History of the Shillito’s Elves
Christmas Displays were always a part of the Shillito’s Department store dating back to even before the 1950’s. At that time, Cincinnati would purchase existing animatronics from larger cities to create their holiday scenes. Some of these displays were of Santa’s workshop and featured elves with hard plaster-like faces. The Shillito’s visual merchandising team were often faced with the challenge of creating a cohesive collection of storefront windows. They knew there had to be a better way.
The Santa’s Workshop, also known as SantaLand, we have here today was conceived by a dedicated team of visual merchandisers at our downtown Shillito’s store. In January of 1979, they presented the idea of creating their own soft-faced elves as well as the whole theme of Santa’s Workshop to Shillito’s management who immediately recognized the value of drawing more customers who came to view the store’s Christmas window displays.
In December of 1979, the Santa’s Workshop opened to wide audiences in Cincinnati, drawing huge crowds and winning the team an international design award. The display was permanently set up in the store, but only opened to the public during the season. Over the years, scenes would be changed to keep the interest.
In 1986, Shillito’s became Lazarus, but the elves remained part of our city’s beloved holiday traditions. In 1997 Lazurus moved to fountain square (then became Macy’s). At that time, management decided that there wasn’t a place for 100+ elves and props, so it was left behind. Two boy scout troops received the majority of the display and had it set up in the Dent Schoolhouse until 2005 when the current owner purchased it at auction.
For the next 7 years, some scenes were set up around the city, waiting for the right opportunity to restore the entire collection. In 2012, with a strong fundraising effort, a major restoration of the display took place that even involved some of the original designers helping with the effort. The display had it’s debut at Newport on the Levee that season.
In 2013 it was moved to its current location and has operated for most years since. This display is nearly 45 years old with much of its authenticity but requires quite a bit of work each year to keep it open.