Before the Macy’s location closed permanently in March, the Wanamaker building served as Philadelphia’s department store for over a century, since its establishment in 1911. Macy’s itself has filled halls with ball gowns and jewels for the last two decades. But the era of department stores is coming to an end, and with it the Christmas trees and light shows it brought during the holiday season. However, two Christmas traditions outlasted the rest: the Wanamaker Light Show and the Dicken’s Village.

Since 1956, the show—which brings Charles Dicken’s timeless story, A Christmas Carol, to life for visitors—has immersed guests in the world of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future to inspire generosity in the holiday season. This will be the first year it has been put on after the department store boarded its doors. Perennially, though, a show warning of the plights of greed is met with the ironic buying of chocolates and necklaces. Vendors replace the racks of clothing in the Wanamaker building this year, possibly the last time the halls will be filled with guests awaiting Christmas cheer.

So, is it worth a trip?

From the minute the outside of the building came into view, the disappointment was palpable in the air. The once elaborate window displays had been boarded up; the garland strung on shoe displays was nowhere to be seen; there were no more hectic last-minute shoppers searching desperately for Christmas tree earrings to wear to Secret Santa. The golden age of department stores had tarnished, taking its home and its legacy with it. Now, among the other ghosts, the ghost of Macy’s haunted the halls and added a chill to the air.

December 24th is possibly the last time the show will ever run (the owners of the building plan to cancel the show for at least the next two years), and the sad truth of the matter is that that’s okay. Without the department store full of Christmas trees and cheer, the building has a hollowness that cannot be filled with soap vendors and overpriced popcorn. The disappointed crowd could feel the ghost of merriment just out of reach as they stood awkwardly in the minimalist waiting room instead of bathing in extravagance. The little-known core of the issue was that people didn’t come to a show and see Macy’s; they came to Macy’s to see a show. Now that Macy’s is gone, the show is nothing but a splotch of color on an otherwise empty canvas.

It wasn’t the absence of shopping itself that took the joy out of the experience. Temporary vendors were lining the halls, selling lavender soap and Grinch-themed cotton candy, but they didn’t contribute to the magic like the wrapped gifts and sweaters in the department store. These vendors were separate entities, none committed to the Christmas spirit or anything outside their four-by-five folding stand, and the separation left a void in a place that had at one point had a unified theme of holiday cheer strung through each display.

Admittedly, the shows themselves were the same, but the magic that felt abundant in the air before was now absent. Visitors expected Christmas magic, and were met with the grave of a bygone era. 

If you’re seeking Christmas joy, skip the Wanamaker building this year and let the memories of the past stick with you; this trip can only be recommended to those who want to see the graves of ages past, not those searching for Christmas magic.