If you’ve visited French Lick Resort this time of year, you
know how we like to go big for the holidays. And it’s always been that way.
Today, we’re taking a peek at a few photos and relics from Christmas
and winters past.
There’s no better place to start than 1918, when the West
Baden Springs Hotel atrium was transformed into a spectacle beyond belief. 101
years ago at this time, the hotel was closed to guests for seven months and
briefly became an Army hospital where wounded World War I soldiers were sent. On
Christmas Day of 1918, the soldiers and hospital staff were treated to a
special circus show, complete with animal performers — including five lions,
four elephants and a large white horse. (It’s believed the elephants may have
had to walk on their knees so they could fit through the doors.)
No Christmas is complete without a tree, and this one was 45
feet tall. That’s a real tree, keep in mind, and 5 feet taller than the tree
that’s displayed in the center of the atrium today at the holidays. “So tall
that its top-most branch reached the fourth floor,” it was touted.
Back in the day, guests could always count on receiving a
special holiday greeting in the mail. They always came addressed from Thomas
Taggart, the owner of French Lick Springs Hotel. These postcards were made from
celluloid (an early type of plastic) and had a holiday greeting on one side,
and a calendar for the coming year on the other side, with a hole punched so
they could hang on a wall. (The one above standing alone is from circa 1914.)
The hotel also sold holiday postcards incorporating its famed Pluto mascot. Points here for originality and creativity — this postcard of Pluto riding a Pluto mineral water bottle sleigh being pulled by a turkey is like something out of a fever dream.
From the same era, this is a Christmas menu from West Baden
Springs Hotel in 1913. The hotels at both West Baden and French Lick printed
their menus daily during this time period, and West Baden pulled out all the
stops on their Christmas menu this year with roast suckling pig, turkey stuffed
with oysters, and spiced lobster.
The gingerbread house is a tradition that’s spanned several
decades at French Lick Springs Hotel. Today, it’s one grand gingerbread house
that’s displayed, but back in the day it was a gingerbread village with several
smaller houses. This photo from the 1980s shows the creation of the gingerbread
display in the lobby of French Lick Springs Hotel. Linda Brent, the woman on
the left in this photo, still works today in the hotel’s bakery department and
resort’s food & beverage venues.
The old domed swimming pool at French Lick Springs Hotel was
quite the marvel when it was built in 1955. The dome closed during times like
this when there was snow on the ground, and opened during the summer months.
Next to the domed pool, an ice skating rink was also a wintertime favorite. (This
photo is from 1965).
That wasn’t the only skating spot. The photo on the left is the Cabana
Pool, which used to be in the front lawn area of French Lick Springs Hotel.
When it froze over in the winter, it was time to grab your skates.