More than 10,000 Christmas lights on display at Bob’s Garage in O’Hara
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At Bob’s Garage, Christmas decorations stay up until February to accommodate the masses still crowding the small bar renowned for the outrageous number of Christmas lights enveloping the inside and outside.
“It’s like walking on the inside of a Christmas tree,” said Bob Paganico, 72, of Penn Hills. Paganico started working at the longtime O’Hara bar in the 1970s, became a part-owner in 1979 and then a full owner.
The light phenomenon was a result of turning around a shortcoming of the bar: It had no windows.
“Dark bars were popular in the 1970s,” Paganico said. “Then, little by little, people said, ‘Hey, it’s too dark here.’ ”
Paganico was given a blank check by the bar’s owner and was directed to a top-shelf seller where Pittsburgh’s major department stores bought their display decorations.
Paganico said he bought $2,000 to $3,000 worth of decorations when he started in the 1970s, which was a sizable chunk of money to go into décor. Then, starting in 1980, Paganico went crazy buying more lights to cover every empty space in the bar.
The twinkling decor paid off by attracting visitors from all over the country because of the outrageous number of lights, which Paganico’s grandson, Nicholas Thorn, estimates to be at least 10,000.
“If you had to replace all the decorations in the bar from scratch, you’d be looking at close to $20,000,” Paganico estimated.
Bob’s Garage goes through about $1,500 of lights annually around Christmas, then they’re changed out for another holiday theme, accounting for the bar’s constant density of twinkle lights.
The interest in the lights this time of year is so great, Bob’s does not take reservations. He leaves the Christmas-themed display up through the end of February so the regulars can stop after the holiday crowds thin, Thorn said.
“Just recently, in addition to our regular customers, we have had people come from Florida, Texas and other states,” he said.
There can be as many as 160 to 170 patrons in the Freeport Road bar at any one time.
“If you want to get in the Christmas spirit, there is no better place,” Thorn said. “There is nothing like it.”