The Ayres' Clock

When the L.S. Ayres Department Store opened in 1905, 

it was the first true department store in the city, with a different

department on each of its eight floors. At a time when the shipping 

of merchandise from the coasts was, at best, time consuming,

the store had dressmakers for the ladies and furniture and frame-makers

located on the premises. As the store grew, it expanded its customer

base by having merchandise available for people from a wide

economic spectrum, including a basement store for the more

budget conscious buyer.

The clock was added to the front corner of the building in 1936.

Weighing 10,000 pounds, the clock quickly became a familiar symbol

of the store, viewed each week by an estimated half million people.

In 1946, one of the store's advertising artists suggested that

the Ayres Christmas catalog be decorated with drawings of cherubs;

at the end of World War II consumer manufacturing was still

sparse and the catalog needed something to fill empty pages.

The cherub was so popular that its image returned to the catalog

in 1947, while a bronze recreation was perched on the clock

on Thanksgiving Eve. Created by Indianapolis sculptor,

David Rubins, the 3-foot tall cherub watched over Christmas shoppers

until late Christmas Eve, when it disappeared to allow Santa Claus

to perform his duties. The Cherub performed admirably until 1992,

when it was taken to the May Company executive offices in St. Louis.

Public outcry was such that May Company executives finally relented 

and donated the Cherub to the custody of Downtown Indianapolis

in 1994, returning it to its annual vigil.