Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Add Macy’s to the long list of companies commemorating the loss of America’s beloved restaurant chain, the Olive Garden, this holiday season.
The Center City location announced that they have slightly altered Dickens Village, a tradition that has run unchanged for the last twenty years, displaying the tale of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Dickens Village is a 6,000-square-foot walkthrough experience that transports visitors to 1840s London and features 26 heart-warming scenes housed in the Egyptian Room of the famed Wanamaker Building on Market Street.
“We decided to add a memorial to the Olive Garden this year by slightly altering the story,” said Director of Visitor Services, Alan Buttrenyfe, while adjusting the light intensity in one of the scenes to make an artificial breadstick basket appear more realistic.
“In the altered version, Ebreadenezer Scrooge is visited by three bakers on Christmas Eve that show him his past, present and future and how he had affection for the breadstick in his youth, but slowly began to mistreat the item, once offered complimentary with the purchase of any entrée or as part of the soup and salad lunch option, as he grew older.
“The Baker of Christmas Future (better known as the Baking Mantis) then frightens Ebreadenezer by showing him that breadsticks will go extinct if he doesn’t change his ways. Horrified by the visions of the night, a very relieved Ebreadenezer wakes in the morning to find a fresh basket of warm, buttery breadsticks on his kitchen table,” added Buttrenyfe.
The display is free-of-charge and all visitors have the chance to get a photo taken with a waiter or waitress, fully suited in original Olive Garden uniforms, unearthed from an archaeological dig earlier in the year.
The National Breadstick Association (N.B.A.) is sponsoring the event and accepts donations of any amount to support their cause. “Dough-Dough-Dough!” Chanted President of the Association, Lindsay Bahkedfriesh.
“We are ecstatic of the work Macy’s has done, especially in honoring the breadstick in all its holiday glory,” Bahkedfriesh added, while fastening playful reindeer antlers to her purebread poodle.
The display attracts about 10,000 visitors per day during the holidays and runs until January 7th. For hours of operation and visitor information please visit www.macysbaskets.com
[In Aflac Duck voice] This is what’s wrong with comments. There is no anti-bitch control! Sarah, I thought you were dead. Please make this happen as soon as possible. I know you are on a different time zone so that is most likely the hold up.
You should come to my neck of the woods and see what restaurants pass off as breadsticks here