initagain posted:No question about it, Lionel trains were VERY pervasive in the 1950s and 1960s. I'm 74 now, but I can remember like it was yesterday, going to the J. L. Hudson store in downtown Detroit around Christmas, every year for many years and being absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of trains they had on display and for sale. I grew up and still live in a small Ontario city of about 40000 people. Back in the fifties and sixties the population was even less, and yet I can still remember at least six different stores (all within the downtown area) that sold Lionel trains. They were literally, everywhere, albeit not nearly as plentiful as in that Hudson store. BTW, that department store, like so many, is long gone. Great memories though.
I was looking to see if anyone mentioned J.L.Hudsons. I am a former Detroiter,72 y/o. Fond memories of the Hudson Christmas train layout and the stacks of RTR sets ready to go home to some lucky kids. Not a store but the Ford Rotunda Christmas display was my first viewing of a large O/S gauge layouts.
