You might think that once the front gates close at the end of the season, we don’t see another Guest until the next summer. Taking a walk through the (mostly)…
Read More »Posts Tagged: Santa Claus Land
Pasta perfect
When a family-owned business has been around for 65 years, there are always new discoveries. By that I mean … we’re forever finding precious old photos and mementos tucked away…
Read More »Santa Claus Land forward: 65 years in 2 minutes
Wednesday was a big anniversary for us. Sixty-five years ago, on August 3, 1946, Louis J. Koch opened his park, Santa Claus Land. It was his retirement project, conceived before…
Read More »That other “ho-ho-ho!” guy
As a child, growing up far, far away from the town of Santa Claus, it just didn't seem right. There was some other guy claiming "ho-ho-ho" as his own on…
Read More »There’s one in every crowd
We've all done it while posing for a group photo. Someone has to be the clown, right? Whether it's the fingers-in-a-V behind your brother's head or crossing your eyes, you've…
Read More »“Oh, heavens!”
If, in the past 65 years, you worked at Santa Claus Land or Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, you will no doubt recognize that phrase. And who said it. Oh,…
Read More »Do you remember your first visit?
Steve does. He grew up visiting his grandparents in Bedford, Indiana, each summer … and remembers the "long, long" drive to Santa Claus Land back in the 1950s. His mom…
Read More »Birthdays are holidays, too …
… so let’s take a minute to say Happy Birthday to a very special man. Bill Koch was born in Evansville on January 10, 1915. He graduated from Reitz High…
Read More »A fowl memory of Santa Claus Land
We received a confession, of sorts, from Ginger via email this week. The Bloomington, Indiana, lady graciously gave us permission to make this a public confession. We searched our photo…
Read More »Santa Claus Land Children’s Choir
Has it really been 40 years? All these children are grown now, with children (and maybe even grandchildren) of their own. Time, it seems, flies as fast as Santa’s sleigh…
Read More »Do you remember Santa Claus Land?
We started out, back in 1946, as a park called Santa Claus Land. Here’s a rather remarkable precursor to today’s infomercial. And yes, it includes a darling Santa Jim cameo….
Read More »One veteran’s story
Thank you to all the veterans whose devotion to our country has kept us safe and free over the centuries. In 1916, this young Navy man helped plan a ship-board…
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