Winchester Collectibles- The History of the Five-Panel Window Displays

The Winchester Five-Panel Window Displays

Perhaps no other major category of Winchester collectibles has been ignored for as long as the Five-Panel Window Displays.  Their large size was probably the chief reason.  Each of the five panels in a set is 40 inches high and 19 inches wide, requiring a display area more than 8 feet long.

The first five-panel set went out to Winchester retailers for the seven-day period of March 4-10, 1920.  For display purposes, Winchester's "week" started on Thursday and ended on Wednesday.  These first sets only had scenes on one side, a practice that would continue through September, 1920.  Then both sides were printed with distinct scenes and themes targeted at specific "weeks."  Since these target weeks were sometimes two or three months apart, retailers had their own storage problems with them.  It is believed that the five-panel sets were produced through 1928.