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Santa arrived in yellow

It’s been 80 years. Eighty years since Piper Aviation came to Lock Haven. Eighty years since the company set up shop and began producing airplanes here. And, for that matter, 80 years since Piper’s first Christmas in Lock Haven.

Up until 1937, the company was called Taylor Aviation, and was in Bradford, Pennsylvania. When a tragic fire burned the plant to the ground, local men Jake Miller and Edgar Heffner met with William T. Piper and convinced him to move to Lock Haven. The first Cub rolled off the line locally on July 8, and the company changed its name to Piper in November.

And then came Piper’s first Christmas.

Now, something you should know about William Piper: he was an aggressively good guy. His former employees all seem to have wonderful things to say about him, and the Piper Aviation Museum archives are full of stories about good things he did for people. So, pretty obviously, he wanted to make his first Christmas in his new community something to remember.

He accomplished this by adding a Piper Cub to the cause.

“Santa Claus To Arrive Here Via Piper Cub December 8,” read the headline on the Clinton County Times on November 18, 1937. The article detailed all the preparation going into the upcoming Christmas events, including the plane that William Piper was supplying.

The event was scheduled for Dec. 8, a Wednesday night. The main event was happening at the corner of Main Street and Bellefonte Avenue, which was, at the time, occupied by the Civil War monument and several stores. There was very likely some input here from some of the local stores — The Frock Shop clothing store, Schmick Ice Cream, and American Stores Company were all nearby, and an event like this was likely to encourage shopping. For that matter, the Clinton County Times itself wasn’t too far up the road, and had something of an easy time reporting on all this. (The Clinton County Times, this issue, was absolutely packed with ads for local stores, so clearly there was some product placement going on there.)

“The only factor missing that would have made the affair complete was a button that could be pushed to start the snow fluttering down,” the Times later reported.

Santa went through town and made the rounds of the local schools all afternoon. (I don’t know who was playing Santa. Maybe it was the real Santa. For purposes of this column, it doesn’t matter.)

In the early evening, the big event began. Santa flew over the town in the Piper Cub, drifting through “snow white clowds.” (The Clinton County Times wasn’t always so big on spell-checking.) William T. Piper was also on hand to see the whole event. The plane landed and Santa joined the celebration.

Harry Maggs, manager of the Lock Haven Steam Laundry, directed much of the operation with the help of the local businessmen. Santa joined some of the local merchants to turn on the red and green lights that had been strung all over the block. Before the event, they’d darkened the windows of the stores, so that the whole area was blanketed in colorful lights.

The high school band was on hand to play Jingle Bells, and the streets echoed with “Hello, Santa” from the small children gathered. Then the parade began, while Santa ran and took a moment to have some food and comb his whiskers — seriously; this was all in the newspapers.

By the time the parade was well underway, Santa had rejoined it, appearing at the end. He’d traded the Piper Cub for a sleigh, pulled by horses and “giving the season an official air,” according to the newspaper.

As the parade ended, the businesses threw open their doors and turned the lights back on, inviting people inside. This was the beginning of more than two weeks of late hours from the local merchants; in those days businesses generally closed at 5 p.m. and all-night stores weren’t really a thing yet. But they spent two weeks staying open late, providing Lock Haven with everything anyone needed for a good holiday.

You have one, too. To all the readers, happy holidays, whatever it is you celebrate. And thanks for another good year.

——

Lou Bernard is a Lock Haven resident with a keen interest in the history of this area. He is adult services coordinator at Ross Library and may be reached at ross13@rosslibrary.org or 570-748-3321.

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