Hutson’s Christmas Display

I was whining to Brother Mark this evening that I was sleepy and didn’t have any idea what I was going to post in the morning. He suggested I go looking for Christmas lights and decorations. Mother and I needed to make a quick run to the grocery store, so we headed out. I figured Hutson’s traditional display would be a sure bet. We pulled up just as Town Crier Darryl Morgan and his escort, Betty Morgan, made an appearance in front of the store. Bingo! Early bedtime.

Sky cooperates

When I made my first frame, it was yellow like the world had been eating carrots. Recognizing that most the light was coming from incandescent light bulbs, I went into the Nikon D40’s menu and switched Color Balance from Automatic to Incandescent and dialed in the maximum amount of color correction. I could have done the same thing in PhotoShop, but it’s better if the quality is at least close before you start playing around.

The sky had a natural blue cast at sunset, but the menu correction I did boosted the blues even more. (That’s the last of the photo geek-speak.)

One of those Cape coincidences

Here are some of the folks I ran into (you can see them in the gallery):

  • Abby Meyers, 5, and her grandmother, Melody Hutson;
  • Simon, 7, and Ben, 5, Edmunds along with their dad and grandmother.
  • Montgomery Bank bell ringer Becka Hollis

I was ready to call it a night. I looked around one last time and saw a toddler in a stroller who looked just a little older than my 8-month-old Grandson Graham. I grabbed a couple of frames under some miserable light at a super low shutter speed. He was grooving to the music, so I was afraid they’d be blurry. Since I had gone to that much trouble, I asked his mother his name and gave her a business card.

Terra Hendrickson looked at the card, then she looked at me, said, “You sat next to us on an airplane.” Indeed, she was right. Tarra and Roscoe – now a year old – were seatmates on Cape Air at the end of July. They were on the way to see hubby Karl’s parents in Alaska. I was en route to St. Louis, West Palm Beach and Seattle. She had lost the card I had given her on the plane, so she had never seen the photo of her and Roscoe that ran then.

Old Town Cape Christmas ornament

Old Town Cape chose Hutson’s Christmas Window as the 2011 ornament. The ornament looks pretty much like my photo (but my sky’s prettier).

Hutson’s Christmas Display photo gallery

Click any photo to maker it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

18 Replies to “Hutson’s Christmas Display”

  1. Wow! Hutson’s in December now that’s Christmas! I can remember the train sets….and mechanical Santa forever.
    My daughter Stacy is 42 and I can remember taking her to see the windows at a maybe age 2 so it has to be a long time. I do wonder who long Hutson’s has been doing this? Hudson’s window opening was a great event in every kid’s life for sure and a true harbinger of Christmas, the center of every kid’s calendar. Santa can not be too far behind can he!

  2. Ken, it is a small world! This morning i was on 15 meters talking to Europe when a AC0IB called me. He is from Jackson and as we started a long QSO, i mentioned your blogs and he knew you from the Missourian! His name is Phil Nash and he lives up by Russell Heights cemetery. Phils says to say hello and he belongs to club where Ernie is president so we talked about Ernie as well. Long QSO and we didn’t mentioned antennas.. Hi Hi! 🙂

  3. R U looking for a nice Christmas present? Look no further. Hutson’s Fine Furniture!
    *******Merry Christmas********

  4. Great story. I like the photo geek stuff. I have so many good memories of seeing the Hutson Christmas windows. Ken, thanks for doing this.

  5. What wonderful memories I have of Hutson’s Christmas window. They were always magical to this small town girl. Thanks Ken.

    1. The Nikon D40 one of the best cameras made for the way I use it. It’s light enough that I can throw it in my bike’s handlebar bag.

      I would love to have on that would let me use all my old Nikon lenses and that would let me use my Nikon strobe remotely. The wideangle zoom isn’t as wide as my favorite 24mm (and a film camera), but I’ve learned to adapt.

      The camera shoots photos when I push the button, not 10 seconds later, and it allows me to shoot color under circumstances where I wouldn’t even have attempted black and white years ago.

      What’s not to like?

  6. Ken,
    You ALWAYS manage to offer spot on commentary and marvelous pictures; you have a special gift!
    OH, MY–The Hutson Store Window at Christmas was so wondrous to me. I am glad the magic still is ongoing!
    Thank you for all the memories you evoke.
    Sheila

  7. Thankfully I still live close enough to Cape to return to my childhood and traverse the city looking at light displays and the Hutson’s window. Thanks for a preview of another spectacular display.

  8. love the Christmas display every year. It takes u back to the yesterdays when u could walk safe in town without being mugged, we always left our doors unlocked Now we wouldn’t dream of doing that. Thank you for the joy u put in so many little eyes.

    Merry Christmas

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