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| A Window Onto Evolving Traditions in Paris | A Window Onto Evolving Traditions in Paris |
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| PARIS — Crouched precariously amid cascades of fishing line, behind a drum kit dusted with iridescent artificial snow, Jean-Claude Dehix ministered patiently to a rebellious marionette, oblivious to the businessman on the other side of the plate glass window who was taking a last, lazy drag of his morning cigarette. | PARIS — Crouched precariously amid cascades of fishing line, behind a drum kit dusted with iridescent artificial snow, Jean-Claude Dehix ministered patiently to a rebellious marionette, oblivious to the businessman on the other side of the plate glass window who was taking a last, lazy drag of his morning cigarette. |
| “Who’s the boss here, chérie?” Mr. Dehix scowled, as he repeatedly adjusted a filament connecting a cam-driven mechanism in the ceiling of the Christmas display to the wrist of his Lilliputian charge, who appeared determined to strum away at a toy guitar to her own unscripted rhythm. | “Who’s the boss here, chérie?” Mr. Dehix scowled, as he repeatedly adjusted a filament connecting a cam-driven mechanism in the ceiling of the Christmas display to the wrist of his Lilliputian charge, who appeared determined to strum away at a toy guitar to her own unscripted rhythm. |
| The puppet — part of a gaggle of mopheaded rockers in tiny Burberry trench coats — is one of around 200 animated figurines installed by Mr. Dehix this year across 24 windows on Paris’s bustling Boulevard Haussmann, home to two of the city’s biggest and oldest department stores, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. | |
| Each November to January, Mr. Dehix, an elfin 64-year-old, reigns as both impresario and chief troubleshooter of this realm, rising before dawn to inspect every display for broken strings, burned-out bulbs or a derailed train set. Known affectionately as the Geppetto of the Grands Magasins, Mr. Dehix has been Paris’s go-to man for holiday windows for more than four decades. | Each November to January, Mr. Dehix, an elfin 64-year-old, reigns as both impresario and chief troubleshooter of this realm, rising before dawn to inspect every display for broken strings, burned-out bulbs or a derailed train set. Known affectionately as the Geppetto of the Grands Magasins, Mr. Dehix has been Paris’s go-to man for holiday windows for more than four decades. |
| “I have staged everything you could imagine,” Mr. Dehix said of his Christmas displays, which over the years have also graced Le Bon Marché on the Left Bank and the now-defunct Samaritaine. For a few years in the 1990s, he was responsible for the holiday windows of all four rival stores — a feat that required not just Olympian stamina, but the discretion of a palace butler. | “I have staged everything you could imagine,” Mr. Dehix said of his Christmas displays, which over the years have also graced Le Bon Marché on the Left Bank and the now-defunct Samaritaine. For a few years in the 1990s, he was responsible for the holiday windows of all four rival stores — a feat that required not just Olympian stamina, but the discretion of a palace butler. |
| Swimming Barbies. Racing ostriches. Tightrope-walking cats. Cabarets of dancing kitchen utensils. The elaborate shows take nearly a year to prepare and draw crowds so large on holiday shopping weekends that the stores long ago installed sidewalk viewing platforms. | Swimming Barbies. Racing ostriches. Tightrope-walking cats. Cabarets of dancing kitchen utensils. The elaborate shows take nearly a year to prepare and draw crowds so large on holiday shopping weekends that the stores long ago installed sidewalk viewing platforms. |
| Part of a fraternity of artisans that also includes the famed Guignol troupes of the Luxembourg Gardens, Mr. Dehix is the current guardian of a Paris tradition that is nearly as old as the city’s great shopping meccas, which date back to the Belle Époque. | Part of a fraternity of artisans that also includes the famed Guignol troupes of the Luxembourg Gardens, Mr. Dehix is the current guardian of a Paris tradition that is nearly as old as the city’s great shopping meccas, which date back to the Belle Époque. |
| But while the puppet theaters of the grand parks still hew to a repertoire of classic European fables and fairy tales, the animations of the Christmas windows have bent obligingly with the years, reflecting not just evolutions in technology and tastes, but a creeping — sometimes jarring — fusion of popular and consumer culture. | But while the puppet theaters of the grand parks still hew to a repertoire of classic European fables and fairy tales, the animations of the Christmas windows have bent obligingly with the years, reflecting not just evolutions in technology and tastes, but a creeping — sometimes jarring — fusion of popular and consumer culture. |
