Since I was in Manhattan recently, with time to kill, I took the opportunity to stroll up Fifth Avenue and check out the big holiday displays – Lord & Taylor, Saks, Tiffany, Bergdorf Goodman.

L&T had their usual fantasy scenes. I couldn’t get close enough to Saks to see what was in their windows, but they did have their big light and sound show on the facade.

Pro Tip: The best way to see the Rockefeller Center tree? Come at it from Sixth Ave, or one of the side streets. It is practically impossible to approach it from Fifth Avenue, because that’s where the mob of humanity is forced into tight passageways. Approach the tree from another direction, and you can get right up to it!

TIffany featured some nice winter scenes with silver and diamonds. Bergdorf Goodman saluted NYC cultural attractions in their windows.

While I have no problems with any of the displays, I do have some ideas for things I’d like to see…

A lot of times, the window designers wax nostalgic and bring to life scenes from the past. “Christmases long long ago” and all that. But how about imagining Christmas in the future?

I picture a triptych – three windows. First, Christmas on a space station. This one really isn’t too futuristic; the holidays have been celebrated in orbit since Skylab.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/livinginspace/Christmas_in_space.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_on_the_International_Space_Station

Maybe they could work with NASA and present a reasonably accurate depiction of the holidays on the International Space Station. The second window would be Christmas on the moon. A common area at a lunar base, with a video fireplace and maybe a fake tree. Spacesuit boot liners as stockings. Hi-tech decor.

The third one would be Christmas on Mars – and in a bit more remote future. I’m picturing the starkly red and barren Martian landscape, with a real honest to goodness little pine tree in the soil, being measured and tended to by three people, in their Martian Exploration suits. Yes, it would have to be a live tree (representing one of the first steps in terraforming Mars); consult with Mars-ologists about what type of tree could best handle the environment.

OK, you don’t want to go to the future?

How about a nice big “traditional” living room with a tree – and representatives from the Toy Hall of Fame? http://www.toyhalloffame.org/

Make it a sort of treasure hunt – how many of the over 60 inductees (from Play-Doh to the Wiffle Ball) can you spot before someone tells you to move it along? Perhaps one could even get some antique examples on loan from the Hall.

Well, that’s what I’ve got. Probably a good thing I’m not involved in decorating an actual store window. But if you are or know someone who is…..