For 62 years, the Burke St Melbourne’s Myer store has put on a magical Christmas display in their windows.
Each year, a different theme or story connects the 6 or so windows and people queue up to see what has been done. It is estimated that about 1.2 million people see it each Christmas!
Starting with a sporting theme in 1956 (the year of the Melbourne Olympics) and Santa joining the Olympic torch relay, the windows have covered a number of themes such as Uno’s Garden, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Rudolph, the 12 Days of Christmas and the Little Dog and the Christmas wish. The full list of themes up to 2007 is on the eMelbourne site and there are some wonderful old photos at the Herald Sun.
Over time, other Myer stores have also showcased animations in their windows – generally, Brisbane matches Melbourne while Wagga Wagga, Ballarat and Geelong reuse the displays from Melbourne a year or so later (which gives me a chance to visit some I may have missed!).
Now, there are security guards to create an orderly queue. Years ago, it was just a scramble of people trying to see over each other’s shoulders and wait for a turn towards the front of the crowd to see.
For the last couple of years, Myer’s ad campaigns for Christmas have centred around some living Christmas decorations. This year, that theme continues alongside a book about those same decoration characters – in particular, about Elf and his desire for an absolutely perfect Christmas.
The book is called The completely and utterly, absolutely perfect Christmas and written H C Floren for Myer and can come to life with an augmented reality app. At this stage, the book is only available through Myer stores (including online).
Elf and his friends Reindeer, Mouse and Angel feature in the window animations. As you move along the windows, the story follows Elf’s journey to find some suitably dedicated decorations as he doesn’t think his friends are taking decorating seriously enough.
Through a progression of stops where other decorations also are not quite right for him, Elf makes his way back home for a wonderful, slightly imperfect Christmas instead.
We really enjoyed the windows this year, and were lucky enough to only have a short queue to wait in.
For those unable to see these beautiful windows, here are some photos from our trip to the Burke St mall. Obviously, these are taken through glass so are not the best photos, although I must say I actually like the gum tree reflection across the top of pictures!
I loved seeing Elf sit by some letter boxes with letters, presumably from Santa and friends, and presents popping out!
On Saturday night we were lucky enough to be amongst the Melbourne Zoo members who attended their Christmas party.
It was a lot of fun!
For our turn with Santa, a Christmas fairy greeted us and took us into Santa’s cave for a personal chat with Santa then a chance to take a photo. Each child also got an early gift, but only if they could answer a special question from Santa (like “how many reindeer pull my sleigh” and “name two of my reindeer other than Rudolph“.)
Within the winter wonderland, there were multiple snow machines, a couple of craft activities, a silent disco (we spent ages in there!), a family photo scene (complete with snow covered mountains and a Rudolph statue) and a chance to pose with the Penguins of Madagascar.
A jungle gym, festooned in tinsel and bells was very popular, as was an inflatable maze. There was also a little kids area with Christmassy playthings and dressups.
We were at the zoo, so of course we also walked around to see some animals before enjoying the Christmas activities. Unfortunately, many of the animals had decided to have a nap or otherwise stay out of view so we didn’t see many, but it was nice to walk around in the evening and experience a different sort of atmosphere at the zoo.
To keep us all entertained outside of Winter Wonderland and Santa’s Cave, there were various entertainment options provided.
My family had a great time last year checking out Melbourne’s Christmas sights. And we’re planning to do it again soon.
We equally love Christmas lights and displays on homes, both in our area and elsewhere we manage to visit.
So what is so good about seeing all those lights and decorations?
Obviously, every Christmas decoration costs money. And wide scale displays cost a fair bit, especially if you factor in the electricity costs to run a light display.
I was surprised to read recently that it costs about $3.78 million to ‘fund and promote’ the Christmas displays in the Melbourne CBD. I hadn’t really thought about how much it cost before.
It’s a lot of money, and if you add in that most (all?) local councils also spend large amounts of money, it seems somewhat decadent to spend it on decorations rather than spending more on other causes (like homelessness and health care).
So it is worth spending that much money on one month?
I love the lights and displays, and I can see benefits to having them. But I am struggling with spending that much money on them.
