The Good News Magazine

Rudolph Answered the Christmas Call

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sat on the roof at Talbottown in Easton. Rudolph was one of the memorable Christmas decorations set up by George Taylor of Easton during the 1960s and 1970s.

Photograph courtesy of Debbie Schultz.

There is a magic to the holidays that often is associated with our memories of family traditions. It is possible to carry some of the traditions forward, such as rituals for meals, gift giving and holiday activities. Others fade away until an old photo is discovered or a memory is recalled. In the case of Easton’s holiday traditions, many may remember in the 1960s and 1970s when Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sat atop Talbottown’s roof at Christmas time, taking the calls of hundreds of children across the Shore who wanted to connect their Christmas wishes to Santa.

Much of the credit for Easton’s Christmas celebration was due to the efforts of George Taylor, of Easton, who from 1957 to 1987, was the part-time operations supervisor for Talbottown in Easton. Talbottown, developed by Jim Rouse of Rouse Company in 1957, was Easton’s first shopping center. George, who worked full-time as the distribution superintendent for Easton Utilities, took his extra part-time job to heart at Christmas-time. He designed and every year installed the Christmas decorations for Talbottown, sharing his love of the holiday with Easton residents.

George’s daughter, Debbie Schultz of St. Michaels, comments, “People tell me he knew every valve, every cable and every pipe at Talbottown as he took care of the shopping center’s tenants, but his real love was getting the decorations up at Christmas time.”

She adds, “Talbottown’s tradition was unique. It was a traditional Christmas – complete with a tree lighting the Friday evening after Thanksgiving, along with a visit from Santa on a fire truck, caroling, and even the chance to talk with Rudolph on the North Pole by telephone. My father loved Christmas and loved kids.”

George added his personal touch to the tradition of Rudolph by using his own voice as the voice of Rudolph. Rudolph, made of a composite material and holding a phone to his ear, was perched on the roofline of Talbottown, above Eagles Five and Dime. His phone had a cord that connected to a phone booth below. Children would come to a red phone booth, which George built himself, and crank an old-fashioned telephone and George would answer, “Hello there, this is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! What is your name?” When the children answered with their names, Rudolph would ask, “And what do you want for Christmas this year?”

David Taylor, of Trappe, George’s grandson, recalls, “My first memory of my grandfather at Christmas was the year I first went to talk to Rudolph. I heard his voice and responded, ‘Hi, Pop-Pop, what are you doing on the line?’ From that point on, the gig was up and I got to help my father and grandfather put up the decorations every year.”

Setting up the holiday decorations in Talbottown was a family affair. George’s son Rodney, grandson David, brother-in-law Vernon Willoughby, nephew Andy Willoughby, and family friend George Neal, worked for a month before the tree lighting to get all of the decorations organized and put up. In Talbottown, candy canes lined the sidewalks and a large tree in the center of the parking lot was strung with lights. There was a Santa in a sleigh and reindeer cutouts on the roof above Hess Apparel, which was housed in Talbottown’s other building. It was tradition, however, that Santa and Rudolph were not put up until the Sunday before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving night, following their family’s meal, the men would go make a final check to be sure everything would go off without a hitch the next day. In addition to Talbottown, George was involved in setting up the memorable brightly colored candles and candy cane lights that graced Easton’s streetlights for many years. Many residents recall that it wasn’t Christmas until the lights were glowing across town.

Debbie Schultz, who during this time worked at Hess Apparel for 15 years, says, “There was a real sense of community among the businesses that all participated in the Christmas shopping tradition in Easton. Most of the businesses had evening hours after the night of the tree lighting that continued through Christmas Eve. Talbottown’s merchants included Eagles Five and Dime, Food Fair, Wayside Gift Shop, Singer Sewing and Hecht’s.”

When asked about where George’s love of Christmas came from, Debbie responds, “We had cutouts on our roof at home, too, and the house was always ablaze with lights. My mother loved it, too.”

Both Debbie and David recall that their father and grandfather loved to make people happy, especially the residents of Easton. He wanted to make the holidays special for the community because he loved the town of Easton.

During a 1971 tree lighting ceremony with Santa’s elves are Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson (center), Ron Harmon (left), a Rouse Company representative, and George Taylor, who from 1957 to 1987, was the part-time operations supervisor for Talbottown in Easton.

Photograph courtesy of Debbie Schultz.

George’s Christmas spectacular came together at 7 p.m. on the Friday following Thanksgiving with an annual tree lighting ceremony. Santa’s arrival by fire truck was heralded by the songs of church choirs, and a child was selected to push the button to light the large tree in Talbottown’s parking lot. Following the ceremony, children got to talk to Rudolph and have their picture taken with Santa. Because of the Rouse Company’s connection to Baltimore, for several years, Orioles players attended the ceremony, such as Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Boog Powell and Dick Hall.

While the tradition continued into the early 1980s, it is believed that the two fires in the basements of Talbottown in the 1980s destroyed many of the Christmas decorations that George had so lovingly made. A question still remains about the whereabouts of Rudolph. Who knows, maybe he is safely stashed in a garage somewhere and will make his return one day?

Author’s Note: Easton lost two of its residents this year, Rodney Taylor, George’s son, and Virginia Taylor, George’s wife. It was a privilege to learn of the family’s contribution to Easton’s Christmas celebration for so many years – a tradition I enjoyed myself as a child and will never forget. ~ Amy Blades Steward