Ah, well, I can't say the closing NYC flagship store holds a + memory for me. My (first) wife and I travelled to NYC for a long weekend back in the early 80's, as I recall the date. We visited this store. While I was upstairs checking out the big piano keyboard, my wife was down in the lobby area. I suddenly heard her screaming and calling for me. Apparently she had been watching some costumed jugglers entertain the crowd in the lobby. She set her purse down on the floor in order to take a photo. When she reached down for the purse........yep......gone. The NYPD was consoling....but hardly optimistic....a frequent modus operandi of the bottom-feeding element, they claimed. Plane tickets, cashiers checks, credit cards,....the whole magilla. Welcome to NY.
On a positive note, though, I more fondly remember my visit to the FAO Schwarz store in Washington, D.C., my hometown when growing up. Perhaps there were trains there, too, but the item that burned into my memory was the gorgeous big red hook & ladder truck by Smith-Miller...and not because I really, really wanted it. I wanted more TRAINS for any gift-giving occasion. Superior Lock and Electric, a Lionel dealer at the time in that city, was my favorite haunt for Lionel. But, as I later learned, Dad really had a fixation on that fire truck, too. He was hoping I'd put it at the top of my list!
I should've known...but, hey, what's a stupid kid know about parental innuendos and whimpering?? You see, Dad frequently travelled in his job, often to the West Coast, California specifically...by train!!!(Lucky Dad!) Bringing home nifty-gifties for moi and my two sisters (and Mom, of course) was always anticipated. And on two successive trips Dad brought me Smith-Miller trucks (made in California, of course).
As beautiful as they were, as much play value as I got from them, and as pleased as Dad was at my reception, it never connected with me that I should covet that hook & ladder at FAO Schwarz...that Dad fawned over! Can we say "Duh!" Trains, trains, trains. No brains, no brains, no brains?
Not too many Yorks ago, I spied one of the Smith-Miller hook & ladders...restored beautifully, I believe...at one of the vendors in orange hall. I lingered long admiring it, but for the $$$$, I couldn't 'pull the trigger'. It was gone when I passed by a few hours later.
I certainly will agree, though, that FAO Schwarz was/is a class toy store act in comparison to the likes of, say, Toys R Us, for example. OTOH, I recall going through a smaller version of FAO Schwarz in an upscale mall in the Detroit area (current home) several years ago. Not the same charisma. And the prices!......
Ah, well, so it goes....
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
KD
I still got my trains! 
