Land of 1000 Delights

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 176 Yonge Street.
Date: Dec 2016
Website: www.saksfifthavenue.com

  Saks Fifth Avenue has taken over part of the Hudson's Bay store on Queen Street in Toronto.  This is because Hudson's Bay now owns Saks.  It also means that besides the popular Christmas windows at The Bay, we get more decorated windows along Yonge Street.  We visited the Saks windows in 2016. Welcome to the Land of 1000 Delights.

  The first windows we encountered were not yet part of the Land of 1000 Delights.  The first window featured a polar bear who was running like the mechanism of a clock. The second contained a group of ermine.  An ermine is a stoat in its winter coat.  A stoat is a type of weasel.   The animals looked as if they had been hired to guard the purses in the displays.  It is not uncommon for there to be a $4000 price tag on a purse at Saks so the store could be testing out new security measures.

And now finally, the Land of 1000 Delights.

  The first lady we encountered was Lady Lollipop.  She was covered from head to toe in swirly lollipops.  Many children sport a similar look when eating lollipops.  A few licks of the lollipop and ...ooops!  Next thing you know you have a lollipop stuck to the edge of your Christmas dress.

  Up next was Baroness Lebkuchen.  Lebkuchen is a German baked good similar to gingerbread.  We have never knowingly tried lebkuchen, but now we will have to get our hands on some.  We were only at window number two and already getting hungry.

Countess De Limon was the next lady arriving with zest.  She had slices of lemons, oranges and limes.  We suspect it was candied fruit all covered in sugary syrup.

  A deep purple display contained the Duchess De Chocolate.  This was definitely our style.  We imagined we were unwrapping some gold and purple foil covered, dark chocolates.

  The Queen of The Christmas Crackers was ready to start things off with a bang.  We imagine her dress was entirely filled with bad jokes, paper crowns and if you were lucky, a fortune teller fish.  When she finally pulls her dress off expect to smell something burning and find little bits of paper and prizes everywhere.  Check the cranberry sauce just in case.

  Mademoiselle Macaron was making a sweet entrance.  She had some of the tasty meringue and almond based treats along the edge of her dress.  Those macarons wouldn't last long if there wasn't a glass window between us.  Excusez-moi!

  Little Princess Peppermint was twirling and swirling in her window.  She had a dress made of traditional  red and white candy canes.
 

The highest royal titles are those of Emperor and Empress.  This next window contains Empress Gingerbread.  She ranks much higher than the Baroness, Duchess and even the Princess and Queen in the other windows.  We do enjoy gingerbread during the holidays, but as we mentioned before we have yet to try lebkuchen.

  The final window featured the Marchioness of Confections cutting a candy rug.  A Marchioness is the equivalent of a Marquess.  She ranks lower than a Duchess, but higher than a Countess.  She was covered in all sorts of sweet treats.  We enjoyed our walk through the Land of 1000 Delights.  Now get out of our way as we are headed to the lower level of The Bay where they have their candy department.

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This location is near Queen subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

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Saks Christmas Windows

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Post # 200

The Bay's Enchanted Forest

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 176 Yonge Street.
Date: Dec 2016
Website: www.hbcheritage.ca

  For many years the Christmas windows at The Bay on Queen Street showed the story of Santa and his elves preparing for the big day.  Now the animals have taken over.  This year the windows were changed and feature the animated animals of the Enchanted Forest.  As much as we enjoyed the previous display, we instantly fell in love with the new windows.  You can read about The Bay's previous Christmas windows here.

  The first of the five windows in the display features a fox den.  Two mischievous racoons are hanging a feather down into the den to disturb the sleeping fox family.  On a video screen at the back of the display a moose walks through the woods.

  The next window showed a group of squirrels rolling up some snowballs.  The intended targets appeared to be a group of ice skaters below.  A group of squirrels is called a scurry.  There was no worry about us being snowball pelted by squirrels, but one of us did almost get taken out by snow that slid off of The Bay store's awning.

   The next window was our favourite.  It featured a bear who was covered in snow while little mice played all around him.  Behind the bear flickered the Northern Lights.

