Anyone fortunate enough to have spent time in New York during the holiday seasonhas warm memories of being mesmerized by the spectacular window displays throughout the city. Even the most jaded New Yorker, wearied by work and the holiday crush, cannot help but slow their frenzied pace to gaze at the sights and sounds of these wondrous displays.

Now, for the first time, displays from the early 1900s to today are gathered in one keepsake volume. Organized by decade, brimming with archival black-and-white and color photography, this book commemorates the unique art of window design, from the traditional Victorian windows to the avant-garde. Displays from classic New York City stores, like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co., Henri Bendel, and Barneys, are all included-as well as displays from stores no longer in operation but fondly remembered by many, like Ohrbach's, Gimbel's, B.Altman, and Arnold Constable.

This unique book features a die-cut, cloth case and four die-cut "windows" inside to recreate the experience of gazing at a display window.

Sheryll Bellman is an author and designer.

Simon Doonan is the creative director at Barneys. A columnist for Talk magazine and the New York Observer, he is the author of Confessions of a Window Dresser.