Vindicator file photo

Vindicator file photo
BRIGHT LIGHTS OF FEDERAL STREET: Downtown Youngstown was a sight to see as Christmas approached in 1939. The decorations were up, the sidewalks were crowded with people and the streets were jammed with trolley buses and cars. A week before Christmas, a crowd estimated a 50,000 people at the peak of the day jammed the downtown shopping district. At the Strouss-Hirschberg store, just to the right of center in this photo, men's silk ties were $1 and camel hair sweaters were $7.50; in the perfume department, Helena Rubinstein's Apple-Blossom cologne and dusting power were $2 for the set. Playing at the Paramount was "Dr. X," starring Humphrey Bogart, and at the Warner was "Ninotchka," starring Greta Garbo ("Don't pronounce it ... see it," declared a theater page ad).