Some readers might remember a great Christmas tradition in Honolulu: Sears used to put on a Christmas show at its Beretania Street store in the 1950s.
Stanton Lum told me that the Christmas program was on the roof, overhanging the parking lot, where thousands of spectators stood or sat.
“The show was put on by Phyllis Shields and my auntie Mabel Lum Chang,” Lum said.
They had Christmas themes, with actors, narrators, costumes, singers and dancers. Customers would shop in the store after the performance.
Wise Men
Aston Hotels founder Andre Tatibouet told me he was in several of the productions as a child in the early 1950s. “I was a shepherd in a Nativity scene, and another time I was one of the three Wise Men.
“Sears put on two shows in the weeks before Christmas,” Tatibouet said. “They blocked off the parking lot next to their store and put out some benches. Most shows were 30-60 minutes.
“They began right after dark. They appealed to children and families and were joyful and uplifting.
“Phyllis Shields, who had a children’s theater company, directed them. Her father, a retired British army officer, made many of the sets and props, such as crowns, shields and swords. Her mother made the costumes.
“The children were all in costume but did not have speaking roles,” Tatibouet recalled. “A narrator explained things to the onlookers.
“I have a lot of fond memories of these programs. It was a lot of fun.”
Santa in the window
Jerry Wojcik also remembers the performances. “My parents would take me to those shows on the Sears roof. They used to put benches in the parking lot.
“In the makai/Koko Head corner of the building was a display window in which they would remove some of the glass and put a walkway in for a Christmas display with Santa Claus for the kids to visit.”
The first Sears Christmas program took place in 1948. It featured Christmas carolers, singing and Santa arriving in a parade.
By 1950 Sears gave each one a theme. Here are a few of them.
>> 1950: Santa Claus Comes to Mother Goose Town
>> 1951: The Toymaker and the Enchanted Peacock
>> 1952: The Sultan’s First Christmas
>> 1953: The Camel’s Christmas Present
>> 1954: The Star Grinder
>> 1955: The Song of the Boy, Ashra
>> 1956: Sugar & Spice
>> 1957: St. Nick’s Merry Space Christmas
>> 1961: They Lived Happily Ever After
>> 1962: Wish Upon a Christmas Eve
In 1951 Sears brought orphans from various institutions throughout the city. They were some of the 30,000 people who attended that year.
The 1955 play was titled “The Song of the Boy, Ashra.” It was set in an ancient village at the edge of a desert and was about a boy who, for as long as he could remember, wanted to sing.
The 1956 program, “Sugar & Spice,” was about the adventures of Sugar, the tomboy daughter of the Candy Man. It was put on in the evening of Nov. 23 and 24.
‘I can’t hear you!’
Judi Moore said, “I took acting from Phyllis Shields and was a bird of some sort in one of the shows. It was really cool to be on the roof and look down on the audience.”
She sent me a photo of her dressed as the bird. “Mrs. Shields would disappear out the door and yell, ‘I can’t hear you!’ She was trying to teach us to throw our voices to the last row in a real theater.”
Lowell Angell remembers attending the Sears Christmas show every year with his parents.
“The main parking lot fronting the Beretania Sears store was closed off and packed wall-to-wall with people, most standing up. The show took place on the narrow, flat roof extending out from the building.
“I don’t remember much about the shows, but being there was exciting. After Sears moved to Ala Moana in 1959, they continued the Christmas show for a few years, on the upper level, Ewa side of the building, on a similar flat roof area, and also with the audience crowded into the parking lot.
“Maybe because I was older, it never seemed to have quite the same ‘magic’ of the Beretania location.”
Which show was this?
Kailianu (Lee Kwai) Michaels said: “My mom took us to the Sears show and we would get out of the car and sit on a blanket.
“One Christmas, there was a story about a doll, and the song has stayed with me all these years. The ballad is sung by the doll, who was recently repaired by the main characters in the show. I may not have all the words correct, but it went something like this:
‘I’m a little doll who was dropped and broken,
Falling off my mommy’s knee,
I’m a little doll who has just been mended,
Now won’t you tell me please.
Are my ears on straight? Is my nose in place?
Have I got a cute expression on my face?
Are my blue eyes bright? Do I look all right?’”
I can’t say for sure, but it sounds like Sears’ 1961 program, “They Lived Happily Ever After.”
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote that “the musical, starring Santa, thrilled the onlookers. The story took place on Christmas Eve in Miss Primm’s Toy Shop. Here the dolls came alive and danced and sang. That is, until the wicked-witch doll, Wanda, cast a spell.
“That was the signal for Santa and four reindeer (shapely ballerinas) to enter and make everything right. The cast contained 30 members.”
Following that, the Roosevelt High School a cappella choir of 115, directed by Harriet Y. Kawano, presented a half-hour program of carols.
Space race
In 1957, as the U.S. and Soviet Union raced to be the first in space, Sears blasted off with “St. Nick’s Merry Space Christmas.”
The Star-Bulletin reported: “Santa Claus took an unscheduled trip into outer space last night and landed on the planet Astra, but all ended well in the science-fiction version of Christmas, presented at the Sears Ninth Annual Christmas show.
“More than 7,000 Honolulu youngsters and their parents got a 30-minute glimpse at what an inter-planetary Christmas could be like, when Santa’s rocket-propelled snowball, in which he had planned to circle the Earth delivering toys, went berserk, launching him into outer space.
“There were gaily-painted wizards, mischievous bees and colorful space flowers, and bright rocket ships in the play, presented from atop the roof of Sears’ lanai.
“All the color stole the children’s attention only temporarily. They watched every move Santa made. One tiny girl, puzzled by Santa’s presence on another planet, pulled at her mother’s sleeve and asked, ‘Mommy, how’s Santa going to get back?’
“Phyllis Shield, producer of the pantomime show, had written in the answer to the girl’s question. The wizards of Astra built a special rocket for Santa, which turned out to be a Christmas sleigh.
“Some spectators were frightened to their feet when a giant rocket burst into a star-spangled ball atop the Sears store and plummeted into the night.
“The show took on a Cinderella touch when Holly, a green-clad miss from the North Pole, played by Barbara Ernes, was brought to Astra by Santa to marry the planet’s ruler, Prince Lucian, portrayed by Alvin Lum.
“Youngsters, some perched atop their fathers’ shoulders, shrieked with joy when St. Nick waved good-bye.”
Other children found more down-to-earth pleasures. Robert McCully says his favorite part of the show was the food. “The warm nuts and the Swift’s Premium hot dogs were da best.”
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Bob Sigall is the author of the five “Companies We Keep” books. Send him your comments and suggestions to Sigall@Yahoo.com.
