SALT LAKE CITY — It’s the most wonderful time of the year: the candy windows at Macy’s are nearly ready to be unveiled.
This beloved holiday tradition sustains a rich history of dazzling Salt Lake Christmas displays, namely the famous ZCMI candy window displays that date back to the 1970s. The Macy’s candy windows tradition was born in 2012 with the completion of the new City Creek Center. This year's unveiling will take place on Nov. 15.
The artists
Jennifer Vesper of Morgan has owned a cake business for the past 20 years, and though that background has translated well into the world of candy ornaments, Macy’s requires applicants to have an artistic idea very early on to ensure that the displays are better and brighter every year.
“In the call for artists, (Macy’s) tells you the theme, then you have to come up with the concept design from the theme, (give) a list of potential candies that you would use, and then they choose from there,” Vesper said in an interview with the Deseret News.
Jeff Rollo of Spanish Fork has been a Macy’s candy windows artist for the past three years, and he keeps coming back.
“It’s been quite the adventure,” Rollo said. “I haven’t found anything that has challenged me as much as Macy’s windows.”
Like Vesper, Rollo has a background in food design and recently discovered a passion for fruit carving, working mostly with melons and pineapple.
Matt Monson of Salt Lake has been involved with the candy windows since its debut in 2012, but his role has been a bit different than the others.
“I am representing our Salt Lake Community College Visual Merchandising program, so this is a student-run project and I am their instructor,” Monson said.
Not only has Monson involved his students, but his daughter Kaya has been a loyal candy window contributor since she was a little girl.
“She’s participated every year since 2012, and she’s been a big help — she’s kind of a mascot, she loves it.”
The process
This year, the theme is “Holiday Traditions,” and the six selected artists have been drafting, crafting and constructing for months.
After weeks of going through dozens of sketches, Monson and his students came up with a concept they hope will bring people together this holiday season.
“We wanted to find something that felt uniting, because of the variety of traditions celebrating at this time of year,” Monson said. “Our ornament is titled 'One Sky' and it's paying tribute to what unites us at this time of year, (it) depicts holidays across the American continent.”
While Monson went for a more universal theme, Rollo and Vesper kept their theme personal, incorporating their own family traditions. Vesper chose to animate the Rudolph cartoon, while Rollo's design is a gingerbread house.
“Me and my wife started doing a gingerbread house 13 years ago back when we were dating and we’ve done it every single year (since),” Rollo said.
What does it take to transform these designs from paper sketches into massive styrofoam ornament displays? Vesper guessed that she dedicates around 100 hours to complete the ornament from start to finish, and Rollo said he dedicates all of his free time for about three to four weeks, working intensely on his ornament.
According to Monson, if you’re doing it right, the project “ends up in blood, sweat and tears at some point.” He orders 100-200 pounds of candy, which he admits “sounds preposterous,” but it all goes to use.
“When we were doing calculations … it’s a 4-foot ball, but the actual circumference at the equator is like 13 feet,” Monson said. “It’s a massive surface area that you end up covering.”
For Rollo, the key to a good gingerbread ornament is having a sturdy base and good royal icing, but all that hand movement wears him out.
“You reach points where your fingers hurt because you’ve been gluing for so long,” he said. “(You) have to have stamina.”
The payoff
Though it’s clear that creating a candy ornament is not for the faint of heart, Vesper, Rollo and Monson keep coming back every year for one reason: the feeling they get at the end of it.
“What brought me back is we had the unveiling with the Make-A-Wish kids and it was such a neat experience,” Vesper said, “100 hours, 200 hours, totally worth it just to see their smiles.”
“My cousin said I had to do it because it’s his family tradition to bring his kids to see (my ornament) … I haven’t found anything as rewarding,” Rollo said.
“There’s very few times in visual display that you get that kind of turnout, that kind of celebration,” Monson said. “It’s the Super Bowl of window displays.”
If you go ...
What: Macy's City Creek Candy Window Unveiling
When: Thurs., Nov. 15, from 4-7 p.m.
Where: Macy's at City Creek Center, 21 Main St.
How much: Free