When I was a kid growing up in New Orleans, there was a department store, Maison Blanche, that had the most wonderful window display of toys at Christmas time. Parents brought their children from miles around to see it. It was legendary. There was a Santa and Mrs. Santa and lots of elves and toys, especially toy trains, and an animated character, Mr. Bingle, that was proprietary to Maison Blanche. But no Baby Jesus.
My mother remembers being taken to see the same window when she was a kid growing up in Biloxi. Her mother would take her on the train, and they'd go shopping, because there were no good department stores in Biloxi.
I called my sister in Baton Rouge to ask her if she remembers seeing nativity scenes in public places in Baton Rouge or New Orleans when she was a kid, and she confirms that she did not, either. But my husband does remember a nativity scene in the downtown public park in Libertyville, IL when he was a kid.
I know a lot of towns are built on a pattern where City Hall, and the courthouse, if there is one, and the biggest bank and the biggest church are all adjacent to an open square, which is what I think of when I think of "the public square." What I remember, growing up, is electric Santa Clauses, and reindeer, and snowmen, and holly, but not Baby Jesus.
Maybe Catholics don't like to put Baby Jesus in the public square? I have no idea. |
