Santa Made Special Appearances in Bossier Parish History

 The tradition of Santa Claus and hanging stockings for him to fill was an established custom in this area by the 1850s. In the December 23, 1880 issue of “The Bossier Banner,” the editor remembered how boys had envied girls their long stockings at Christmastime when he was young. In homes where stockings were not hung, Santa would fill boxes or baskets with nuts, fruit, candy and perhaps a toy or book for the children. In its December 20, 1883 issue, “The Bossier Banner” reported that Santa Claus was at Dr. W. J. Mobley’s store in Bellevue.

A visit from Santa Claus was documented in the December 28, 1922 “Bossier Banner:” “About one o’clock, Santa Claus appeared, walking through town and shaking hands with the children, telling them his car had broken down but he would be here for Sunday night’s gifts.” He called at the schoolhouse, delivering gifts to all the pupils. He passed through the building, wishing all joy, and kept up such a noise Professor S.J. Smith left his classroom to call for peace and quiet. However, on seeing the cause of the commotion, he “quietly resigned his authority to the spirit of Christmas.” Then Santa went out and borrowed a horse from one of the school boys and rode out of town singing, “Santa Is Coming”.

In another 1922 visit, a Sunday school class of 42 children arrived at Winona Plantation by automobile. Santa drove up in his car and entered the house through a window, delivering gifts from the Christmas pine. Snowy popcorn was thrown over the tree, giving the appearance of heavy snow. Red berries were used in decorating the entire house.

In 1949, families attended a parish-wide Christmas Party at Bossier High School sponsored by the Bossier Parish Chamber of Commerce. A masked Santa helped chamber officials when they handed out large bags of oranges to children, a very special treat then!

One of the most thoroughly reported local Santa sightings was just a few days before Christmas in 1956. Santa made a visit at the invitation of Mr. W.R. Hudson, principal of Bossier Elementary School, for the school’s “Santa Parade.” Santa rode in a firetruck down Barksdale Boulevard and several other Bossier city streets.

Mr. Claus had a lot to accomplish in this 1956 trip. He spent some time visiting with Mr. Hudson and apparently got some information “about behavior and grades of certain local school children. It is understood that Mr. Claus gets the same kind of information from other principals in Bossier Parish.” (This does sound a bit intimidating, though one could guess those sources served their purpose prior to the “scout elf” system of surveillance that is in place today in many households).

Another purpose of his visit was to “clear with Barksdale [Air Force Base] officials. A new ID card was issued to him and military policemen were given instructions to give the top-laden sleigh fast clearance. Radarmen have been alerted to the type of blips which will be made on their screens by the reindeer, so that their appearance will not be mistake for the approach of enemy planes.”

Finally, as stated “in a personal interview with a Bossier Press reporter,” Mr. Claus revealed that “he is constantly surprised with how much Bossier City grows from Christmas to Christmas. ‘Bossier is one of the cities I have to constantly check. It would be awful if I missed one of these new streets – sure would have some disappointed children.’” The Bossier Chamber of Commerce did give him a new map, so hopefully that prevented any trouble. Santa continued, “We usta tell Bossier City from the air by spotting the tanks of the old refinery [likely the Loreco, then Citgo Refinery in the vicinity of the Waller

subdivision.] After that, we navigated on the searchlight at Barksdale [Air Force Base]. But today, we spot the neon on Highway 80 just after we leave Texarkana.” (Santa must have been euphemistically referring to the “Bossier Strip,” a string of nightclubs and other establishments with a booming business on mid-twentieth-century Texas Street, that were advertised on-site with state-of-the art neon signs.)

Santa revealed a crucial piece of information about the changes he’d seen in Bossier City. He described how he used to get hay and feed for the reindeer at the multiple livery stables on Barksdale Boulevard, which was old downtown Bossier’s main street. “All of those livery stables are gone now,” he lamented, “and the deer get terribly hungry as they come in to Bossier from working extra hard to dodge those jet bombers, from Barksdale. I understand, though, that [local businessman] Cecil Woodward will have out a few bales of hay for us this year.”

We hope Santa Claus treats you and your family well, too. If you have any information, stories, or photos about Christmas and other holiday traditions in Bossier Parish, we would love to add them (or scanned copies) to our History Center’s research collection. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or visit us at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok

Images: 

1.) Santa in 1949 at a community Christmas party at Bossier High School, sponsored by the Bossier Chamber of Commerce

2.) W.R. Hudson, principal of Bossier Elementary School. 1956-1957 photo.

Article by: Pam Carlisle