So for what it’s worth, here are some suggestions from me on how to cut back those costs while still celebrating the Christmas magic.
How else could cities and councils cut back on their Christmas savings without cutting back on Christmas cheer?
Growing up in Melbourne means visiting the Myer windows for Christmas.
As I mentioned last week, this is the 60th year that Myer has been providing this festive delight to Melbournians.
Like many Melbournians, I remember heading into the city (and going by train just added to the excitement!) to view the windows as a child and again with my friends as a teenager. Now, I get to take my children in and share the experience with them.
All but a few years had moving parts to the displays, and all years have a theme linking the six windows.
To celebrate the fact that the Myer windows are 60 years old, one of this year’s windows was very special. It showed the back of a typical scene so we can see the mechanism allowing for movement.
On either side of that scene was a bookshelf containing items/characters from old window themes. That is one window I wish I had been able to spend more time at, but it went quickly and was of less interest to my kids.
So this year, the theme behind the Myer Christmas windows is the book Little dog and the Christmas wish by Corinne Fenton.
Each window has a little dog at the front of the window looking into the scene of the story. The story can be heard and read as you move along the series.
As the little dog move around the suburbs and city of Melbourne, the various scenes show Melbourne from the 50s.
When we visited the windows last week I noticed a few changes from when I was younger.
Earlier this week, we had a beautiful day in the city of Melbourne just walking around and viewing the Christmas decorations and displays.
I wish I could visit all the Aussie cities for Christmas, but I’ll have to make do with Melbourne! At least I can share some of the beautiful sites here, though.
First, we wen to Fed Square and saw the largest Lego Christmas tree in the southern hemisphere – it’s nearly 10 m tall! It is a very Aussie tree with koalas and kookaburras in the tree and obvious gifts underneath (like a cricket bat, footy and surfboard).
Then, we looked at the City Square which has a whole Christmas feel. As well as a tree and signposts, we saw plant reindeer, Santa’s seat and red flowers everywhere. The kids also enjoyed interactive aspects such as having their faces in an elf picture and hearing Santa laugh.
Next were the Myer windows, of course, with the story of the Little Dog and the Christmas wish. This is the 6oth year of the Myer windows which is quite something!
And we finished with epicure’s Gingerbread village. This was amazing and a fun way to see Melbourne. The village includes landmarks like Flemington racecourse (with Santa and his sleigh on the roof of the grandstand!), the MCG, St Kilda beach, Melbourne zoo (although I’ve never seen the animals stand in snow before!), the arts centre and the Grand Prix. It’s fun spotting the places and the little details throughout, and amazing to realise it is all made out of gingerbread and icing!
Merry Christmas Melbourne!
It’s hard to believe that Christmas is almost here, but there’s only a week to go now!
We love helping Santa with his letters to Aussie children and think it is a real privilege to be part of so many children’s lives. And frankly we’d love to keep writing letters right up until Christmas Eve!
However, we have to rely on Australia Post during their busiest time of year so we have to factor delivery times into our plans. And we want to spend some time celebrating Christmas with our family. All of which means we must stop writing and sending letters very soon…
If you want letters to reach…
Having said that, we can’t guarantee delivery before Christmas on any orders placed after Saturday evening.
Read what others have said and remember that NOW is the best time to place an order if you’re thinking about it!
We went looking for Christmas lights a week before Christmas and ended up finding some lovely lights so here’s what we found in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs…
A few houses there have decorations. The first house has a beautiful tree covered in lights and another had fewer lights but was beautiful in its simplicity with white reindeer forming a path to the front door.
2.5 Santas for this group, but well worth it if you’re in the area
We found a number of houses on Beddoe Road (starting at the corner of Cosgrove St) with lights – one or two had a lot of lights – which was nice but only about 2 Santas. We turned into Luck Drive and found one lit up house on our right.
Then we turned into Allison Court. Most homes in this street have some lights set up while a few have a lot of lights. Altogether it is a good street to slowly drive through – but a walk along would be even better (our kids were too tired by this stage so we drove!)
Put all 3 streets together (and you could walk between them) and this is definitely worth 3 santas.
