photo courtesy of Summit Memory/Akron-Summit County Public Library
Akron, 1958
Holiday shoppers decked out in dresses and ties packed the Georgian Room restaurant at O’Neil’s in downtown Akron, and Santa spread yuletide cheer to diners as well as the pictured kitchen crew. With an elegant 1930s atmosphere, the 225-seat Georgian Room had chandeliers, linen tablecloths, a salad bar surrounding a pillar and blue-and-apricot flowered wallpaper. Fruit salad topped with sherbet was a ladies’ luncheon favorite, while kids loved the creamed chicken casserole served in a ceramic red hen and milk served in a ceramic cow. The store got shoppers in a holly jolly spirit with large, intricate animated displays featuring elves in Santa’s workshop, nutcrackers, teddy bears, trains and ornately trimmed Christmas trees. Although O’Neil’s closed in 1989, Santa is still coming to town for pictures at Summit Mall through Christmas Eve.