HALF A CENTURY OLD AND THREE DECADES SERVED

NorthPark Center’s Twelve Days of Christmas Clock returns for its 33rd season

Story by ALYSSA HIGH

NORTHPARK CENTER IS HOME TO MANY HOLIDAY TRADITIONS. From rock-and-roll Santa to the Trains at NorthPark, the shopping center has many traditions almost as old as the mall itself.

One of these is the Twelve Days of Christmas Clock, which was built in the 1970s. When former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called for conservation of resources during a time of oil shortages, NorthPark founders Patsy and Raymond Nasher commissioned William “Bill” Reed to come up with holiday decorations that were a bit more creative and conservative.

Reed came up with a 28-foot music box that features animated clock towers inspired by European towers like the Rathaus-Glockenspiel in Munich. Originally recorded onto a reel-to-reel tape recorder from a Firestone promotional vinyl album, the audio was later transferred to a cassette, then a CD, with separate tracks of musical tones triggering the animations. Now, the carols play on digital equipment, with software controlling the animation.

The clock was exhibited at NorthPark every holiday season from 1979 to 2006, and then refurbished and returned to the scene in 2018. The refurbished version was handled by theatrical lighting designer Dall Brown, who worked on the original animation and ensured that the new electronics would be more reliable and last for years to come.

This year, the clock was put up on November 29 and will stay up until January 1 on Level One in Dillard’s Court. Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m., every 15 minutes the clock will burst into song, sharing the 12 Days of Christmas to each passerby.