Christmas At Famous-Barr By Ac Benus

[AC Benus]

You say cream cheese and butter, all I hear I hear is hips and thighs.. By what you two have said, it is delicious but rich. I may have to wait till I have company to share..

Yes, it always helps to have company, then you can cook even more! lol.

[Defiance19]

The Eastland Mall Lazarus was the one I knew best--and it is in my story. Eastland Mall is the last enclosed mall in Columbus--there were three--but it's future is gloomy: Lazarus was replaced by Kaufmann's, but that's gone, and JC Penney, one of the three anchors, recently pulled out, leaving only Sears. I think 3/4 of the small stores are still there, but I'm sure the place is no longer the fun place I remember--one change was the floors are all carpeted now, and all the indoor trees are gone. Crime and drugs are very active in the area, probably in the mall itself. A few years back it was looking for a new owner, and they got only one offer, which was rejected as too low to cover the money they had in the place.

There are two malls left--basically shopping centers open to the weather, one in northwest Columbus and the other in the northeast--both neighborhoods are for pretty rich people to live around and shop at, rather than for everybody.  Our City Center Mall, which was opposite Lazarus, was open for about twenty years and is now a parking lot.

Isn't it sad when these institutions are reduced to just memories. And it's even sadder when nothing of value or interest replaces them.. I also remember stores like Woolworth and Abraham & Strauss. For some reason I think back and because of the time I guess, I associate those stores with values that stood for something. I was young too, so wide eyed wonder.. 

[Defiance19]

Ok Toyland...not FAO Schwartz, which closed here too in the summer. Now Hamley's.... 

Edited December 1, 2015 by Defiance19

[AC Benus]

Ok, first installment of It Had to be Good! is officially posted!

[Mikiesboy]

You say cream cheese and butter, all I hear I hear is hips and thighs.. By what you two have said, it is delicious but rich. I may have to wait till I have company to share..

It is .. did my stomach in...too rich for me. But it's good!

[Timothy M.]

Ok, first installment of It Had to be Good! is officially posted!

 

Oh, it was quite complex, I'll have to read again, before I can wrap my head around it. But it sounds like the beginnng of another wonderful story.

 

Is Glen the Glen we had a quick mention of in Katie's story ?

 

OHH - I just realized

 

it was from the sneak peek I got the feeling of having read of Glen before, not from Katie. Duh ! Sorry...

Edited December 2, 2015 by Timothy M.

[AC Benus]

Oh, it was quite complex, I'll have to read again, before I can wrap my head around it. But it sounds like the beginnng of another wonderful story.

 

Is Glen the Glen we had a quick mention of in Katie's story ?

 

OHH - I just realized

 

it was from the sneak peek I got the feeling of having read of Glen before, not from Katie. Duh ! Sorry...

One of the reasons I wanted to have an initiation for this story is that I knew the opening would involve the troupe intros. There are quite a few members of Bettina's 'family' to get to know, so I wanted the reader to feel they at least knew Bet and had a feel for her.   

Edited December 2, 2015 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

In the chapter called "The Santa Wrinkle," Bet and her family start out standing at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Sixth Street. 

 

The Missouri Historical Society has posted many period photographs on their research website, so let's start with one showing the Kresge Building - this is the store they noticed while crossing Washington. 

 

What do you think? I think it's a tremendously elegant structure, and the urns on top are enormous!

[Mikiesboy]

In the chapter called "The Santa Wrinkle," Bet and her family start out standing at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Sixth Street. 

 

The Missouri Historical Society has posted many period photographs on their research website, so let's start with one showing the Kresge Building - this is the store they noticed while crossing Washington. 

 

What do you think? I think it's a tremendously elegant structure, and the urns on top are enormous!

Oh there's so many times I wish that there was such a thing as time travel.  Love to walk down that street .. 

[dughlas]

If I'm not mistaken Kresge is the predecessor to Kmart.

[AC Benus]

As the troupe continues south on Sixth Street, they cross over (to the west side of the street), and after a block, find themselves walking by the New Columbia Theatre. Here's a view looking south - the skyscraper on the entire left-hand edge is where they are going - Famous-Barr.       

 

Here's another shot looking north. The building on the right-hand edge (the one with the large cornice) is Stix, Baer and Fuller.

 

Famous, Stix, and Scruggs were the Big Three, and each occupied entire blocks, and had at least 10 floors of departments (making each, one of the largest department stores in the world). There were also several smaller department stores as well, like Nugent's.  

Edited December 4, 2015 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

If I'm not mistaken Kresge is the predecessor to Kmart.

That's right, Kresge's 'K' is the 'K' in Kmart.

 

As a kid, my mom liked to go to big Kresge's in downtown Belleville, IL. So, it's funny how they had both the traditional department stores going at the same time as Kmart - Belleville had one of those too!  

 

I still remember Kresge's offering great Christmas departments, with glass ornaments from East Germany and Poland. Being able to find those made my mom very happy, but come to think of it, Famous also had German ornaments, lol. 

 

Thanks for bringing back the memories, Dugh!  

Edited December 4, 2015 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

In the "Knickers to a Nudist" chapter, Lowell Fredricks spends the morning visiting Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney. Founded in 1850, it was a very historic store, very high-end, and extremely large. 

 

Here is the eastern annex of SVB in the 1920s. The central arch is the entry that Lowell used, and the facade in the picture is the one facing the Old Post Office. The skyscraper in the background is the main part of Scruggs, and the store covered the entire block and offered 10 floors of retail space, plus a full basement.   

