HOOSIER HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS: Santa Comes To The Statehouse

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    December 19 – December 25

    The Week in Indiana History
    Walker

    1867     Sarah Breedlove was born in Louisiana.  She went into business, and, under the name of Madam C. J. Walker, established a cosmetics company in Indianapolis.  She was hugely successful and became the first American woman to earn a million dollars.
    interurban

    1917     A full-page newspaper ad said, “Travel the Electric Way, There’s a train your way any hour of the day.“  The Union Traction Company provided convenient times every day to many cities around the state.  Indiana could boast that it had the second-largest interurban system in the country.
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    100 YEARS AGO

    1921     Governor Warren McCray invited the Ogden Northside Carolers to sing at the Statehouse on the day before Christmas.  Custodian Roy Couch had put up a 40-foot tree in the rotunda and decorated it with colorful lights, spangles, and holly.  A local reporter said the tree gave the Statehouse “a Yuletide appearance it has not seen since twelve years ago.”  The carolers ranged in age from 10 to 14 and were directed by Mrs. James M. Ogden.
    santa1935     A 22-foot, 40-ton statue of St. Nicholas was unveiled at Santa Claus, Indiana.  The Lafayette Journal and Courierreported that “a thousand persons braved the cold weather and slippery pavements to come to the little village for the ceremony.”  The statue still stands in the festive community.
    helms1957     Singer Bobby Helms from Martinsville ended a highly successful year in his career with the release of “Jingle Bell Rock.”  The song was an instant hit, along with “My Special Angel,” another big record for Helms in a year he also appeared on the Ed Sullivan network television show.
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    50 YEARS AGO

    1971     Santa Claus visited the office of Governor Edgar Whitcomb (pictured) at the Statehouse.  He was there to bring cheer to special guests of the governor.  They were the children of three Air Force pilots who were being held prisoner of war in Vietnam.  The governor, himself a POW during World War II, lit a Christmas candle as a symbol of safe return for all American service members imprisoned or missing in foreign nations.
    ABE MARTIN SEZ:

       You never git what you want for Christmas after you grow up.

    (Kin Hubbard, Abe Martin’s Almanack,Abe Martin Publishing Co., Indianapolis, 1909)

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    Indiana Statehouse Tour Office

    Indiana Department of Administration

    Visitors are welcome at the Indiana Statehouse.  For more information, please contact the tour office.

    NOTE:  The Statehouse will be closed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, December 23 – 25.

    (317) 233-5293
    touroffice@idoa.in.gov  

    Indiana Quick Quiz

    The answers to this week’s quiz can be found in the left column.

    1.  What was Madam C. J. Walker’s birth name?

    2.  Who was custodian at the Statehouse in 1921?

    3.  How heavy is the statue of St Nicholas in Santa Claus, Indiana?

    Answers Below

    HOOSIER  QUOTE  OF  THE  WEEK

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    “Little do I know that I am starting on a strange trip around the world. . . that I will be captured by the enemy. . . that I will escape and be captured again. . . that I will be accused of being a deserter and returned to the U.S.A. with a name not even my own.”

    – – – Edgar D. Whitcomb  (1917 –2016)

    The above is an excerpt from the first chapter of Governor Whitcomb’s best-selling autobiography, Escape fromCorregidor, published in 1958

    postmark

    Did You Know?

         The small town of Santa Claus, Indiana, in Spencer County, receives over 400,000 pieces of mail in December.  That is because people around the world send their cards to the Santa Claus post office in order to receive its unique postmark.  Each year, the holiday postmark is designed by a local high school art student.  This year’s mark, shown above, was created by Lily Vance, daughter of Joe and Andie Vance of Lamar, Indiana.  The special picture postmark has been a tradition at the Santa Claus Post Office since 1983.

    ANSWERS:  1.  Sarah Breedlove     2.  Roy Couch     3.  40 tons

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