Santa's Rocket Sleigh

I was a kid during America's "Space Age", which I would define as the period between the launch of Sputnik and the end of the Gemini space capsule launches. Anything to do with space, rockets, and astronauts was hot stuff, especially for young boys like myself. Space helmets, futuristic toy rifles and pistols, astronaut costumes, space-related games and model kits, all were popular, especially at Christmas time. Even Santa Claus joined the space age. I know because I took a ride in Santa's Rocket Sleigh.

It was a few days before Christmas in 1964, and my dad announced that Santa's Rocket Sleigh was coming to the new Greenwood shopping center on Indianapolis' south side. My brother and sisters and I put on our winter coats, piled into Dad's big old Buick, and headed out for a rather strange space-age holiday adventure. It was a cold sunny day, but there had been snow earlier so there were big melting "ice bergs" in the corners of the shopping center parking lot, deposited by the snow plows.

Santa's Rocket Sleigh was parked in the northeast corner of the gigantic parking lot. It was actually a customized bus with a white aircraft-like body, red trim, and big rocket tail fins. The front hatch opened like an old-style airplane entrance, hinged at the bottom so that it folded out-and-down to make a small stairstep entry. I think Santa was somewhere behind the rear of the rocket having a cigarette when I boarded the wierd craft. A woman in a very short Santa's helper dress guided us inside. The "cockpit" was pretty much like that of any city bus, and I remember there were porthole-style windows along both rows of seats.

Without fanfare, Santa entered the rocket, waved HI, and proceeded to drive us around the shopping center parking lot, past the grimy ice bergs of melting snow. The rocket's suspension showed its age, because I remember the ride was bumpy and rough, but I enjoyed it all the same.

After some research I discovered that the rocket sleighs were a travelling attraction in many parts of the United States during those years, even in Alaska. But, sadly, I've not been able to find any photos of this space-age holiday oddity like the one I rode in 1964. The Alaskan version has two booster rockets up top, almost like the space shuttle's, but the rocket sleigh in Indiana was much more streamlined. I did find a photo of the remains of another version, rusting in a junkyard, located by another grown-up rocket sleigh rider who remembers it like I do.

My home state of Indiana has another link to Santa's Rocket Sleigh. The late rockabilly singer Bobby Helms, who lived in Martinsville, Indiana, for most of his life, recorded this odd space-age Christmas song: CAPTAIN SANTA CLAUS AND HIS REINDEER SPACE PATROL. It would have been a great soundtrack for a rocket sleigh full of happy children, eagerly looking forward to the magic of Christmas day.



I wish everyone a very Merry Space-Age Christmas, and a prosperous, safe, and Happy New Year!

VIKTOR KUPRIN

I Saw Ded Moroz on New Year's Eve!

Yes, I saw Dedushka Moroz, Grandfather Frost, on New Year's Eve! I had stepped out of my condo's back door to place a couple of bottles of bubbly on my patio to chill in the cold winter air. It had just gotten dark, and the edge of a cold front had arrived, soon to bring flurries of snow. I looked up and saw an amazing sight. The clouds had formed a perfect image of Ded Moroz, his big fluffy beard, nose and cheeks filling the eastern sky in perfect symmetry. And the timing was just about right because he had finished delivering gifts to all the boys and girls in Armenia, Russia, and other Eastern countries, and was by now headed West. There was no sign of Snegoruchka, the Snow Maiden. My own Snow Maiden waited for me inside: my wife, Irina. The magical visage of Ded Moroz lasted but a few minutes, then blew away as snow clouds began to cover south-central Indiana, and in the morning the snow would almost cover the ground. It was a magical experience, and a fitting end to the old year. Today we will celebrate with a New Year's feast, in the Armenian tradition of opening our home to guests on January 1st. I hope old Ded Moroz passed over your house, too. Happy New Year, S'Novim Godim!

Viktor Kuprin

Technorati tags: Santa Claus, Christmas, holiday, traditions, New Year, Ded Moroz, Snegoruchka, Russia, Soviet Union

The Story of Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, the Russian Santa Claus

In Russia, Armenia, and other Eastern European countries, the holiday season heralds the arrival of Dedushka Moroz, “Grandfather Frost”, their version of Santa Claus. He looks a lot like the St. Nick that we know in the West, but he’s kind of different, too. He’s a bit thinner, and sometimes he wears blue coats, not just red ones. It is said that Joseph Stalin once ordered that Ded Moroz should always wear blue so as not to be confused with Santa Claus! Ded Moroz's home is deep in the forests “beyond Findlandia and Lapland”, and he rides in a troika sleigh pulled by three horses, not reindeer. The official residence of Ded Moroz in Russia is the town of Veliky Ustyug. The old fellow can get downright grumpy sometimes when children behave badly, but he brings presents to kids even if they’re good only right before New Year’s. That’s right, New Year's. In the East, they put up the yolka, the decorated evergreen tree for New Year’s since the more-quietly celebrated Orthodox Christmas falls on January 7, not December 25. But yolka trees often have a big red star on top, just like the ones on top of the Kremlin!

Another big difference between Ded Moroz and Santa Claus is that Grandfather Frost is a single guy. There’s no dowdy Mrs. Claus waiting for him back at the toy shop. Ded Moroz is often accompanied by Snegoruchka, the beautiful Snowmaiden who was made from snow by a lonely old Russian couple to live as their daughter. Sadly, she melts away every spring but returns each winter much to everyone’s delight. Legend has it that Snegoruchka is Ded Moroz’s granddaughter, but many people, me included, have doubts. She often wears some short-short white fur-lined dresses, and there may be some hanky-panky going on between her and old Ded Moroz. But then again, it gets pretty cold at night in Siberia!

S'Novim Godim, Happy New Year, to you all!

Viktor Kuprin

Technorati tags: Santa Claus, Christmas, holiday, traditions, New Year, Ded Moroz, Snegoruchka, Russia, Soviet Union

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All

S'Rozhdestvom i S'Novim Godim! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, and especially to all the kind readers who sent words of encouragement to me in 2007.

Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) brought lots of goodies to my house, and I hope he drove his troika to your home, too. It's the time of year, too, when the Ghost of Christmas Past inspires me to recall friends and loved ones far away or who are no longer with us. During the long winter evenings, when the Christmas tree lights fill the room with color and beauty, I remember them ... my loving grandparents and great-grandparents, my father, my youngest sister who left us when she was barely 20, and all the others whom I wish I could see again, hear their voices in laughter, and once more receive their warm hugs and pats on the head. And I watch my young son, his eyes filled with wonder and happiness as he experiences what will be his own Christmas memories. Despite all the corporate greed and politically-correct nonsense that arises during this time of year, I'm thankful that if you look and listen carefully, there is indeed still some magic to be found under the yolka, the Christmas tree.


Viktor Kuprin