Remembering: America's First Christmas Store, From Family Christmas Online^TM

This article kindly remembers "Doc Johnson," the Smethport, Pennsylvania pharmacist whose Christmas-themed hobby grew into a tourist destination and influenced the front yards and Christmas trees of the United States for nearly 70 years.

Before 1932, the Hamilton Building held a Hardware store, a small pharmacy, and a few upstairs apartments. Pharmacist Leonard Brynolf Johnson rented the building from the Hamilton family and updated the old H.C. Wells pharmacy along lines he had seen in larger cities. His updates included adding many non-pharmaceutical lines of merchandise so that the store became more like a general store with a pharmacy attached.

Still, Smethport was a relatively sleepy town, and there were slow times. During those times, Johnson would pursue his hobbies, including making wooden Christmas decorations. According to regional tradition, Johnson's customers began asking him if the Christmas decorations were for sale, then they started commissioning pieces, then Johnson started making pieces 'on spec' and selling them in the store. Some people date the "official" start of Johnson's Christmas decoration business to 1935. Whenever the Christmas decoration business started, the pharmacy also remained open as long as Leonard Brynolf Johnson was involved with the business.

Eventually Johnson's trademark decorations were selling year-round and attracting shoppers from several states away. The Christmas shop took over much of the first floor, and displays even moved into the next building and the alley in between.

By the mid-1940s, Johnson's Christmas display business employed six workers and three sales representatives. The postcard shown to the right, which was apparently from the store's archives, shows the Christmas store at its heyday. Note that the Johnson Pharmacy is still open for business.

As business grew, so did the "quality" of the clientelle. In Christmas in the White House, by Albert J. Menendez, reports:

In 1954, when the lighting of the National Christmas Tree was pushed back to December 17 and moved to a publicly accessible park, Leonard Johnson loaned the committee in charge a ". . . Life-sized Santa Claus, eight reindeer, and an electrically operated Christmas Display."

If I am guessing rightly, that was probably Johnson's best Santa-sled-and-reindeer display, with eight realistically proportioned and detailed reindeer stretched out in front of Santa's sleigh. The lead deer was "animated" to the extent that his foot was stomping as if he was anxious to get started.

Our Family's Visits - My family's interest in the Christmas Store came about in part because, as a Frigidaire factory worker, Dad got a mandatory furlough every year in late summer when the factory would close to retool for the next year's product line. Frequently, Dad would append his vacation week(s) to the furlough, and we would pack the family and a big tent into the car and go camping in the Alleghenies. As a result, we wound up "swinging by" the Christmas store several times when I was very young.

Here's an irony: I barely remember going to the store, but I remember one trip there because of one special purchase that became part of our family's 'heritage' - a set of twelve china bells that said only 'Made in China.' Remarkable as it seems, all twelve bells have survived to this day, although Dad broke up the set when Mom died, giving four to each of his three children.

1979 - The Lovells Take Charge - After a very long run, Leonard and his family were ready to get out of the business. They sold the Christmas Store to Robert and Connie Lovell. The Lovells renamed the store "America's First Christmas Store" and kept the store running with new stock including Dept. 56-style collectibles. By then, most of what the store sold was imported from the far East, instead of being home-made or imported from Europe, but the store still focused on quality merchandise that it was hard to find together in one place anywhere else in New England.

1998 - The Buchanans Have a Turn - According to a Seton Hill University online publication, the Lovells sold the shop to Greg and Dee Buchanan, who were longtime customers. During their time operating the store, they increased the number of inventory items and set up new displays, including 40 Christmas trees with different themes.

2005 - The store closes - Unfortunately, another regional attraction, the Kinzua Viaduct was permanently damaged by a tornado in 2003. This cut down on some of the tourism. As late as 2004, the Buchanans still seemed to be going strong, but a year later, the couple reluctantly announced that the store would close at the end of the Christmas season. At the time, the city planned for the site to remain relatively untouched until they could find someone willing to purchase and reopen the store. Unfortunately the economy since then has been rocky, and other issues like $4-a-gallon gasoline have cut down on people driving places like historic Route 6 for pleasure.

A visitor to Smethport in 2008 seemed to think that the storefront was still in good condition.

"Doc" Johnson's Legacy

As an example, this angel was photographed in the Christmas Store window about 2008. Although we don't know for certain, it appears to be a Johnson work. Note how the careful shading to the face, wings, and even the sheep make them look as three-dimensional as possible. Each piece required hours of hands-on attention to such details. Again, we would love to have more examples to include here.

A few pieces have surfaced on the art or antique market. As an example, one antique/art store in California, has had a Johnson Santa Claus for sale since I started this article several months ago. Leonard Johnson's son has written them to say:

I . . . remember when he sold such Santas for about $25! I recall those years when he made hundreds of people happy at Christmas with his displays. I hope you get a buyer who will keep it as a real antique of Americana! - L. Morris Johnson.

If you find yourself purchasing this Santa, please tell them we sent you. :-)

Conclusion - Your Memories and Examples Wanted

Of course, if you are L.Morris Johnson or any other member of the Leonard Brynolf Johnson clan or a former associate who can shed more light on this important but rapidly fading chapter of American Christmas history, please let us know and we'll share it with our readers.

We still have many things to say about outdoor decorations, historical and contemporary, and much to sort out. Please check back every so often for more memories and ideas, and please let us know if you have any ideas you'd like to share with our readers.

Paul and Shelia Race

www.familychristmasonline.com

To return to the Memories page, click here.

Reader Photos

Nick Zito's Santa Set

A couple of years ago, Nick Zito found a Santa set in very good condition at a rummage sale. Last year, he decided to put it up. Here are a few photos he took when he was deciding what to do with the set. I included a "detail" of Santa's face to the right to give you an idea of the lifelike, three-dimensional quality that Johnson and his helpers painted into each figure. You'll also notice that the reindeer below have very distinctive "personalities." Click on each photo below to see a bigger picture:

Call for Photos and Flyers

By the way, at a reader's request, we have provided a sort of plan for making your own version of the Santa-in-Airplane display. Click here for more information.

Other Pages of Interest

• An interview with Dee Buchanan, one of the store's owners from 1998 to 2005, from Seton Hill University's eMagnify electronic magazine.
• Smethport's History page about Leonard Johnson opening his drug store.
• Smethport's History page about the Christmas Store beginning in the Johnson Pharmacy.
• Smethport's History page about the Lowell family's entrance into the business in 1979.
• Smethport's History page about the store in 2005
• Smethport's History page about the store closing in 2006.
• WayMark's web page shows photos from a member's visit in 2008.
• WayMark's collection of other Christmas store photos.