The "Santa Claus Wonderland" was located on the third floor of the Stern Brothers department store in New York.
It was part of the massive toy section of the seven-story department store on 42nd Street in Manhattan and was considered the most famous attraction of any New York department store during the run-up to Christmas in 1967. The decorations, dazzling lights and allure of this Christmas wonderland had been on display since early November the crowds of buyers.
At regular intervals, the loudspeaker voice sounded on all floors: "The toy department proudly presents: Santa Claus Wonderland!
Our Christmas Wonderland is an absolute must for you and your kids!
The most beautiful Christmas carousel in the world and countless surprises await you!
The absolute highlight for all our customers:
That worked as planned.
The kids wanted and the parents had to fight their way through the entire toy department with them until they finally landed in what was promised as Wonderland.
And indeed, there was Santa Claus sitting on a kind of throne, in a red coat with a white beard and a red Santa Claus hat.
In a long line in front of him, neatly lined up and terribly excited children, slowly advancing, waiting for his lap.
If he triggered a Polaroid camera with his foot, they were sent back to their enthusiastic parents.
Finally, the self-developing photo could be purchased in the toy department.
Yes, there was a nice old carousel too.
Fabulously colorfully painted with small pictures, with white horses, four-seater wagons, a Christmas carriage and that unmistakable automatic carousel music.
A young man with a red Santa hat helped mount the horses and warned the parents to keep their distance.
And the promised countless surprises?
Well, they were packed as surprise packages in different sizes at different prices and were clearly visible in the large window of a kind of crunchy house.
I sat in this hut made of flamed wooden boards.
∞
How – for heaven's sake – could this have happened?
We weren't really superstitious.
But when Johanna and I boarded the plane of the airline “Loftleidir Icelandic” at the “Aerogare” airport in Luxembourg on Friday, October 13, 1967, we felt a little queasy.
The flight to New York with a stopover in Keflavik, Iceland, was by far the cheapest you could get in Europe at the time, but it was our first flight.
And he was uncomfortable and lasted endlessly.
In addition, I always had the urgent wish that the pilot should finally shift into a higher gear - the noise of the turboprop machine was annoying at such low revs.