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L.S. Good’s Department Store ‘Talking Tree’ Recalled as Source of Misfit Merriment

The Talking Tree was once a fixture of the Wheeling holiday season, standing in the front of L.S. Good’s department store. It recently made a comeback at Centre Market, but its most vivid memories were made in front of the former downtown retail outlet. (Photo Courtesy of Weelunk)

WHEELING — When asked about memories of the Talking Tree, once a fixture at L.S. Good’s department store and more recently at Centre Market, many people wax nostalgic about spending time with their family, crowded streets and Christmas shopping.

Others retain decidedly different memories.

“It scared the hell out of me,” said Martins Ferry resident Don Feenerty, who did have fond memories of Christmas shopping with his family among the crowded streets … trees aside.

The L.S. Good building, now home to Good Mansion Wines, was once a department store with the Talking Tree a fixture in their window, its cryptic gaze monitoring the crowd.

A store employee seated inside the tree was given a microphone and a viewing slot, listening to passers-by for the names of children, or — better yet — a familiar face.

“I was just a little kid, and the tree would say things: ‘Hey, little boy, with the blue coat, cowboy boots!'” Feenerty said. “And I went, ‘Oh my God, the tree’s talking to me!’ I was young enough that I didn’t realize that there was somebody in the tree, and for the life of me, I could not figure out how the tree could see me. I accepted that the tree could talk, that didn’t bother me.”

Feenerty commented that the mild dendrophobia was something that most grew out of — his mom couldn’t understand his concern, and his older sisters were both unfazed by the chatty tree. As he grew older, he, too, grew out of his irrational fear. Or at least for a time. After a few years being refurbished, the Talking Tree abruptly returned when he was a teenager.

“I started working in downtown Wheeling when I was 17, and the tree was back. … I was still a little creeped out, so I’d walk on the other side of Market Street — it was like the clown, Pennywise. No matter where you’d go, you couldn’t get away from it,” he said. “I was on the other side of the street, and whoever was in the tree knew who I was. They called me by name, and my heart started beating fast — ‘Oh my God, it’s still there! It knows who I am!'”

Compounding the mystery of the tree, Feenerty said, was that he would rarely get the things he told the tree that he wanted, leading him to one conclusion — whoever it was, the tree wasn’t Santa.

Nina Sutherland was the voice of the tree for the winter of 1974 and remembers her time fondly. She had been hired as seasonal help at L.S. Good, and recalled crouching inside the tree, sitting on a metal chair, and watching the crowd through the slit in the tree. With a fan to keep her cool and a microphone to talk to passers-by, Sutherland kept shoppers on their toes.

“Of course, they had those big eyes and mouth on the tree, so that’s what people were looking at,” she said. “… What was fun was that everyone had school jackets, with their name and what instrument they’d play. … If you could see what was on the jacket, … they’d look around like ‘How could you know that?!

“… Those were the good days. I just remember the streets of Wheeling being packed with people,” she added, laughing. “I remember the people who’d just walk past like nothing’s happening — ‘That tree’s not talking to me!’ — you’re poking the bear when you did that to me!”

Sutherland said her seasonal job was such a non-issue, at the time, that she didn’t think to bring it up or discuss it for years on end. Later on in life, she said, she and a friend found a singing, dancing Christmas tree decoration in the store, awakening long-dormant memories… to the mild chagrin of her children.

“I said, ‘You’re not going to believe it! This was me! I was the talking Christmas tree!’ It was the first time I had mentioned it, because it was no big deal. She bought me that, and I drag it out every Christmas and play it. My kids can’t even believe it,” she said.

In more recent years, a Talking Tree has set up shop at Centre Market, near Coleman’s Fish Market, where it still draws a mixed crowd of those who remember the tree from decades past, families happy to see the novelty of the tree, and likely more than a couple perturbed children.

While the tree looks different than it did in the ’70s, Sutherland is still happy to see the tree return.

“It looks different, it doesn’t look like the same tree that it was. Then I’d read that things had changed, over the years it had deteriorated, … but it’s funny. At the time it wasn’t important, but 50 years later, I’ve finally owned up to it! People are kind of surprised. I’m trying to explain to my kids what Wheeling was like, 45 years ago, they just don’t get it.”

Despite his tumultuous first impressions, Feenerty, too, is happy to see the tradition continuing.

“I can honestly say that tree has to have had a positive impact on thousands of people,” he said. “I think those are the kind of traditions that are great to keep alive. When I was that same age, Cooey Bentz had a Santa and a train display, and you won’t meet anyone who grew up in Wheeling in the ’60s, ’70s, early ’80s who doesn’t talk about Cooey-Bentz at Christmas time. It’s the same as that tree.

“For many, many people, that tree is Christmas. I’d love to see it continue.”

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