Greetings! Let me begin by wishing you all a very joyous holiday season and a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year. This issue certainly joins in the spirit of the season.
Editor Greg Suriano brings back memories of Christmas past with “Horne’s for the Holidays,” as he relates how a downtown department store, the Joseph Horne Company, made the season special for its shoppers and established the mood for Pittsburghers with their building’s electrified 100-foot-tall Christmas tree on the corner of Stanwix Street and Penn Avenue.
David Sunseri takes writer Hilary Daninhirsch on a tour of his venerable store, explaining the stories behind the photos, paintings, and other memorabilia that has graced Pennsylvania Macaroni Company’s walls for many years. The next time you shop Penn Mac, you’ll know a lot more about their fascinating galley.
Bella Notte—beautiful evening. General manager Richard “Rick” Carrozzi Jr. explains to Christopher Cussatt why Bella Notte has become more than just another Italian restaurant, but a welcoming place in the Strip District—”where there are no customers, only family.”
As usual, we also have our annual gift guide, this time with a list of suggestions courtesy of the Christmas Elf. What better, more fun, more enjoyable, and more interesting places to shop, anytime, than in our neighborhoods?
And as the issue concludes, the joy of the season is summed up beautifully with the nostalgic Pittsburgh holiday scenes painted by Linda Barnicott in “The Artist.”
“The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much.”
—Henry David Thoreau