 

................... (new part)

 

Also, here is a shot from a later time, but it shows the Old Post Office on the left, and Scruggs on the right as Lowell would see it at sidewalk level. (Btw, I love the vertical marquees at the corners of the building they added after WW2. There were two of them, and they must have been 5 to 6 stories tall!)

Edited December 4, 2015 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

Anyone ready for the next chapter...? Any guess where or what it will be about?

[Mikiesboy]

Anyone ready for the next chapter...? Any guess where or what it will be about?

I gotta get reading before I make any guesses.. 

[Defiance19]

Anyone ready for the next chapter...? Any guess where or what it will be about?

Uh..yes I'm ready, but no, can't guess.. 

[J.HunterDunn]

Anyone ready for the next chapter...? Any guess where or what it will be about?

 

Haven't made time to review the last chapter yet, but always ready for more. I'd like to learn how Alden and Lowell will meet. Maybe Alden is a big fan of Cola ? Ready for the next slice of your Christmas pie, AC !

[AC Benus]

All right, perhaps I need some advice.

 

In the chapter called The People You Meet, some reviews have come in stating bemusement over Bet's wanting Alden and Lowell to formally meet.

 

I thought her motivations were pretty clear, and easy to see in their simplicity: she saw Lowell and Alden have their moment on the sidewalk, and through a love of her Uncle Alden, wants to facilitate a meeting. It seemed Fate had seated him next to her, and she was not going to let the opportunity slip by – once she found out that Lowell was a decent sort of person.

 

It also ties in (to my mind) the precept that many straight people have of Gay folks being 'rare' and needing all the help they can get to be introduced to one another.

 

IDK, so if this is not working in the chapter…please help me brain-storm an adjustment to bring it into better focus.

 

I appreciate all of your input and help! I want this novella to be as Good! as possible, lol.   

Edited December 6, 2015 by AC Benus

[J.HunterDunn]

I don't think it is not working. I don't know about the twenties, but can hardly assume it was easy for gay guys to get connected. Bet knows about Alden's preference and is quite open about it to Lowell. She knows Alden is alone and finds out Lowell is as well and sees no harm in bringing the two guys together.

 

Of course the chances that they also connect are not as high as Bet (young and romantic) may think, but we wouldn't have a story when Alden and Lowell immediately took a dislike to each other.

 

I see Katie as another incarnation of Bet, for didn't Katie do the same for Sloan and Richardson ?

 

Works for me, AC.

[Timothy M.]

Indeed, I thought it perfectly logical for her to bring Lowell to see Alden. I admire her for being so accepting and relaxed, and so did Lowell as far as I could work out. She isn't pushy about it, simply creating a possibility for them to connect, and Lowell grabs the opportunity and comes up with the interview idea.

[skinnydragon]

I, as one of the accursed bemusers, should clarify 

 

What you say makes perfect sense, and it had been my initial thought.

The "problem" originated from my usual affliction of over-thinking.

I worried over what I thought might have been a plot point I had somehow missed in the previous chapter.

Innocence wins out. Suspicion, as usual, is cornered, subdued and pushed to the rear of my brain. It can feed there for a while. 

[AC Benus]

I don't think it is not working. I don't know about the twenties, but can hardly assume it was easy for gay guys to get connected. Bet knows about Alden's preference and is quite open about it to Lowell. She knows Alden is alone and finds out Lowell is as well and sees no harm in bringing the two guys together.

 

Of course the chances that they also connect are not as high as Bet (young and romantic) may think, but we wouldn't have a story when Alden and Lowell immediately took a dislike to each other.

 

I see Katie as another incarnation of Bet, for didn't Katie do the same for Sloan and Richardson ?

 

Works for me, AC.

Thanks for the feedback; I like all of your points.

 

On the first one about the 1920s and Gay guys, I'm lucky enough to have on my shelf a book called Jeb and Dash. It's a selection of entries from Carter Bealer's journals and diaries, and includes great and poignant moments from the 20s, when Carter was in his twenties. Far from a rough time for people 'in the life,' he paints a balanced portrait of random homophobia walking down the street, but also about riding on the bus holding his boyfriend's hand and joking with some nearby girls that they were already taken. Carter's real-time documenting of life for Gay men paints a sharp contrast to Quintin Crisp's gloom-and-doom recollections of the time, which he wrote down years later.      

 

I love what you say about Bet being young and romantic...I think we will be seeing more of that shortly

 

With Katie, I think I have to disagree somewhat. Richardson and Sloan met on their own, and she nearly scared Sloan off a week and a day later with her breakfast grilling of Sloan's intentions for her daddy. In the end however, she certainly played her part in opening Sloan's eyes.   

 

So, I guess the part is working in The People You Meet...?

[AC Benus]

Indeed, I thought it perfectly logical for her to bring Lowell to see Alden. I admire her for being so accepting and relaxed, and so did Lowell as far as I could work out. She isn't pushy about it, simply creating a possibility for them to connect, and Lowell grabs the opportunity and comes up with the interview idea.

Thanks, Tim. This is great feedback, especially about Lowell's interview idea being spur of the moment. I think it was that, and based on a desire to stay connected to Bet and Alden.

[AC Benus]

Oh, was ever a more charming bemusee born than you, skinnyD?

 

Lol, and well, if you thought about it, it probably means I need to clarify it in the chapter. I will be thinking about and looking for an easy add to make it simpler.

 

I appreciate the feedback, I really do. Thank you!

Edited December 6, 2015 by AC Benus

[Defiance19]

It's funny, AC. I actually thought the 'sakes alive' was just so Lorna, thinking she knew it was Saints. I chuckled a bit when she said it the first time, then when she repeated it I just thought it was uniquely her. I totally believe now that she heard it wrong and kept her version..