Santa Claus Town in
Midst of Annual Chore
Santa Claus Ind. U.R)
This sleepy 60uthern Indiana
village what little there is of
it is in the midst of its an
nual chore of being the Christ
inas mail capital of the nation.
Elbert Reinke, who heads up
the 93-year-old Santa Claus post
office, brushed the dust off his
mail cancelling machines late in
November and got ready for tne
rush that comes as regular as
clockwork.
Each year, hundreds of thou
sands of bundles of Yule greet
ing cards are hauled into this
tiny community by truck from
the nearest railroads 10 miles
away. Reinke and his staff of
Christmas-rush extras work far
into the night throughout Dec
ember cancelling the mail with
the "Santa Claus, Ind." post-'
mark.
In addition, Reinke's staff
weighs, stamps and cancels hun
dreds of parcels containing toys
brought in a big commercial
shop shared by the postoffice in
a resort area that plays host to
thousands of children each year.
Across the hills in a nearby
town, members of an American
Legion post work long hours
too, sorting through thousands
of letters dropped in to the na
tion's mailboxes for Santa by
hopeful youngters. - '
Commercial Battle
, Many postmasters shuttle all
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the mail addressed to "Santa
Claus, North Pole," to the Hoos
ier town. Jim Yellig and a crowd
of Legionnaires send form re
plies of acknowledgement to all
children whose letters bear. re
turn addresses.
The village of Santa Claus
was founded in 1852 and its
name was chosen at a town
meeting held on Christmas Eve.
A postoffice was established in
1856, and mail was brought from
the outside world by horseback
and in oxcarts for years.
Santa Claus today consists
largely of a commercial venture
laid out a few years ago on a
wooded acreage a quarter of a
mile from the old village. Tour
ists from all over the country
bring their youngsters here to
ride a miniature railroad train,
visit Santa's toy shop, see a flock
of reindeer, and chat with Santa
himself even on the hottest Aug
ust day.
Nearby, the old village is deep
in weeds. A handful of families
live there, but efforts to keep
the tourists in the town itself
failed during a battle in the
1940's between two groups of
commercial interests capitaliz
ing on the town's name.
A huge statue of Santa was
built in a small park, and a rival
group established a commercial
fairyland. But the group located
outside the town at a cross roads
intersection won the fight for
the tourist trade, and eventually,
the postoffice was moved there.
From the crossroads, and the
postoffice, a tourist cannot see
the old Santa Claus as it falls in
to decay. ..
irl Scouts
Christmas Party '
Girl Scout Troop 124 held a
Christmas party at the home of
their leader, Mrs. Owen A. Kun
kel at 28 Highland Drive on
Wednesday afternoon. "
Rita Olson and Joyce Leon
had charge of the games; Kath
leen Cutshall took care of the
grab bag of gifts, Barbara Myers
and Gayle Evans served refresh
ments. Janet Ayers and Betty
Vail were on the clean up com
mittee. !
De Etta Lawson is president
of the group, Deanna Kunkel is
secretary and Melinda Kennedy
is treasurer.
On five treeless, fog-bound is
lands in Bering sea, the Pribil
ofs, the largest assemblage of
wild animals to be seen any
where on earth gathers each
year. Approximately a million
and a half, fur seals jam the
lonely dots of land in breeding
season.
IDEAL,
ALL-PURPOSE
MIXER!
"O " rf
READY FOR BOWL Ohio State's AH-American Howard
Cassidy (right) and Dean Dugger (left) are fed oranges by
Marilyn Smuin, Tournament of Roses queen, after the
team's first practice for their Rose Bowl game with the
University of Southern California in Pasadena, Calif.
On The
By E. V. Durling
(Distributed by King Features Svadlcate, Inc.)
As for engraving the Lord's
Prayer on a pinhead, Paul D.
Wentz of Sharon, Pa., engraved
the Lord's Prayer on a two
mm. pinhead. There are seventy
words in .the prayer and 283
characters. It took Mr. Wentz
three hours and a half to do
this engraving.
Baldness
Not all baldness is hereditary
but most of it is. When a young
woman marries a bald or even
partially bald man, the chances
are very good the male children
of the couple will be bald in
their adult years. Also the
daughter of a baldheaded man
often passes the characteristic
to her children.
