The children in front press their noses against the windows, staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the magic of the department store window at Christmastime. Behind, kids are hoisted — careful with that hot chocolate! — on the shoulders of a dad, who enjoyed a similar perch when he was young.

Christmas hereabouts has long meant a trip or two to State Street, which for many years was a veritable Department Store Row. Yes, there were parades with elves and marching bands, carolers and holiday luncheons in Marshall Field's Walnut Room with its signature 50-foot tree. But maybe the biggest thrill was discovering what fresh enchantment those window designers would create each year.

Store windows often told a story in multiple chapters, as parents and children moved from one to another. "Starting at Randolph street and continuing south on State to Washington streets, Marshall Field & Company tells, in 13 scenes, the story of a Christmas eve dream-tour taken by two girls thru 'The Christmas Eve Dream House,'" the Tribune noted in 1960, also reporting: "Herald angels are posed to sound their trumpets in front of stained glass windows over the entrances to The Fair store."