MANKATO — In the past, it was a constant: as the nights lengthened and the temperatures fell, the municipal Christmas lights went up.

The peak might have been a half-century ago, when the lights strung across Front Street — at least to the eyes of kids strolling through downtown Mankato after dark — were spectacular.

“When you’re 10, 13 years old, I thought it was,” said Gary Kratzke, owner of Matt J. Graif Clothing. “... There must have been 10 blocks (of decorations) going up and down along the stores. When I think of Christmas in Mankato, that’s what I think of.”

The end of the tradition came so gradually that it’s almost gone unnoticed. The city no longer puts any decorations on light poles or on cables stretching across streets. There are still lights on trees in a pair of downtown public squares — outside of the city hall and in the small park at the corner of Jackson and Second streets — but that’s pretty much it.

“The holiday decorations have been all but eliminated,” Mankato City Manager Pat Hentges said. “... As supplies run out, we’re not reordering them.”

It was a conscious decision over the last few years as state aid cuts have resulted in tighter and tighter city budgets and as Christmas shopping has moved from downtown streets to hilltop malls and big-box stores. The decorations cost money to replace, labor to install and remove, and electricity to power.

“It’s just a reality,” Hentges said.

The Yuletide trimmings were always a joint effort with business owners, particularly retailers who wanted shoppers to see Mankato as Christmas central. And, going back decades, the issue was a regular agenda item for autumn city council meetings.

October, 1958: “Mr. Coughlin moved that the city manager be authorized to direct city employees to put up the Christmas decorations and that they be paid from the Community Promotion Fund.”

July, 1966: “Mr. Rod Skillman of the Mankato Chamber of Commerce appeared before the council to request permission to erect new Christmas decorations, purchased by members of said organization, on light poles ... and the City of Mankato continue to provide labor ... and the electric power ...”

November, 1973: “Mr. Mocol moved that in the interests of conserving energy the downtown Christmas decorations remain unlighted throughout the holiday season.”

November, 1980: “Mr. Bassett reported that several years ago the Chamber of Commerce gave the City of Mankato Christmas lights. These lights have deteriorated to the point where the staff believes it unsafe to put them up.”

November, 1986: “Mayor Mocol explained that the Mankato Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with businesses and neighborhoods, had planned and created the Festival of Lights ... that the City was being asked to proclaim Tuesday, Nov. 11, as “The Great Holiday Turn-On.”

The city light show increasingly became concentrated on North Broad Street, with the neighborhood association providing much of the organization and labor. When that effort petered out nearly a decade ago, nothing replaced it.

Hentges said there hasn’t been much comment or complaint in recent years.

“Because it’s been gradual, I haven’t heard as much over the years,” he said.

Municipal Christmas decorations can still be seen in smaller towns in the area, and St. Peter has an extensive downtown lighting display. In North Mankato, the number of streets sporting decorations on light poles has actually expanded thanks largely to the efforts of the North Mankato Civic and Commerce Association.

The association covers at least half the cost of new decorations, and oversized lighted snowflake decorations run up Lee Boulevard Hill and on Commerce Drive — joining the traditional poinsettia, bell and wreath decorations on Belgrade Avenue and Range Street. The city provides the labor and electricity.

“A portion of our crew spends a couple of weeks on it,” said North Mankato City Administrator Wendell Sande. “... We think it’s an important tradition, and we want it to continue.”

Kratzke doesn’t expect to ever again see a spectacular Christmas display along the streets on the other side of the river, although Hentges said it’s possible. Any revival would need to be organized and financed largely by a merchant group or maybe non-profits using a Christmas display to draw attention to a holiday fund-raiser.

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Hentges said. “Somewhere down the line.”