For 95 years, St. Louisans went to the land­mark depart­ment store Famous-Barr to buy gifts and every­day things and to cel­e­brate spe­cial moments and life­time events. Although Famous-Barr ceased to exist in 2006, its many won­der­ful mem­o­ries live on.

This mini-exhib­it high­lights some of the sto­ries and designs cre­at­ed by Famous- Barr at Christ­mas­time, from the icon­ic hol­i­day win­dows and pho­tos with San­ta to the store’s sig­na­ture hol­i­day packaging.

The exhib­it includes toys and gifts pur­chased at Famous and a camera
used to take the pho­tos with San­ta. Exhib­it high­lights include a 100-pho­to slideshow of Christ­mas win­dows and a recre­ation of a Christ­mas dis­play win­dow with orig­i­nal ani­ma­tron­ic bears.

The exhib­it was curat­ed with the assis­tance of Edna Cam­pos Graven­horst, author of the book “Famous-Barr, St. Louis Shop­ping at its Finest” (2014).

Admis­sion to the exhib­it is $10 per per­son (chil­dren 12 and under free) and includes a guid­ed tour of the Museum’s peri­od rooms and park­ing. The Muse­um is open Wednes­day through Fri­day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sun­day from Noon to 4 p.m. and by appoint­ment on Mon­day and Tues­day. The Muse­um is open by appoint­ment on from Jan­u­ary 8 through Feb­ru­ary 29, 2024. For more infor­ma­tion about mak­ing an appoint­ment click here.