PEORIA MAGAZINE December 2022

O N E M O R E T H I N G

WHEN CHRISTMAS TREES SPOKE TO US Meet the inaugural voice behind the legendary Bergner’s Talking Christmas Tree

BY PHIL LUCIANO

C laudia Kane was simply seeking a job. In the process, she made Peoria history, in a most fanciful way. After applying for retail work at the Bergner’s at Sheridan Village, she soon found herself inside a cramped and unusual space, pioneering the department store’s new promotion. “I was the first Talking Christmas Tree,” said Kane, still proud of that distinction at age 74. It’s beenmore than a half-century since the store debuted the curious Christmastime cryptid. The tree – or, secretly, Kane and other employees — would chat with youthful passersby. Most tree-child exchanges went exactly as Bergner’s had hoped, enhancing the wonder of the holidays and adding to the store’s reputation as a seasonal must-visit for families. In this 1977 photo, 5-year-old Jennifer Zenzen poses next to the Bergner’s Talking Christmas Tree at Sheridan Village. The promotion, which began in 1966, became a yuletide tradition in central Illinois. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Zenzen Anderson) (Inset photo) Claudia Foster posed in 1966 for her senior photo at Academy of Our Lady Catholic high school. Later that year, the 18-year-old (now known as Claudia Kane) became the first employee inside the Bergner’s Talking Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of Claudia Kane)

108 DECEMBER 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE