Santa Clause Lane

Roadside Distractions

SANTA CLAUS LANE

SANTA CLAUS, CALIFORNIA

SANTA CLAUS stands 365 days of the year on the peaceful Pacific shores as a sentinel smiling down on the unique colorful shops laden with unusual gifts and treasures to delight everyone.                          

Circa 1970’s Postcard

Motorists traveling on the Coast Highway in Southern California near Carpinteria beginning in 1948 were enticed to stop at a roadside Christmas themed village by an imposing eighteen foot tall Santa Claus head and torso on roof of one of the shops. Creative marketing and the naming of the collection of specialty shops Santa Claus Lane coupled with the completion of the 101 Freeway a few years later ensured the success of the imaginative enterprise. Owners of the Date and Olive Shop obtained approval to create a popular seasonal post office substation with the postmark of “Santa Claus, California”. In addition to a Toy Store, Candy Shop, Ice Cream Stand and Santa’s Kitchen Restaurant, the Santa Claus Unlimited streamliner kiddie train ride circled the block long stretch of themed buildings. The two ton Santa squeezing down a chimney attracted visitors to the roadside attraction from the roof of the Candy Kitchen along with an oversize Snowman for more than fifty years. Even though the puzzling freeway exit signage still reads “Candy Cane Lane”, the Christmas themed village and train ride are only memories while Santa was saved from destruction and permanently resides along 101 in a small park in Oxnard.  

-Bill  5/23