#9...What else can I say except the Bresee's Christmas windows on Main Street!  Perhaps one of the most sentimental and warmest memories for Baby Boomers in our area.  This is our final Bresee's memory for this Holiday season.  Many thanks to my friend Marc Bresee for making these available to all of my many listeners.  I KNOW THEY ENJOYED THEM!

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#8....WAS THIS THE MOST EXCITING DAY IN BRESEE'S HISTORY!  The opening of the brand new escalator.  Christened by Mayor Roger Hughes and a crowd of thousands.  Hey, can anybody pick out WDOS's JOE CAMPBELL in the crowd?  He was there covering the opening of the escalator as a MAJOR news event.  Funny..

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#7....Here are some great random Christmas shots from over the years at Bresee's. A kid with Santa, the Bresee's Sailors, the Bresee's Train and a school band playing at Christmas.  WOW!  Are you in one of these photos?

Marc Bresee/1947 photo
Marc Bresee/1947 photo
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"The Bresee's Sailors"
"The Bresee's Sailors"
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Bresee's Train
Bresee's Train
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Bresee's Youth Holiday Band
Bresee's Youth Holiday Band
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#6.....During the 1950s and early 1960s Bresee's Departemnt Store in Oneonta brought many of the wild animals from Catskill Game Farm to their store to be featured in the "Bresee's Circus."  The game farm was closed in the winter and this provided the animals with a warm and safe place "to winter."  How many remember the Bresee's Circus?

Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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 #5.....1955 Sales Staff!  We have most of the names, but not all.  Top Row (L-R) Sherm Decker, Rudy Baggs, Devir Perine, Bernie Collins, Lew Shaw, Harold Ferris (cut off).  Front Row (L-R)  Bee Simmons, Clara Conrow, Mrs. Stiles, Grace Williams, Helen Hay, Unidentified.   When was the last time you walked into a department store and found a sales staff that looked like this?  Amazing....

Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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HERE ARE SOME VERY SPECIAL BRESEE'S CHRISTMAS MEMORIES!

Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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VISIT THE COMMENT SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR THE IDENTITY OF THESE TWO PEOPLE
VISIT THE COMMENT SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR THE IDENTITY OF THESE TWO PEOPLE
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Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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#3.....

So, get this.  Bresee's decides to give away one free car.  Right after World War II when people didn't all have cars but they were ready to get one and head out on the highways.  Bresee's did a raffle for a free Dodge car.  LOOK AT THIS CROWD!  Can you imagine 5,000 people coming out for a promotion in downtown Oneonta at 9:30 at night.  There is also a picture of the new car that was given away (below).  Were you in this crowd?

Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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This is the free car they gave away!
This is the free car they gave away!
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Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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#2......

This is the kitchen crew at the famous Bresee's Health Bar in the 1940s and 1950s.  Marc Bresee comments:

"This is a picture of our kitchen crew. Not the health bar staff but the behind the scene women who made all the pies, rolls, salads etc. I can only tell you the names of two, Nip Shaver Who is the first one in on the second row from the right, she ran the kitchen up till the end of the 80's and Evelyn Adee first one behind the woman in white who is the woman who made our pies and cakes up till the closing of the store in 1994."

#1.....

 

Marc Bresee
Marc Bresee
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#1:  Bresee's had a large appliance store.  They had a plan that if you bought a freezer from them you could sign up for home delivery for frozen foods!  We do not know the identity of this driver.  See the new freezer in the truck?  Do you remember home delivery of frozen foods from Bresee's?

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