ORIGINAL 1954 Pumpkin Coach from Santa\'s Village Skyforest For Sale
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ORIGINAL 1954 Pumpkin Coach from Santa\'s Village Skyforest:
$29500.00
ORIGINAL SKYFOREST PUMPKIN COACH
This is the original Pumpkin Coach that was built for Santa\'s Village in 1954. Originally it was horse drawn, but the last 10 years it has been pulled by a Ford 8N tractor (not included in sale, but available for an additional $2500. It was completely restored in 2004, and has only been used for a local pumpkin patch 4 weekends every October. It comes with a spare tire and wheel. We purchased it at the sale in 1998.
This sale represents a portion of the memories we purchased at the Santa\'s village in Skyforest sale in 1998. Our original plan was to buy 1 or 2 memories, but we ended up buying so much it did not even fit in a 48\' semi truck. We also purchased some of the buildings, props, furnishings, costumes, sleighs, and the reindeer that were still living there. (Dasher, Vixen, Blitzen and Dancer.)
H. Glenn Holland was a southern California developer, who had opened a Santa\'s Village in 1955 in Skyforest, near Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County. With the success of this venture, he undertook to establish another \"Village\" in northern California deciding on Scotts Valley. . Holland went on to build a third Santa\'s Village near Chicago in Dundee, Illinois. The Skyforest location was used in many television and movie shoots. Both it and Knotts Berry Farmwere favorite locations for TV remotes and filming with Sherriff John from KTTV, Engineer Bill from KHJ, Skipper Frank from KTLA, Chucko the Birthday Clown from KABC, and Hobo Kelly from KCOP.
Ground was broken in 1954 and 16 months later and after almost a million dollars in construction costs, contractor Putnam Henck had the park ready for business. The park opened in 1955 to large crowds, two months before Disneyland\'s opening.. Besides Santa and Mrs. Claus, there were elves and gnomes, who operated the rides and sold tickets. Goats, sheep, bunnies, ducks, deer, and a Mexican burro were part of the baby zoo, where children could feed the animals. Reindeer from Unalakleet, Alaska, pulled Santa\'s sleigh. There was a bobsled ride, a whirling Christmas tree ride, and a miniature train ride. Other attractions were a giant Jack-in-the-Box, an Alice in Wonderland maze, Santa\'s enormous boot, brightly painted cement mushrooms, and a Queen of Hearts figure.
Santa had a huge mailbox, a gingerbread house, a toy factory, a lollipop tree, and a gift shop. Around the village were tree-top tall wooden soldiers and candy canes. Mrs. Claus had a kitchen, where hamburgers, hotdogs, and steak sandwiches were served. An egg-shaped cottage and a shoehouse were open for exploration. There was a hook and ladder fire engine and a tractor to climb on and a treehouse with a connecting slide to delight children. The buildings were log chalet-type structures, which featured snowy roofs and gingerbread trim.
Creatures from Alice in Wonderland, Jack Pumpkin Head, the Easter Bunny, Little Bo Peep, and a Good Witch wandered throughout the grounds, greeting youngsters. Appropriate music flowed from speakers in the trees. Structures were continuously painted and paths were kept Disneyland clean.The Chicago \"village\" is still in operation, having been sold by Putnam Henck, the contractor who built all three Santa\'s Villages.