Among The Married
How long does it take your
wife to do her housework? The
record is two hours daily. This
is held by Mrs. Wanda Jennings,
winner of the Mrs. Amer
ica title for 1954. She has a
f ive room house, one child and
a husband. Speed ratings are
based on records. " So the Jen
nings' record may enable hus
bands to determine the house
keeping speed ratings . of their
matrimonial mates. Such figur
ing may be a little complicated
at first because of varying con
ditions. That is, allowances will
have to be made " for women
having houses of more than five
rooms, more than one child, etc.
Any assistance given the house
keeper by her husband must also
be considered. I have asked our
Horses & Women experts to try
to devise an accurate method
of figuring housekeeping speed
ratings. Their findings will be
reported- in a later issue.
-
Windy City .
According to experts on the
subject, Chicago known as "The
Windy City" is not as windy
as New York City. New York
is this country's windiest city.
Kansas City is the hottest, Min
neapolis the coldest, Santa Fe,
N. M., has the most sunshine
and Miami, Fla., the most thun
derstorms. Literary Not
When Grandma was a whistle
girl the most popular novels
with young women featured a
great lover who used the "treat
'em rough" technique in love
making. As for example, "The
Sheik," by Edith Hull. Seems
to be a revival of this type.
From a current novel by Bar
bara Cortland, in which the her
oine is held, captive and made
love to by , a South American
bandit known as El Diablo, I
quote: "She writhed as she
thought of his kisses, long,
fierce, passionate and possessive,
which had seemed in their very
ruthlessness to acknowledge him
as her master." Does that top
"The Shiek" for heated love
passages? I couldn't say. I never
read it. Ask your Grandma.
Wonder Boy
Jockey Willie Shoemaker is
quite a "wonder boy." However,
there have been "wonder boy"
jockeys before. Winnie O'Con
nor, of Brooklyn was America's
leading jockey at 17. John E
Madden paid Winnie a fee of
$10,000, win or lose, . to ride
Yankee in the Sheepshead Bay
Futurity. The dollar had four
times the buying power than
it has now. There was no - in
come tax. The fee Madden paid
was equivalent to paying a
jockey of today $50,000 to ride
one race. ' Incidentally Yankee
won the race.
Asides .
Those who were the only child
generally develop into the
brightest , adults. " So' says a stu
dent of human intelligence. That
lets me out. I am one of four
children. .
Visitors Arrive
From Minnesota
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Bowen, San
Pedro, Calif., and Mr. and Mrs.
Verle Demo and two sons, Min
neapolis, Minn., arrived Wednes
day evening from San Pedro to
visit for about a week with Mr.
and Mrs. Claude, Demo, 106 Cot
tage street. Mrs. Bowen and Mr.
Demo are daughter and son of
Mr. and Mrs. Claude Demo. An
other son, Rex Demo, and his
wife, 1181 East McAndrews road
also will be guests at the parents'
home for Christmas day dinner,
Studefi Enlected
To Chapter Office
Keith Mirick, Medford, was
elected chorister of Phi Delta
Theta chapter at Willamette. uni
versity when the fraternity re
cently held elections, a release
from the school states. Dale
Patton, McMinnville, was named
president of the chapter.
Young Mirick, a son of Mr.
and Mrs. I. A. Mirick, is spend
ing the holidays here with his
parents. He is majoring in music
at Willamette university.
-
Effingham, 111. (U.R) At
least one residenj of this city
conscientiously observed a plea
to restrict water use. During a
recent heavy rain, which helped
but did not solve the city's water
shortage, he was seen washing
his car in the down pour at mid
night, clad in a raincoat over his
underwear..-. ...
GENERAL ELECTRIC
OPEN TILL 9 CHRISTMAS EVE.
FREE PARKING O FREE DELIVERY
I 1 -V. M I I I I M
V
pffil
SPECIALISTS itt UOMEWARESl
MEDFORD . CENTRAL POINT
FOR HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING
WE RENT
Punch Bowls, Cups and
Ladles . . . .
Stemware Glassware
Mixers - All Kinds
Scfi(Btly
Thursday. December 23,-1954
MEDFORD -OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNETHREE
Officers Named
By Trail Riders
Medford Trail Riders . held
their annual election Saturday
night, with Lloyd Murphy named
president. Other ' officers are
John Mitchell,- vice-president;
Mrs. Clyde Bunker secretary;
Sam Kiems, .treasurer.
Named to the board were Tom
Mclnturf, Clyde Bunker, Clar
ence Dodge, Peyton Newcomb
and Vincent Swinney. .
Retiring officers were all pre
sented gifts for "a job well
done."
