I don’t know what you were doing 30 years ago this week, but we clearly remember our November 1980. We had only been open for business a few months and we were about to create more than twenty 30-second spots for Boston Store in one week.

After much negotiating, the Pabst Mansion had allowed us to use their historic and valuable site as the location, so we dragged in lights, equipment, crew and the models. Our brand new 30-foot Winnebago, filled with video gear at the Pabst Mansion.

But before shooting inside, we needed to get a scene with Santa at the elegant front door. To achieve the proper angle we rented a cherry picker, which seemed like a good idea – until it started raining. While Santa stayed dry under the roof of the entryway, we were 60-feet in the air in the cherry-picker’s basket with power cables running to the camera and other gear. As the basket filled with water, we did take after take, hoping to get a good one before we were all electrocuted. Santa performed admirably, hardly breaking character as he heard shouts (both naughty and nice) from the nearby Marquette women’s dorm.

We got that shot and many more over that week and we couldn’t have asked for a better setting for these spots.

Neil searches the Pabst Mansion for some missing models

While the 1980 styles (See “Fashions for Women” and “Fashions for Men” below) and the primitive graphics in these clips are amusing, my favorite scene is the one for the fantastic new SONY Betamax video recorder with wired remote – for only $995. (“Other Merchandise”)

Whether it was the glow of the Christmas season, the cozy setting, or the fact that it was our first big project, we’ll always remember Boston Store 1980.

Fashion for Women

Fashion for Men

Other Merchandise