We only saw these lights while driving past on Burwood Highway but I think there are a few places and they were certainly lit up!
This one is a mixed review. The house has quite a few lights on the house, in the garden and inside the windows – you can walk through the garden, too. It stands out and is worth a bit of a drive.
However, if you have been there in the past (as we had), this is not the display it once was. it used to be covered in lights, have a snow machine and create traffic chaos in the side streets! A few neighbouring houses were also decorated (but not this year). The owners have sold off many of their lights and decorations but hopefully will retain some lights for Christmas 2012.
Surrounding streets (such as Hartland Rd) have a few dispersed homes with nice lights, too, so driving through these streets can be rewarding.
Read more about Victorian Christmas lights or share other lights in the Vermont/Wantirna area for others to enjoy…
We drove down Burwood Highway in Burwood (suburb of Melbourne, Victoria) last night expecting to see some great lights.
We could see the lights from a distance so easily found 378 Burwood Highway (not too far from Middleborough Rd) which has various lights up high on a garage roof and the roof of the house.
From the sign out the front, we realised we had missed seeing Santa there by about an hour. However, there were other elves wandering around inside and a couple of fairies even did a dance routine a bit later!
Inside their yard, there are not as many lights and decorations as we expected BUT there were so many Santa on display! Along one wall were man-sized Santas (and a couple of other characters in Christmas garb). Along the second area was an incredible display of Santas – on trains, in parachutes, sitting, standing, with presents or without, with sleighs and reindeer (didn’t notice any with boomers unfortunately) and even some in snow globes for the white Christmas feel. You could spend ages there looking at each one in detail…
The elves are happy to pose for photos with people, and with the huge throne in a corner, I assume photos with Santa are also welcomed when he visits.
If you’re in Melbourne, I’d definitely say visit Burwood for a Santa display like no other! 4 Santas for this spot 🙂
Christmas is very close now, and many children are excited with their letter from Santa. It isn’t too late to order one for the special children in your life – in fact you have until 5pm …
Tuesday 22nd December if you live in Melbourne
Monday 21st December if you live in another capital city or elsewhere in Victoria
Sunday 20th December if you live in other areas (although very remote places may need longer for the Postie to deliver letters in time.)
Ordering is easy – just fill in our online form and we’ll take care of the rest for you on behalf of Santa.
Last night, on our way home from a Christmas party, we saw an unusual sight 🙂
In Narracan St, Vermont, there are two houses with Christmas lights. One is lovely but completely dwarfed by the other which is absolutely covered with lights, Santas, reindeers, moving things and more. Every so often, it also snows on the people looking at the lights – yes, snows!!!!!!!!!!!! (Ok, for the cynics it is a pump blowing bubbles but it LOOKS like a snow fall and the kids adore it!)
Well worth a visit – 4 santas for this one!
Oh, and take some coins with you – there is a wishing well with proceeds going to the Make a Wish foundation.
With the amount of rain falling on Melbourne over the last two days, it doesn’t take much dreaming to envision a wet Christmas! Forecasts are for fine and 25, but I suspect it will be wet underfoot in many places still and the tree/ earthwork damage will still be visible anyway.
It reminds me of a Christmas when I was a kid – I only remember bits & pieces of it (and it may have been a family Christmas party rather than on Christmas Day although my memory is Christmas Day) I don’t remember Christmas celebrations themselves affected by rain and water, but going home was a different story!
Driving along Dandenong Road, the road was covered in water – at least ankle deep is my guess. There weren’t a lot of cars on the road, and all were travelling slowly and carefully. I think our engine must have been flooded because I remember Dad walking off through the pouring rain, trudging through the lake of the service road to reach a phone booth and call for help.
I don’t remember who rescued us and can’t imagine who he called for help – my Grandparents would have been closest but they never drove or owned a car! Maybe he just rang the RACV and I can only imagine how long a wait that would have been on such a night.
It was a bit scary – I think the car breaking down and Dad not automatically fixing it broke a few childish illusions 🙂
Here’s hoping Christmas Day this year will be a little less adventurous, as much as we appreciate the rain!