| Le Bon Marché, on the Rue de Sèvres, claims not only to be Europe’s oldest department store but also one of the first to recognize the power of an inventive window dressing to seduce shoppers — even when its goods were not overtly on display. The store’s first Christmas-themed window, in 1893, depicted a simple scene of ice skaters gliding on a frozen pond in the Bois de Boulogne. (Macy’s in New York’s Herald Square was said to have pioneered the holiday window tradition in the 1870s.) | Le Bon Marché, on the Rue de Sèvres, claims not only to be Europe’s oldest department store but also one of the first to recognize the power of an inventive window dressing to seduce shoppers — even when its goods were not overtly on display. The store’s first Christmas-themed window, in 1893, depicted a simple scene of ice skaters gliding on a frozen pond in the Bois de Boulogne. (Macy’s in New York’s Herald Square was said to have pioneered the holiday window tradition in the 1870s.) |
| In 1909, Le Bon Marché hired Gaston Decamps, a well-known maker of mechanical dolls, to interpret Commodore Robert Peary’s expedition to the North Pole that year, complete with floating icebergs and an ethereal re-creation of the aurora borealis. | In 1909, Le Bon Marché hired Gaston Decamps, a well-known maker of mechanical dolls, to interpret Commodore Robert Peary’s expedition to the North Pole that year, complete with floating icebergs and an ethereal re-creation of the aurora borealis. |
| Even in the relatively prosperous “années folles” between Europe’s two great wars, the emphasis was generally on the spectacle over the merchandise. | Even in the relatively prosperous “années folles” between Europe’s two great wars, the emphasis was generally on the spectacle over the merchandise. |
| “Whole families of fantastic characters have left their homes in the Land of Make-Believe to skip and dance over the walls of usually staid department stores,” marveled the Paris edition of The New York Herald Tribune in December 1924. “Stupid fashion displays that nobody but mother and great-aunt ever cared about anyway, have been conveniently pushed out of the show windows to make way for remarkable toy cities, lifelike stuffed dogs that do everything but bite and dolls that throw kisses as they promenade.” | “Whole families of fantastic characters have left their homes in the Land of Make-Believe to skip and dance over the walls of usually staid department stores,” marveled the Paris edition of The New York Herald Tribune in December 1924. “Stupid fashion displays that nobody but mother and great-aunt ever cared about anyway, have been conveniently pushed out of the show windows to make way for remarkable toy cities, lifelike stuffed dogs that do everything but bite and dolls that throw kisses as they promenade.” |
| Marion Chesnais, 79, remembers the power of the window displays to comfort in darker times. | Marion Chesnais, 79, remembers the power of the window displays to comfort in darker times. |
| “I never saw prettier Christmas windows than the ones during the war,” she said, recalling one particularly frigid winter, in 1942, when she was 7 years old and Paris was under Nazi occupation. | “I never saw prettier Christmas windows than the ones during the war,” she said, recalling one particularly frigid winter, in 1942, when she was 7 years old and Paris was under Nazi occupation. |
| That December, Ms. Chesnais’s father, Jacques Chesnais, a celebrated puppeteer, gave more than 1,300 live marionette performances in one of the windows of the Galeries Lafayette — under the watchful eyes of German soldiers, who kept a discreet distance. | That December, Ms. Chesnais’s father, Jacques Chesnais, a celebrated puppeteer, gave more than 1,300 live marionette performances in one of the windows of the Galeries Lafayette — under the watchful eyes of German soldiers, who kept a discreet distance. |
| “It began with a jingle of bells,” she said of her father’s holiday shows. “There was a Father Christmas puppet who was pulled along by a dog,” and acts with clowns, harlequins or soldiers. Each sketch lasted around 3 to 5 minutes — the time it took to play one side of a 78 r.p.m. record. | “It began with a jingle of bells,” she said of her father’s holiday shows. “There was a Father Christmas puppet who was pulled along by a dog,” and acts with clowns, harlequins or soldiers. Each sketch lasted around 3 to 5 minutes — the time it took to play one side of a 78 r.p.m. record. |
