Tag: Atlanta (Ga.)

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The Georgia Giant

Photograph of Sen. Richard B. Russell Jr.In the annals of Georgia political history, there have been many famous men, including President Jimmy Carter. But no other can surpass or even equal the power and influence of Sen. Richard B. Russell Jr. His career in the U.S. Senate — following service as the youngest governor of Georgia — spanned five decades and six presidents and most of the major political events of the 20th century bear his imprint in some way.

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Russell died on Jan. 21, 1971 and while many young people may not be able to tell you who he was, the last 40 years have not diminished his influence. Following his death, supporters established the Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc. and they have continued to support activities that exemplify his ideals, including funding the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, chaired professorships, scholarships and teaching awards.  Russell’s name adorns a U.S. Senate office building, the federal building in Atlanta, image of Clifford "Baldy" Baldowski cartoon depicts Herman Talmadge, Richard B. Russell, and Lester Maddox riding in a car with Ku Klux Klansmen. The car has a Georgia license plate. Talmadge points to a Klansman as the car passes Charles Weltner, who is standing on the side of the road holding a briefcase that says "Weltner withdrawal."school buildings (he was the chief sponsor of the National School Lunch Act), a dam, a lake, highways, an airport, among others.

Russell’s entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia details his many accomplishments, as well as his views on race relations, which many believe kept him from being elected president.

Russell is also featured in the Clifford Baldowski Editorial Cartoon Collection, held in the political library which bears his name, including this one reflecting Georgia’s changing views on race.

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Christmas at Rich’s

image of Rich's Department Store, 1949, Atlanta History Center collection.
Rich’s Department Store, 1949, Atlanta History Center collection.

Beginning in the late 1940s, visiting the Rich’s Department Store in downtown Atlanta during Christmas became a beloved holiday tradition in Georgia.

Rich’s first placed a Christmas tree on the roof of its downtown location in 1948. The tree stood seventy five feet tall on the store’s crystal bridge over Forsyth Street. The lighting of Rich’s Great Tree on Thanksgiving night became a celebrated (and later televised) event in the decades that followed.

In 1953, the store introduced its famous “Pink Pig.” This children’s train ride originally rose above the toy department and featured a Priscilla the Pig train car, but was later moved to the roof, where it circled the Great Tree. After the ride, each child was given a “I Rode The Pink Pig” sticker.

image of Priscilla the Pink Pig, c. 2003, New Georgia Encyclopedia.
Priscilla the Pink Pig, c. 2003, New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Beginning in 1960, children could visit Santa’s Secret Shop on the fifth floor. The shop allowed them to pick out inexpensive gifts for their parents in secret, because adults were not allowed in. Visitors also frequented the store’s Magnolia Room restaurant, which was famous for its chicken salad and cheese straws.

The downtown Rich’s store closed in the early 1990s and the tree was temporarily relocated. Since 1999, Macy’s has held the Great Tree lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving night each year at their Lenox Square location in Buckhead. In 2003, the store introduced a new Priscilla the Pig, which continued to bring children joy during the holiday season. Macy’s retired the Pricilla the Pink Pig ride in 2021, ending a nearly a half-century of Georgia holiday tradition. To read more about the Rich’s Christmas experience, take a look at I Rode the Pink Pig: Atlanta’s Favorite Christmas Tradition, published by Hill Street Press with Rich’s-Macy’s in 2004. To see more historical images of Priscilla, you can visit the Digital Library of Georgia.

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