Last Sunday the riders held
the annual turkey dinner. There
was a gift exchange, with Mr.
Murphy serving as Santa Claus.
In the afternoon a trio from
Southern Oregon " college, Ash
land, entertained the members.
The trio, Gayle Turner, Nancy
Mallon and Gaynell Krumbeal,
sang Christmas carols and led
group singing.
The Eve Prentice accordion
band entertained the group for
an hour, with two pupils also
presenting dance numbers.
The evening concluded with
dancing.
The January meeting of the
organization will be held Satur
day, January 15.
ChildrenVpIrty
Given by Groups
Members of Crater Lions club
and the auxiliary gave thet an
nual Christmas party . for the
children of club members last
Sunday afternoon. The event was
held in the Moose lodge hall.
The children played games un
til Santa - Claus arrived. Each
child had an opportunity to talk
to Santa Claus, and he gave each
candy and a toy.
Mrs. Aubrey Smith was chair
man of the party. .
Employees Guests
At Annual Dinner
The Sisters of Sacred Heart
hospital gave the annual Christ
mas party for employees Tues
day. A turkey dinner was served
in the social rooms and in the
cafeteria from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30
p.m., and both rooms were deco
rated in the traditional holiday
theme. " .
The; hospital has about 150
employees. . ' "
Scout ' Offices H
To Be Closed;
Growth Noted 1 c:
. Offices of Rogue Valley area,
Girl Scout council, in Medford
and Grants Pass will be closed
from December 24 to January 2,
so . that the Staff may ; take a
week of their vacation at this
preferred time, it was announced
today. . . . ,
" "The members of the board
wish all the members and, friends
of scouting, a happy holiday sea
son and at this time, thank them
for their constant efforts to make
the program this year bigger and
better for our girls," Mrs. Mi
chele Rossi, council president,
stated. -. ' ' ' , .
"Through the good teamwork
of our leaders and neighborhood
chairman, registrations due be
fore December 31 are in almost
100 per cent Our registrar, Mrs.
Melvin Cannon, reports that we
have passed the 2,000 mark by a
good margin, and that our rec
ords show an increase of . 275
girls over the December 31; 1953
report," she added. .
TO BE SECRETARY
Portland (U.R) Miss Grace
C. Townsend, formerly secretary
to Sen. Guy Cordon, said today
she would, be secretary to State
Sen. J. O. Johnson of Tigard in
the state Legislature opening
next month.
Students To. P.Ian
Party at College
Five valley students are on a
committee of Marylhurst college
freshmen who will plan" a
Twelfth Night party which the
class will give on Campus Janu
ary 6. The ' students are the
Misses Nancy Conroy, - Janet
Dempster, Mardi Meyers and Do
lores .Zeleznik, ; Medford, and
Miss Joann Russell, Central
Point. ! - . -,; .'
Miss Dempster is president of
the hostess class.' The event will
be the closing festivity of ; the
Christmas season at Marylhurst.
They are all at home for vaca
tion, as are Joan Perreard,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank
PI Perreard, and Cathie Wong,
daughter of 'Mr. and Mrs. Wal
lace Wong,' both sophomores at
Marylhurst. v
Health. Unit Holds
Christmas Party
Gold Hill -- Gold Hill Health
unit held the annual Christmas
party December 16 at the home
of .Mrs. Arthur Boye, with Mrs.
E." Kanclier and Mrs. Schoene
mann as co-hostesses.
During the business meeting
the new x-ray program, was dis
cussed and a report made on
the progress ; of the Christmas
seal sale.
The group voted to assist in the
coming March of Dimes cam
paign in Gold Hill.
The group sang " Christmas
carols and .enjoyed : a program.
The names of "secret pals" were
revealed and gifts exchanged.
The hostesses served refresh
ments which included a large
variety of Christmas cookies. ,
YOU HAVE SEEN TH EM ON TV
Sheaffer
Snorkels
You can buy them from . '
a complete selection at,-
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210 East Main - Phone 2-6780
That
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Shop At
TWO FULL FLOORS
(plus a balcony)
of Gifts to Choose
From . . . Still a Wide
Selection of Wonderful
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Last . Minute
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OPEN EVENINGS THROUGH THURSDAY;
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For ' Your Christmas Dinner,
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wine for the occasion.
and
Tom & Jerry
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124 SOUTH CENTRAL
PHONE 2-4625
315 East- 5th
Telephone 3-3687