This Week in Indiana’s History …
1867 – Sarah Breedlove was born in Louisiana. She went into business for herself and founded a cosmetics company in Indianapolis under the name Madam CJ Walker. She was very successful and became the first American woman to earn a million dollars.
1917 – A full-page newspaper ad read, “Travel the Electric Way, There is a Train to You at Any Time of the Day.” The Union Traction Company provided convenient times to many cities across the state on a daily basis. Indiana boasted the second largest interurban system in the country.
1921 – Governor Warren McCray invited the Ogden Northside Carolers to sing at the statehouse the day before Christmas. Custodian Roy Couch had set up a 12-meter-high tree in the rotunda and decorated it with colored lights, sequins and holly. A local reporter said the tree gave the statehouse “a Christmassy look it hasn’t seen in twelve years.” The carol singers ranged from 10 to 14 years old and were directed by Mrs. James M. Ogden.
1935 – A 22-foot, 40-ton statue of Saint Nicholas was unveiled in Santa Claus, Indiana. The Lafayette Journal and Courier reported that “a thousand people braved the cold weather and slippery sidewalks to get to the small village for the ceremony. “The statue is still in the festive community.
1957 – Martinsville singer Bobby Helms ended a very successful year of his career with the release of Jingle Bell Rock. The song was an instant hit along with “My Special Angel,” another big record for Helms in a year that also appeared on the Ed Sullivan Network television show.
1971 – Santa Claus visited Governor Edgar Whitcomb’s office in the statehouse. He was there to please the governor’s special guests. They were the children of three Air Force pilots captured in Vietnam. The governor, himself a prisoner of war during World War II, lit a Christmas candle as a symbol of safe return for all American soldiers detained or missing in foreign countries.
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