Mid-Town Plaza: Clock of Nations!

My dearest friend, Brian, sent me a birthday treasure! The fact that he found this at all is a marvel.

I must explain: For those of you who remember the Mid-Town Plaza in Rochester, NY, you might have super fond memories of the magical clock tower that used to sit center stage there. If so, you will appreciate the present I received.

AH! Where did he find an old paper bag from that bygone era? Well, he does dumpster dive (well, curb dive, really.) But STILL!

For those of you who do NOT know, there once was a beautiful department store in downtown Rochester that had an amazing clock tower in the center that, at the strike of the hour, would open and puppets representing various countries of the world would dance and twirl. Childhood glee! Then, at noon, all twelve would open at once and every country would shine in all of it's colorful splendor!

Take a look:

Crazy, right?! So very 1960's, right? I loved it and it had a profound impact on me....uh, dolls? Also, I find myself drawn to certain Russian architecture that has similar color chaos, that somehow works.

So, with the construction of malls outside the city and the demise of downtown, so went Sibley's and the magical clocktower.

Or did it?

Imagine my utter, utter surprise and bewildered joy when I recently went to the Rochester airport to catch a flight and lo! There it was in all it's glory!

And by some glorious quirk of fate, I was there when the clock struck noon....

The hopeful news is that some wonderful people are restoring it and potenially having it installed at the Children's Hospital. That would be wise.

 

P.S. Thank you to Anonymous for correcting me about exactly where this clock was located. In looking it up, I also discovered it's name. All of my memories of this mall and clock are beautifully blurred as I was very young at the time.