Charles Hutson and his crew of designer elves had to work late Wednesday night.

"We put in a lot of time at the store," agreed David and Chris Hutson, who worked to prepare the annual Hutson Furniture Christmas window for the crowds who gather at 43 S. Main each year to view the spectacle on Thanksgiving Day.

"This was a new theme, and we had to feel our way around," said Chris Hutson.

Today's crowds were not disappointed as they watched the display in action.

The window this year depicts Santa's Candyland, with elves busily harvesting their crop from the candy forest, loading it into vehicles and sending it to the candy processing plant for eventual delivery to candy lovers everywhere.

The candy crop -- many varieties -- is in the candy forest. Standing guard over the candy forest are elves and gnomes from gingerbread watchtowers on either side of the forest. Gnomes operate a bulldozer, loading candy into the back of a truck, en route to the processing plant.

"Everything moves," said David Hutson. "We've had a lot of help from everyone on this year's project, including some artwork by Cape Girardeau artist Richard Stout."

"Some new things and old things were used to put together the theme for this year's window," said Charlie Hutson. "We've used some decorations from years past, but we have added some new ones for the 1998 display."

This season marks the 36th year for the Christmas window display at Hutson Furniture.

"This is a family time for us," said Charles Hutson. "Every member of the family works on the project. We get together during the evenings and work on the display on weekends. It's something we enjoy doing."

The windows will be unveiled about 9 a.m. today.

During the first 29 years the same design or theme was never used twice, said Charles Hutson. "Every year it gets tougher trying to dream up a new scene."

Over the past seven or so years, some of the earlier and more popular themes have been recycled.

Some past scenes have been historic in nature.

This was the case of the Choo-Chew Grill display during the early 1990s.

"We elaborated on the Choo-Chew idea," said Hutson. "In the scene viewers saw Santa Claus and his elves sitting around the counter being served by a model train. Also added in the scene were artists' sketches of a 1955 Chevy, 1957 Thunderbird, and an Edsel."

"The Choo-Chew Grill was a unique restaurant," recalled Hutson. "It was located at 608 Good Hope. I remember going there and ordering a hamburger and chili and having it delivered by a model train. The grill had a circular or horseshoe counter, and the train was used to serve the food."

Another memorable scene was that of 1995, when the display featured Santa's Wall of Fame, depicting many notable Christmas characters, including Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Grinch and his dog, Frosty the Snowman, Scrooge and others.

One of Charles Hutson's favorite displays, which has been shown twice, was that of the early 1900s Silverton, Colo., Coal Mine, featuring art of mountain ranges and number of trains running through scaled-down villages, while Santa flies overhead in his sleigh.

For today, Santa's helpers will be gathering their candy crop for children throughout the world