Posted in: Historic Miscellania The World League for a Sane Christmas

Indianapolis News, July 18, 1911. Oh, tired Christmas shoppers!  Burned out on commercial Christmases?  So were people back in 1911, when a league that sought to call a halt to unfettered Christmas gift-giving established its national...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania Die Weihnachtseinkäufe

Die Weihnachtszeit ist nahe.  Christmas time is near. That’s not an ad from overseas.  At the turn of the 20th century, Indianapolis had a thriving German-speaking population. The major local German newspaper in 1900, the...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Ayres Clock Cherub

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, L. S. Ayres and Company Records, 22 November 1947 The L. S. Ayres cherub, one of the city’s most beloved little sculptures, makes its appearance every Thanksgiving eve and...

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Posted in: Penny Post Penny Post: Yuletide Joys

Postmarked: IND., 1916 – 6 PM Message: My dear little Granddaughter, I have been wondering id you are going [to] hang up your stockings, like the little folks on this card & see what Santa...

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Posted in: Mailbag HI Mailbag: Wood Lawn and Fletcher Place

Reader’s Question:  I am interested in the history of Wood Lawn, Calvin Fletcher’s farm.  By all accounts, the Fletchers came to Indianapolis in the 1820s, and the land that had been their home was known as Fletcher...

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Posted in: Misc Mondays Misc. Monday: Reminisces of an Ayres Christmas

Guest Author: Mary Jane Teeters-Eichacher For seventy years, from 1922 to 1992, the place to celebrate holiday traditions in Indianapolis was L. S. Ayres & Co. Animated window displays drew crowds of fascinated onlookers to...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: Black Friday 100 Years Ago

Do you think “Black Friday” shopping fervor is a recent invention? Think Again! While the earliest known use of “Black Friday” (specifically referring to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving) dates to 1961, the term has...

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Posted in: Penny Post Penny Post: A $1000 to See You in Indianapolis

The front of the card says it all: It’s worth $1,000 to see you in Indianapolis, IND. This unpostmarked Penny Post was written from Indianapolis in December 1916. Presumably, the novelty, applique card was hand...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: A Hodgepodge of Indianapolis Christmas Scenes

Being the holidays, this column breaks from the usual then and now format to share views of Indianapolis at Christmas through the years. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a year full of bliss...

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Posted in: Penny Post Penny Post: A Merry Weihnachten to You!

Postmarked: 1 Indianapolis, IND. Dec 20, 1922 9:30 PM Message: Written in German Addressed to: M E Ehrensperger 1723 Broadway City A penny for your thoughts … As an elementary teacher, I can decipher just...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Ads: 1910 Indy Christmas

Christmas ads of 1910 are all over the map. From milk to diamonds and well wishes from all forms of business… The L. E. Morrison & Co. was one of the many Washington Street businesses…...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Union Station’s Santa Colossal

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, Bass Photo Company Collection #109919 It just isn’t Christmas in Indianapolis without Santa Colossal, so we’re repeating the story about the five-story foam Santa who ended up as insulation....

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: The Ayres Clock Cherub

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society, L. S. Ayres and Company Records, 22 November 1947 The L. S. Ayres cherub, one of the city’s most beloved little sculptures, makes its appearance every Thanksgiving eve and...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: Miracle on Washington Street

Long before Ralphie told a bearded man in a red suit about his secret desire to own a Red Ryder BB Gun, American children have been sharing their Christmas lists with department store Santas. The...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then and Now: Union Station’s Santa Colossal

At Christmastime in 1949, a large and unusual singing Santa Claus made a short appearance in Union Station, the city’s 1888 Romanesque revival train station. The Chamber of Commerce organized the Indianapolis Industrial Exposition to...

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