Holiday Window Displays
Akron’s holiday displays are part of a countless number of families' holiday tradition. Beginning in the 1950s, Akron area families would flock to the animated holiday window displays in the O’Neil’s and Polsky’s building windows Downtown. The window displays were "unveiled" each Thanksgiving for the holiday season. It was a magical time. There was a period when the displays were brought inside the two department stores as part of their Santaland decor. By the end of the 1980s both O'Neil's and Polsky's stores were gone, leaving a void in local holiday family traditions. Downtown Akron Partnership brought the vintage displays back to the Akron community in 1999.
In 2005, because the former store fronts were utilized, leaving a void of this holiday tradition, the displays were set up inside the Main Library Downtown through the holiday season. DAP's collection includes a storybook display, Peter Pan, the Wizard of Oz, the Prince and Ice Princess, Santas of Christmas past, a train display and Raggedy Ann.