I drove past what's left of Santa's Village in Dundee, IL today. I didn't grow up in Chicago so I never actually visited Santa's Village. I still felt the strange feeling of a loss. The loss of a simpler time, which always includes a loss of innocence in my mind. This place closed in 2006. It lasted longer than most of the local, family owned amusement parks. It was replaced by the huge corporate parks that bombard everyone with advertising for their latest movies, toys or video games. How could Santa's Village survive? Children lost interest in Santa. Hell, do kids even believe in Santa past the age of three anymore. They could probably google 'Santa'...wait I just did. Googling just the word santa brings up on the suggestion list..Santa Monica, Santa Cruz...etc. Of the 10 listed Santa Claus is not an option. Google 'Santa C' and Claus shows up 8th on the suggestion list. Even Wikipedia says Santa Claus is mythical in it's first sentence. So kids just didn't want to visit an amusement park with giant candy canes out front, reindeer in a petting zoo and a fat man in a red suit. Even in my saddened state, I guess I can't blame them.
No comments:
Post a Comment