SANTA CLAUS IN ALBION

A very Merry Christmas to my readers of this column! Thank you for your support over the past year for providing information, historical materials and photographs to yours truly which helped make this column, and my books possible.

For many years when Santa Claus came to Albion, he came in style. He appeared on top of the Commercial and Savings Bank in downtown Albion, and came down from the roof via the Albion Fire Department aerial ladder truck. At the bottom he would be greeted by a band, and the crowd would sing Christmas carols. From the late 1940s to 1955, Santa was played by William Toussaint, who worked at the Albion Malleable Iron Company.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a 1953 photo of Santa waving from Albion’s aerial ladder holding his somewhat depleted-looking bag of gifts as he descends to the crowd. What an advertisement this could have been for the bank: Santa keeps his money in the Commercial and Savings Bank, and this photo proves it!

This photo also shows that an aerial ladder isn’t just for fighting fires. Keep that in mind when Albion receives its new aerial ladder fire truck this coming spring. The truck will be manufactured in January by Spartan Motors Chassis, Inc. in nearby Charlotte. Santa Claus paid for our new aerial ladder truck because we as a city certainly couldn’t afford it, some $900,000 worth!

Make this a memorable Christmas for you and your family and attend a Christmas program at one of our local churches. These are always enjoyable to attend along with the refreshments afterwards, but keep in mind that a chocolate chip cookie has 220 calories. If you need a last-minute Christmas gift for someone, I have copies of my three in-print books: "Albion (Postcards)," "Albion in Review", and "Growing Up in Albion" with me wherever I go, and at my house. Give me a call at (517) 629-5402 for the details. They are signed and ready to go for you and your family clan. Merry Christmas, everyone!

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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