As has been the the theme of the past few years, Macy’s is once again going with “Believe” as the overarching theme for the holidays with the story of “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” being the story depicted in the holiday windows. I found a pane by pane description from a newspaper which I would normally just link to but they’ve since taken it from their website and is only available in Google Cache. Those cached pages don’t usually last long so I’m just gonna copy and paste it here:

Window 1: The story starts outside the O’Hanlon’s house. A stained-glass window opens to reveal Virginia’s bedroom, in which Virginia and her friend, Ollie, talk about Santa. It then shifts to the O’Hanlon’s kitchen table, where Virginia’s father says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.”

Window 2: An apartment-building courtyard and Charlotte, a sort of 9-year-old know-it-all, tells the kids that Santa’s impossible.

Window 3: Virginia and Ollie go to the New York Public Library to research Santa. A librarian combs the stacks for Santa books. LED books come into view, showing the different Santa names: Father Christmas, Cinter Klas, Bellsnickle, Kriss Kringle or Chimney John.

Window 4: Virginia talks to her father about Santa and she gets the idea to write the letter. The scene shifts to her room, where she writes the letter. Then it shifts to a scene with Virginia’s mother, who explains that Santa isn’t something you prove, it’s something you do. When you do nice things for other people, that’s the proof of Santa.

Window 5: Starts with an elevated train overhead and then focuses on the street outside The Sun offices, where Virginia meets a scraggly street Santa who has just given his coat to a homeless woman. We then hear Virginia’s mom talking about doing kind things for others. The scene shifts to inside The Sun, where the editor reads the letter. Virginia gives a coat to the shivering Santa, who tells her, “Today, you’re Santa Claus.”

Window 6: The town turns into Christmas, it decorates itself as the editorial is being heard.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I’m off to enjoy Chinese hot pot!

These photos were taken on December 24, 2010.

The same night I took photos of the Macy’s holiday window displays in 2008, I also walked up to Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue so I could check out their own holiday windows. Contrasted with the more fantastical theme of the Macy’s display, the one here is decidedly more classic. Classic but definitely ornate and intricate. There were a lot of moving parts in this display, maybe not more than Macy’s but definitely more than something I expected to be more staid and, frankly, more stuffy. I still personally prefer Macy’s for their creativity but going classic ain’t bad either.

These photos were taken on December 18, 2008.