Phillip L. Wenz - Santas Village
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three Santa s Villages, two in California and one in Dundee.
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For nearly five decades, Santas Village had been a part of the landscape of the Northern Fox River Valley region in Dundee. The parks success was not made up of buildings or attractions; it was made up of people. Whether it was the guests that traversed through the gate, the employee that operated a ride, or the creative ownership, people were the spirit that held all the other elements together. This book is dedicated to them.
I am very grateful to all those who have helped me throughout my career at Santas Village. From the early morning coffee with the maintenance department to the wonderful helpers that worked in Santas House and all those in between. I owe them a debt of gratitude. Special thanks to the North Pole Corporation management and office staff. To my parents Paul and Margaret Wenz who gave me their love of Christmas, and to my brothers Paul and Preston. A very appreciative thank-you goes to my Mrs. Santa Claus, DeAnn, and to my daughter, Holly, who appeared with me in many commercials.
Special acknowledgements to the public relations department and management of Santas Village Dundee throughout the years, including Dorothy Strong, Ray Van Royce, Jack Morningstar, Donald Holliman, Tom Ratcliff, Jill Gewetzki, and Grant Dahlke. In the 46 seasons that the park was open, over 10,000 images were taken. Also thank you to Crystal Varney, Mark Schlueter, Matt Hohe, DeAnn Johnson, Sue Holliman, and Sue Leonard for the use of their photographs.
I would be remiss if I failed to thank all who encouraged the writing of this book, especially Gary Kellermann, Tom Pool, and Hugh Wilson. And a special thank-you to Butch and Darla Kuester, Mick Kuester, Stan Martin and the rest of the gang at the 103 East in Buckley, for letting me use the upstairs loft to lay out the thousands of images of Santas Village.
Phillip L. Wenz
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Santas Village was born from a man who, as a child, had no real Christmas. Glenn Holland grew up in California during the Great Depression. His parents died by the time he was 18 years old, leaving him to care for his younger sister. As a grown man, Holland married and had children. As a father he tried to give his own children the type of Christmas that he only knew in his dreams.
In 1953, struck with inspiration, Holland sat at his kitchen table and started to sketch his idea of a Christmas fairyland where all the magic of the holiday would come to life. Holland developed this idea into a working plan and began finding investors for his project. He traveled the country selling his Santas Village concept and eventually listed his new company, Santas Village Corporation, on the California Stock Exchange.
The first Santas Village opened in 1955, six weeks before Disneyland, in Skyforest near Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County, California. It remained open until 1998. A second Santas Village opened in 1957 near Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County, California. It remained open until 1979.
With the success of the first and second Santas Villages, Holland began scouting a third location in the Midwest. The Chicago area, home to two worlds fairs, birthplace of the Ferris wheel, and a center of entertainment and culture was picked as the spot. A suburban location approximately 45 miles northwest of the city was chosen.
Dundee was a tiny town with some local attractions and a few good restaurants. The community was surrounded by cornfields and a huge forest wildlife foundation area. The newly completed Northwest Tollway connected the small suburb to Chicago from the east and to Rockford from the west.
Holland had found the perfect location for his third Santas Village.
Glenn Holland was the creative force behind Santas Village, the worlds first theme park chain. Holland was inspired to create a Santa Claustype fantasyland through his lack of Christmas celebrations as a child and by Santa Claus Town, which was officially launched in 1935, in Santa Claus, Indiana. Years before Disney, Santa Claus Town served as a strong influence for other Santa Clausthemed attractions that would later appear throughout the United States.
The original Santas Village opened on Memorial Day in 1955 in Skyforest, California. It cost about $1 million to build and was constructed in less than a year by Henck Construction.
In the upper part of New York State in a town called North Pole, Santas Workshop opened in 1949. Santas Workshop was featured in a Saturday Evening Post article that caught the attention of Glenn Holland. Holland sat at his kitchen table and designed his version of a Christmas-themed village that would become the home of Santa Claus. By 1953, Holland and his new associate, Leonard O. Ray, were ready to find a location to build their version of the Santa Claustheme idea. They approached Joseph Henck to see if he would lease some of the acreage his family owned to build Santas Village. Henck agreed and became part of the new Santas Village Corporation. In the Articles of Incorporation, dated July 14, 1954, it stated that the business would engage generally in the construction and operation of villages depicting the home and workshops of Santa Claus, to equip and supply inventory for said villages, to provide exhibits, displays, toys, animals, and appurtenances consistent with the Santa Claus legend. It was signed by Holland of Crestline, California; Henck of Skyforest, California; and Ray of Crestline, California.
The Skyforest Santas Village was a big success even though less than 50 days after its opening Walt Disneys Disneyland opened in nearby Anaheim, California.
Part of the success of Santas Village was the creativeness of Glenn Holland to take the public domain figure of the Santa Claus legend and make it a merchandisable commodity. Santas Village Corporation developed their own brands of candies, jellies, and spices that could be bought in the village at Mrs. Clauss Candy Kitchen or through mail order.
The park was laid out in a beautiful evergreen surrounding. Children and adults alike enjoyed the whimsical buildings and attractions.
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