Last minute Christmas shoppers lineup? No, this is actually the line of people taking advantage of the post-Christmas sale at Bill's Bargain Store in December 1971. These "early birds" formed their line long before the 9 a.m. opening and continued the line into the noon hour, as the bargain hunters trekked into Butler stores.

Bill Douthett, 88, the former owner of the longtime downtown Butler store Douthett and Graham Men's Clothing, remembers Christmas shopping seasons straight out of “It's a Wonderful Life.”

Douthett ran the business, started by his grandfather and his partner in 1893, at four different downtown locations, including one at 108 S. Main St. where he eventually closed shop in 1972.

He remembers past Christmas shopping seasons centered on downtown Butler.

“I remember everybody dressed up to go shopping,” said Douthett. “The women wore hats and white gloves and dresses. The men all wore suits. It was a different world.”

While the shoppers' clothing was different, so was the shopping season itself.

There were no Black Fridays the day after Thanksgiving, no pop-up shops and, according to Douthett, no special sales or promotions to entice people into stores.

He said, “We would start the day after Thanksgiving. The stores stayed open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, but not Sundays.

“It was not an easy time, but stores would make 20 percent of their sales in December and January,” he said.

“There were no sales or promotions. The fact that Christmas was coming was the promotion,” Douthett said. “You had to elbow your way up Main Street, there were so many people out.”