  The bear looked back and forth while his little rodent friends tobogganed and snowboarded and enjoyed some winter fun.

  These two mice had just finished building a snowmouse.

   This mouse was making a snow angel.  None of the mice seemed concerned that their winter hill contained a big brown bear.

 

  The next window showcased night time in the Enchanted Forest.  Snowy owls flew across the sky backed by moonlight.  A mother owl opened her wings to reveal the babies hidden in her nest.

  The last window showcases the Hudson Bay Company's Canadian roots.  An army of Canada Geese in snowshoes march together. 

    After enjoying the displays we headed inside The Bay store.  We were happy to see that another group of wreath wearing Canada Geese had taken over a small section of the ladies wear department.
  One of us was also in New York City in December and while taking a bus tour saw a familiar sight.  The Lord & Taylor store in Manhattan has the exact same Enchanted Forest display this year.  Lord & Taylor is owned by The Hudson's Bay Company.  That means you have at least two cities you can visit in order to see this delightful holiday display.  We suspect that these happy woodland creatures will be making a return visit for many Christmases to come.

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This location is near Queen subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.
 
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Christmas Windows At The Bay

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Post # 151

Christmas Windows At The Bay

Location: Toronto Ontario, Canada
Address: 176 Yonge Street.
Date: Dec 2014
Website: www.hbcheritage.ca

 The building at the corner of Yonge Street & Queen Street West has been there since 1896.  It was a Simpsons department store up until more recently when it became a Hudson's Bay store.  The Hudson's Bay Company has been in business since 1670, so between the building and the tenants there is a lot of history here.  A long standing tradition is the Christmas windows.  Simpsons used to decorate its front windows each year and now The Bay has continued the tradition.  As the holidays approach, everyone would gather in front of the windows on Queen Street to admire the displays inside.  Usually the windows are decorated in November and stay up until the end of the year.  Due to its popularity, The Bay has had the same windows for a number of years with animated figures showing everyone preparing for Christmas.

  One thing we noticed this year was some Canada geese sitting outside above the windows.  Some of them were wearing ribbons or wreaths.  We don't recall them being there in previous visits.  Below are a few highlights from the windows.

  Elves feed and prepare the reindeer for Santa's big flight.  The Bay has been selling point blankets for centuries.  The multistripe point coats worn by these elves have also had a long history.  They are traditional First Nation designs and products. Through the years, the green, red , yellow and blue stripes on a white coat or blanket have become a trademark of the Hudson's Bay Company.

 

  A big Christmas countdown clock counts down to Christmas Eve as the elves are busy preparing gifts and Santa Claus checks his list. Twice.

Carollers sing together in the street as a familiar looking girl eyes some delicious baked goods.  We were looking through a window at her looking through a window.  Now everyone has a craving for some sweets.

  The last window shows Santa enjoying a feast after he has finished delivering toys to girls and boys all around the world.  Some of the elves bang their knives and forks on the table as they are eager to start eating.  Make sure you view the windows from east to west to get the story in the correct order.  If you came from Nathan Phillips Square and this is the first window you are seeing then keep heading further along.  There are only about five windows in the whole display.
  Downtown Toronto always does a great job of decorating for Christmas and the windows at The Bay are a big part of that.  It is always nice to take a break and watch the windows from the street before cramming back into the Eaton Centre with all the other Christmas shoppers.

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This location is near Queen subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Christmas Windows At The Bay

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Post # 86

Madison Square Garden (Toronto?)

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 19 Richmond Street West
Date: July 2004

In the summer of 2004 Madison Square Garden suddenly appeared in Toronto.  The back of the Hudson's Bay store on Queen Street became the front entrance to the Garden as it looked in 1930's New York City.  All of this was due to filming for the movie Cinderella Man, starring Russel Crowe as boxer James Braddock.
  It is always interesting how a film production comes along and transforms something to work their movie magic.  One week Madison Square Garden and boxing, next week save 40% on women's fashions and accessories.

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This location is near Queen subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

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Madison Square Garden (Toronto?)

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Post # 10