{"id":53,"date":"2014-11-20T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=53"},"modified":"2015-01-09T17:22:12","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T22:22:12","slug":"bob-batz-jr-pittsburgh-post-gazette-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/11\/20\/bob-batz-jr-pittsburgh-post-gazette-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Horne’s and Light Up Night"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In <\/a>
In November 1980, a workman labors among the bows and ornaments of the Christmas tree hung on the exterior of Horne’s department store. Pittsburgh Press\/Andy Starnes <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A trolley passes the Christmas tree that adorned a Downtown Pittsburgh deparmtent store in 1960 at Penn Avenue and Stanwix Street. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In November 1981, the illuminated Christmas tree signaled the start of holiday shopping in Downtown Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Press Photo\/Jim Fetters <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"On <\/a>
On Nov. 1, 1990, a worker stands on a scaffolding while hanging the Christmas tree. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff writer, described it beautifully back in 1998 when he wrote these words:<\/p>\n

“You think putting up your Christmas tree is hard? Try erecting an old artificial tree that rises more than 100 feet in the air and consists of branch sections so big and heavy that they have to be bolted together and hoisted by crane. Then there\u2019s the task of stringing 87 ornaments bigger than your head, plus 2,500 lights and all the attendant connectors and wires and 30 plugs.”<\/p>\n

“Try putting it all together from scaffolds and bucket trucks on one of Downtown\u2019s busiest corners, buffeted by buses and cars and pedestrians as well as the wind and the rain and the cold,” Mr. Batz continued.<\/p>\n

An earlier, simpler version of this tree consisted of lights. First erected in 1953 on the exterior of the Joseph Horne\u2019s Department Store, it was dedicated to the young patients at Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

In the mid-1960s, the tree evolved to a version with branches and ornaments.<\/p>\n

John McDonough, an electrician with Sargent Electric Co., oversaw the tree\u2019s installation for more than 15 years.<\/p>\n

Horne\u2019s departed Downtown in 1995 but the tree remains a harbinger of holiday shopping and part of Light Up Night festivities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You think putting up your Christmas tree is hard?<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesHorne’s and Light Up Night<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[946],"tags":[972,982,987,994,1171,1033,1042],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/tumblr_nfcu40LYvK1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C1747&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9738,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2020\/01\/16\/one-hundred-years-ago-dry-january-was-the-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":53,"position":0},"title":"One hundred years ago, ‘dry January’ was the law","date":"January 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Those who partied on the eve of Prohibition were the 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tree","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Digs.DigsHornesTree012.jpg?fit=747%2C936&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3776,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions\/3776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}