The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-11-30
SANTA'S DEBUT
ON BROADWAY
HUGE SUCCESS
Thousands of Metropolis
Children Acclaim Good
Saint in Parade.
BY SAM LOVE


NEW YORK, Nov. 30.-Ir regard
to this coming Christmas everything
is all right.
Santa Claus appeared from the
north tocsy and paraded down
Broadway in a kingly and reasSur-
ing manner.
The good saint acknowledged
the falsetto squeals of many thou
sands of children when he showed
himself, preceded by bands, gnomeS
and EskimoS and display of gigan-
tic floats designed by the artist,
Tony Sarg.
Broadway was lined from One
Hundred and Tenth street to
Thirty fourth street by a cheering
crowd that averaged four feet in
height.
The parade was more than an
hour late, due to the difficulty of in
f1ating a blue. elephant sixty feet
long with helium gas. The delay
give rise to disquieting run1orS
down the line.
Maybe Santa's mother has locked
him in closet" conjectured Joan
EhrkoWitz, 6, of Eighty sixth street,
who was among the Standees at
Eighty-sixth street and Broadway.
Joan wore a costume of a beige 4
coat trimmed in squirrel fur. squir-
rel fur toque and leather leggings,
extending to the hip line. Her
shoes were slightly scuffed in the
prevailing mode.
Cop II Feet High.
The rumor spread up and down
Broadway and was accepted at some
points along the line, but rejected
at others.
The sky was overcast with clouds
and it was pretty cold.
Finally the parade came.
First, there were mounted po-
licemen.
Then came a policeman seven
teen feet high. 1t was generally
conceded that he was walking on
stills concealed in his pants.
After him marched a band IN
blue uniforms and with blue plumes
in their hats.
After the band came fat man
fifteen feet around the belt riding
on a kind of a pink sea COW thirty
feet long and nearly that much |
thick. This apparition was full OF
helium gas and was controlled from
the ground by ropes like the Graf
Zeppelin.
Like the other big floats in the
parade, the pink sea COW not only
bobbed up and down, but 1t Woo-
bled.
6O-FOOt Long Elephant
Then came some oriental girls.
Then a big wobbly head, with one
scowling face in front and one grin
ming face behind, which took up
most of the street.
Then King Neptune and twenty
pirates came along. Some OF the
crowd mistook Neptune for Santa
Claus and gave him cheer. others
wanted to know where he got MS
nitchfork. The pirates were all
dressed in yellow, with blue hand
kerchiefs tied around their heads.
Then came a gold fish, forty feet
long, and another band. Then
came the early bird, higher than
the second story windows and big
ger than a street car. 1t had blue
BODY. a neck made out of four red
balloons, a yellow head. In It's
mouth was worn as big as the IN
ner tube of Mack truck.
Then the sixty-foot long blue ele-
phant came webbing down the
street, waving his ears as big as bed
quilts and rolling his eyes as big as
dishpans. After him came lot OF
clowns and some more comic floats
and some pretty girls and then
band in red coats and black plumes.
Finest SqueaIing Ever Heard
After this, to some of the finest
souealing ever heard on Broadway,
came a full-sized house with
chimney and Santa Claus, with real
whiskers, turning his head this way |
and that so everybody could look
into his eyes.
1t is well known locally that if you
look Santa Claus right in the eye,
he'll never forget you and everything
will be jake from then on.
Because of another custom, that |
of blacking your face with burnt
cork and putting on mothers or
fathers old clothes on Thanks
giving day, a good many of the
thousands who peered into Santa
CIaus's face didn't look the same
way they will on Christmas eve.
However, they were mostly the
poor children, whom Santa never
forgets anyhow.
All of these, to man, fell IN
behind the parade wherever they
encountered it and followed it to its
terminus at Thirty fourth street, in
order to be in on the releasing OF
the balloon floats which have $1OO
reward for their recapture, and In
general not to miss anything.
-.rA~ sIAVH NAVAL TV