. I spent more time in that store as a kid than you could imagine.
There wasn’t a Saturday or Sunday I wasn’t in that store and to boot, a stop or two after school.
I was always buying baseball cards not to save or trade, but for the gum and for my bike. The fastest way to make your bike sound cool back in the day was with a clothespin and a baseball card. Sometimes, I would buy a bag of balloons and tie them to the forks, for that really cool flutter sound and of course, you always had to buy another pink Spalding ball to add to your collection, for the big stick-ball game.
The summers were great in Jersey City and always seemed to last forever. But then came winter and with winter, came the best holiday of all, “Christmas.”
Christmas time on Central Avenue was the place to be and thinking back; there was something magical about it. From one end of the avenue to the other, every pole, street lamp, and store was decorated with wreaths, garland and lights.
The smell of Christmas trees sold on the corners, the crowded snow-covered sidewalks full of Christmas shoppers buying gifts for loved ones, added to the Christmas spirit, and yes, there was Silvers Savemore Toyland.
At Christmas time, the windows of the Toyland became a wonderland and glimmered with silver and gold. The windows sparkled with trains, bicycles, roller skates and every toy you could imagine.
But there in the Toyland window for me stood a big part of the Christmas magic, Santa.
Each Christmas you would find me at one time or another gazing through the glass watching this mechanical Santa as he waved to everyone from inside the window.
I was born in 1957, so if you or anyone you know, that was a kid at the same time I was or who shopped on Central Avenue back in the 60s, should remember that famous Santa.
It has been many years since I have last seen this jolly old soul and I really never thought about what had become of him.
Well I can tell you all, that the miracle of Christmas and its magic is alive and well. You see the Santa in the picture? That is a picture of the Santa from Silvers Savemore Toyland.
After posting a short story about one of my childhood Christmas memories on Facebook, a man by the name of Jr. Regelsky who grew-up in Jersey City, posted that picture in a comment on my story. He was so kind as to tell the story of our beloved Toyland Santa and how he made a fascinating discovery.
Regelsky wrote that he owned a summer home in Pennsylvania and walked into an antique shop one day and there he stood, bigger than life, a mechanical, life-size Santa.
While inspecting the jolly old soul, Regelsky found a label inside Santa’s jacket that read, “Silvers Dept Store, Jersey City, NJ.”
The owner told Regelsky the story of how she acquired the famous Santa. Apparently, our Santa was sold to a bar owner in New York City long ago and was put on display at Christmas time for years, until the antique shop owner bought him.
The antique shop owner had him cleaned and restored, and now, our beloved Toyland Santa stands today, safe and sound in an antique shop in Hamlin, Pa.
The Christmas Story I posted on Facebook has brought me more enjoyment than I could ever imagine, thanks to my family, friends and the kind people of Jersey City.
I hope one day to meet Regelsky, so I could thank him in person for restoring a cherished Christmas memory of mine and the Christmas magic, that filled my heart as a kid and the reminder of how to this day, I am still fascinated by “The Santa in the Window.”
Traino writes from Toms River.