SIL - Nov / Dec 2019

Cover Story
flooded with over a million pieces of mail.
The town would never be the same again.
Once Upon a Time in a Place Called Santa Claus...
So begins the real-life fairy tale of
Santa’s Candy Castle, located in the
picturesque town of Santa Claus,
Indiana. It is the story of how this
magical place was created, became loved
by thousands, then closed and was all but
forgotten. It is a story whose heroes are
ordinary people making extraordinary efforts
to restore and preserve a special part
of American history. To tell this story –
the whole story – requires us to go back to
the time before the town was called Santa
Claus. And so our story begins, over 200
years ago...
Naming Santa Claus, Indiana
In the early 1800’s, pioneers settled
a small town in the gently rolling hills of
Southern Indiana, originally naming it
Santa Fee. In the 1850’s the town’s application
for a post office was denied, because
another town with the same name
already had a post office. Legend has it
that on Christmas Eve, as services concluded
in the small log church, the townspeople
decided to stay and hold their final
town meeting of the year. The only order
of business, selecting a new name for the
town, was not going very well. Suddenly
a gust of wind blew open the door to the
church, and sleigh bells were heard in the
distance. “Santa Claus!” exclaimed the
excited children, providing the inspiration
for the town’s new name. On May 21,
1856, the U.S. Post Office Department approved
a post office in the newly-renamed
town of Santa Claus, Indiana.
A Famous Post Office
Story and Photos submitted by Santa’s Candy Castle
The town’s unique name went largely
unnoticed until the early 1900’s. Upon
becoming Postmaster in 1914, James Martin
was disappointed to discover that a
growing number of children’s letters to
Santa Claus were ending up in the dead
letter office due to insufficient postage
or improper address. Martin organized a
group of volunteers who donated time,
materials and funds to make sure that every
single letter addressed to Santa would
receive a proper reply. A growing volume
of holiday mail began to flow through
the otherwise tiny post office each year,
ultimately becoming so substantial that
it caught the attention of Robert Ripley.
In 1930, Ripley featured the town’s post
office in his nationally-syndicated “Believe
It or Not” newspaper cartoon. The
feature thrust Santa Claus, Indiana into
the national spotlight and the following
Christmas season its little post office was
Creating Santa Claus Town
Ripley’s feature not only flooded the
town with more letters than ever before,
visitors began to flock to the tiny town
with the magical name. When they arrived,
they were disappointed to find little
more than the town’s post office. The town
was once again faced with the prospect of
disappointing children – this time face-toface.
Once again, Postmaster James Martin
rose to the occasion. Martin teamed
with Vincennes attorney Milton Harris to
create the vision for a themed attraction
called “Santa Claus Town”. No one was
exactly sure what these men had in mind
though, since places like Knott’s Berry
Farm’s Ghost Town (1940), Santa Claus
Land (1946), and Walt Disney’s Disneyland
(1955) were still many years away.
But their vision was clear: Santa Claus
Town would be a magical place where
Santa would live and work year-round,
and where guests could enjoy a magical
Christmas morning experience every day
of the year. There would be no admission
charged and nothing would be for sale.
Leases were secured on most of the land
in the town of Santa Claus, and sponsorships
were struck with major American
toy and candy manufacturers.
The Nation’s First Themed Attraction
The first building in Santa Claus
Town was Santa’s Candy Castle, a red
brick building with all the elements of a
real castle that looked as though it was
lifted from the pages of a fairytale. It
was sponsored by The Curtiss Candy
Company, the creators of the Baby Ruth
and Butterfinger candy bars, who were
famous for their larger-than-life advertising
campaigns. Santa’s Candy Castle
was dedicated amidst tremendous fanfare
on the cold, snowy day of December 22,
1935. With broadcast television still years
away, the formal dedication ceremony
was broadcast live by radio station WGBF
of Evansville. Thousands attended the
dedication including national business
leaders, politicians, and most importantly,
many very excited young children. The
grand affair marked the opening of Santa
Claus, Indiana’s first tourist attraction and
the first themed attraction in the United
States.
Santa’s Workshop and Toy Village
Santa Claus Town expanded in 1936
with the addition of Santa’s Workshop
and the Toy Village. In Santa’s Workshop,
children could experience the magic
of watching Santa Claus make toys in a
fully functional wood shop. The Toy Village
featured miniature fairytale buildings
sponsored by America’s leading
toy manufacturers including Daisy (air
rifles), Lionel (electric trains), Buddy L
(steel trucks), Wyandotte (pop guns), and
Strombecker (doll furniture). No admission
was charged to enter these buildings
and nothing was for sale. Children could
simply play and have fun with all the popular
toys of the day. As America struggled
through the Great Depression and many
families did without, the Toy Village offered
thousands of children the Christmas
morning they otherwise wouldn’t have
had.
All But Lost and Forgotten
But just before Christmas in 1941,
everything changed as the attack on Pearl
Harbor brought America into World War
II. Sponsors were lost as companies shifted
from production of toys to war goods.
Tourism stopped due to limited gasoline
supplies and the rationing of tires. Santa
Claus Town became a shadow of what it
once was. After the war, Santa Claus Town
creator Milton Harris began working to
try to return the attraction to its original
glory. Sadly however, Harris passed away
unexpectedly in 1950; his dream never fully
realized. Several new owners attempted
to carry on variations of Harris’ vision,
but the magic had been lost. In the 1970’s,
Santa Claus Town closed to the public and
the attraction became vacant and sat in
disrepair. The magical fantasyland that
had once been loved by thousands was
seemingly lost and forgotten.
Recapturing the Magic
As the years passed, it appeared un-
Chestnut Roasting Event
likely that the story of Santa Claus Town
would end “Happily Ever After”. But in
early 2005, newspapers reported that a
family had purchased the properties that
comprised the original attraction, and had
begun a restoration effort. The stories described
an average family, whose love for
history, tradition and the spirit of Christmas
was anything but average. Those
traveling down Candy Castle Road in
Santa Claus, Indiana began to see steady
progress being made on the property. A
Santa sighting at the castle in late 2005 led
many to believe that the magic was gradually
returning to this special place.
Happily Ever After
In July 2006, “Happily Ever After”
began to come true for Santa Claus Town.
Santa’s Candy Castle re-opened its doors
to the public for the first time in over three
decades. A re-dedication ceremony featured
speeches by those who were part
of the castle’s golden age, some of whom
were at the original dedication ceremony
in 1935. Long-time local residents delighted
in rekindled memories of a magical
place once thought to be lost forever,
and a whole new generation began to experience
the magic for the first time, themselves.
But the final chapter is far from
over. Restoration continues on Santa’s
Workshop and the Toy Village, offering
the promise of many exciting new experiences
when those properties re-open in
the future. •
Chestnut roasting is scheduled for Saturdays
between 6-8 CST from November 30 to December
21. For more information about Santa’s
Candy Castle, visit website www.Santas-
CandyCastle.com or find us on facebook.
26 • Nov/Dec 2019 • Southern Indiana Living Southern Indiana Living • Nov/Dec 2019 • 27