See Old Postcards from When Holiday World was Santa Claus Land

During the show last week, we were talking about an old TV commercial from the '70's for Santa Claus Land (now Holiday World, of course) that had surfaced on YouTube when we received a call from a listener who said he had some old postcards that dated to the very early days of the park. We asked if he would mind sending them to us, or at least photos of them, so we could see them and share them with you. Obviously he said, "yes" or you wouldn't be reading this right now.

The gentleman, who asked to remain anonymous, e-mailed the photos to us earlier this week, and has you can see, the park has gone through some drastic changes since it first opened back in 1946. No Raven, no Legend, no Thunderbird, and certainly no Splashin' Safari. By looks of these photos, the biggest thrill ride the park had to offer the miniature train pictured above and below. Wheeeee!

The postcards came in the package pictured in the first photo and are a mix of photos and illustrations based on the park. A few show one of the parks original rides, the Story Time Train, which was still in operation until the park shut it down a year or so ago. There's also a Santa Claus statue, which I'm not sure still exists, but obviously did at one point.

I think it's really neat to see how the park has evolved since it's very humble beginning. Big thanks to Les for sharing these with us!