Honestly, as a small child, I was always intimidated (frightened?) by Mr. Tree. Speaking of trees…a visit to Santaland wasn’t complete without a visit to “Mr. And almost every year there was a craft area where children could color Christmas ornaments to take home and put on their tree. Another season, the visit to Santa concluded with a ride on an indoor carousel. One year, the line to see Santa wound through a Christmas display featuring animal characters in various holiday tableaus. I have very different memories of what actually made up Santaland over the years. The trek to Santaland usually meant a ride on the escalators or elevator to an upper floor where some sort of marked “trail” which (of course!) went directly through the toy department. It was exhilarating walking into the department store and seeing all the beautiful Christmas decorations. I remember so fondly driving to the “big city” and watching out the window of the car the entire trip until I could see the city skyline and the Christmas tree in lights on top of the Lazarus building. Photo courtesy of Ohio Historical Society and Vintage Columbus. Lazarus all decked out for the holiday season. Until the downtown Lazarus stopped featuring Santa and other holiday activities for families, Santaland was our go-to spot for family Christmas festivities. From the time that I was the only grandchild until I was the oldest of 6 grandchildren and in my 30s (yes, my 30s), we made visiting Santa a yearly tradition. If you were a pre-90’s kid in the central Ohio area, you probably made at least one visit to the downtown Lazarus to visit Santa Claus in Santaland.
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