4 Christmas Events We Don't Do Anymore In Jax
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This week Jacksonville will celebrate Christmas for the 182nd time. Here's four major Christmas traditions that don't happen anymore in a city that continues to change.
Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-dec-4-christmas-events-we-dont-do-anymore-in-jax
The Big Store was not May-Cohens, it was Cohen's or Cohen Bros. And it wasn't Levy-Wolf, just Levy's. And then the big chains took over and then they were gone from downtown - which probably would have happened even if corporate America had not taken over.
Cohens became May-Cohens when the May Company purchased them in 1958 or so. Here's a picture from the early 1980s.
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QuoteAnd it wasn't Levy-Wolf, just Levy's
When Della Levy died (wife of founding partner Benjamin Levy), Levys merged with the Wolf Brothers to form Levy-Wolf.
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Also, no basketball game to coincide with the old Gator Bowl. JU and UNF/UF used to play 2 teams from outside Jax. Good way to give fans of the game another event to attend. Gone after the demolition of the Coliseum.
I miss the downtown window displays. Enjoyed going downtown to see them as a child.
Doesn't someone else run a big toy / clothes giveaway at the Convention Center now?
Quote from: Charles Hunter on December 24, 2014, 10:43:55 AM
Doesn't someone else run a big toy / clothes giveaway at the Convention Center now?
Yep, Diane Halverson is the ED of the "Children's Christmas Party"
They started putting up a tree in Hemming Plaza the last few years. Not sure why, last year the event was disorganized and poorly planned. The tree was also unimpressive.
Quote from: carpnter on December 24, 2014, 07:15:06 PM
They started putting up a tree in Hemming Plaza the last few years. Not sure why, last year the event was disorganized and poorly planned. The tree was also unimpressive.
This year it was tied in with the City Hall Open House and was very well attended
You forgot one . WJXT had their transmission tower decorated with Christmas lights and they would have a live broadcast of the lighting of the tower. When the I95 expansion happened they got rid of their tower with the support wires and went with the free standing tower they have today. I remember as a kid being able to see the Christmas lights on the tower from my house in Riverside.
I remember seeing Downtown in the 1980s as a kid all decorated, it was really neat. Now the City is so cheap they will not even put decorations on the light poles. Downtown looks really sad at Christmas time (except the Landing). When it should be adorned with lights and decorations.