| Ms. Chesnais would peek out from behind the hand-painted sets at the children pressed close to the glass, their parents or grandparents just behind. | Ms. Chesnais would peek out from behind the hand-painted sets at the children pressed close to the glass, their parents or grandparents just behind. |
| “They were entranced,” she said. | “They were entranced,” she said. |
| This year, Mr. Dehix dressed the Galeries Lafayette’s windows with gangs of neon-colored monster puppets. | This year, Mr. Dehix dressed the Galeries Lafayette’s windows with gangs of neon-colored monster puppets. |
| “I think the monsters say something about the economic situation,” said Camilla Turman, 50, an American who recently moved to Paris and was visiting the windows for the first time. | “I think the monsters say something about the economic situation,” said Camilla Turman, 50, an American who recently moved to Paris and was visiting the windows for the first time. |
| Down the block at Printemps, Mr. Dehix’s mission is still to entertain. But while the tone remains playful, the windows appear aimed at a different audience. | Down the block at Printemps, Mr. Dehix’s mission is still to entertain. But while the tone remains playful, the windows appear aimed at a different audience. |
| Printemps, which dispensed with its toy department years ago and was recently bought by a Qatari investment fund, made a deal this year with Burberry, giving the British luxury brand exclusive domain over all of the store’s windows for the Christmas season. The arrangement required Mr. Dehix to dress his puppets in the company’s signature plaid, while his miniature trains meander amid mountains of cashmere scarves and leather handbags. | Printemps, which dispensed with its toy department years ago and was recently bought by a Qatari investment fund, made a deal this year with Burberry, giving the British luxury brand exclusive domain over all of the store’s windows for the Christmas season. The arrangement required Mr. Dehix to dress his puppets in the company’s signature plaid, while his miniature trains meander amid mountains of cashmere scarves and leather handbags. |
| Both Haussmann stores have made similar arrangements with fashion labels in the past. In 2012, Galeries Lafayette’s windows were taken over by Louis Vuitton while at Printemps it was Dior. Another year, in collaboration with Chanel, Mr. Dehix filled his wintry tableaus with dozens of miniature Karl Lagerfelds. | Both Haussmann stores have made similar arrangements with fashion labels in the past. In 2012, Galeries Lafayette’s windows were taken over by Louis Vuitton while at Printemps it was Dior. Another year, in collaboration with Chanel, Mr. Dehix filled his wintry tableaus with dozens of miniature Karl Lagerfelds. |
| Jérôme Gateau-Slanti, who braved a stinging drizzle with his wife, Mina, and their 2-month-old son, said he had been coming to the Christmas windows on the Boulevard Haussmann since childhood, drawn by the lights and the crowds. This year, he was intrigued by a feature in the Burberry displays that allowed visitors to manipulate some of the puppets and lighting with their smartphones. But Mr. Gateau-Slanti said he was still put off by the prominence of the luxury branding. | Jérôme Gateau-Slanti, who braved a stinging drizzle with his wife, Mina, and their 2-month-old son, said he had been coming to the Christmas windows on the Boulevard Haussmann since childhood, drawn by the lights and the crowds. This year, he was intrigued by a feature in the Burberry displays that allowed visitors to manipulate some of the puppets and lighting with their smartphones. But Mr. Gateau-Slanti said he was still put off by the prominence of the luxury branding. |
| “It’s super-focused on the clothes,” he said. | “It’s super-focused on the clothes,” he said. |
| As he applied a layer of glue to a wooden soldier with a broken leg, Mr. Dehix seemed uncomfortable at the suggestion that his craft was being co-opted by the commercial interests of his clients. | As he applied a layer of glue to a wooden soldier with a broken leg, Mr. Dehix seemed uncomfortable at the suggestion that his craft was being co-opted by the commercial interests of his clients. |
| “When I attach a string, I am still passing on a bit of myself,” he said. “I like to think that the people still notice that.” | “When I attach a string, I am still passing on a bit of myself,” he said. “I like to think that the people still notice that.” |