Each little country town has its Christmas traditions and Coolah is no exception! Since the early 1960s there has been either a Christmas Parade or Carnival of varying sizes, and the most memorable ones are the Parades held in the main street!
As the floats, vintage cars, and community groups do a couple of laps, the most looked-for in the parade is Santa in his sleigh!
A Historic Sleigh
Our sleigh is a very special sleigh – not every country town has a sleigh quite so flash!
Ours was built before 1930 for the well-known retailers, Anthony Hordern & Sons. This purpose-built sleigh, set on an Austin truck chassis, was self-powered and used to deliver Santa to the magical “Santaland” located in the Anthony Hordern’s George St. store in mid-November, where Santa was in residence until Christmas Eve.
In 1930 Santa and the sleigh had a festive tour through NSW (see the following article from the Newcastle Sun, 8 November, 1930)
We came across this wonderful voice recording of Anthony Hordern & Son’s Santa, in 1946, talking with three young visitors to Santaland. If you listen closely you will hear Santa ask if they saw him arrive in his sleigh.
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/welcome-to-santaland
A past employee c. 1950s recalls the Sleigh had very special treatment with its own garage and mechanics hidden under the glitter covers!
The sleigh, when it belonged to Anthony Horden & Sons was white with real gold leaf trim, verified by another old employee. The Coolah District Diary in August 2023, relayed the anecdote:
“Eric Fetch was working at the driver reviver and a customer came in and recognized the sleigh from a photo on the wall. He asked to see the “old girl”. Eric took him to the shed and showed him. The gentleman remarked “what happened to all the gold trim?” Eric replied “ah, wasn’t that a job to scrape it all off”. The gentleman then asked “Where did it all go?” “The tip” Eric replied. It was then the gentleman said “that wasn’t gold paint it was gold, it was my job to repaint the gold every year”…
The sleigh was brought to Coolah by Ken Pellow and Todd Scott, who drove the self-powered sleigh all the way from the city, including through a bushfire (!), after the closure of Anthony Hordern & Sons c. 1970, on the behest of Betty Gulliver (nee Warr) of Bullaroy, Neilrex Road.
We are not sure if Betty was given the sleigh or purchased it at auction (both stories exist), but one gets the feeling reading through the history of Anthony Hordern & Sons and the fond comments by old employees, that it was very much a family, even with thousands of employees. Perhaps Betty once worked there or knew the Hordern family. *
The Christmas Parade, originally started by some local ladies c.1964, had been handed over to the Coolah Lions Club to run. Betty Gulliver gifted the sleigh to the Lion’s Club who undertook a facelift for the “old girl”, removing her gilt and repainting her red with decorations painted by Rosalie Swords, a local artist.
The sleigh remained self-powered for 5-6 years before it required repairs. Finding mechanical help for a c. 1920s Austin 6 cylinder, Lark Hoskins engine was difficult, so a tractor was brought in to tow the Sleigh for the Parade, which has continued. The engine is still in situ, perhaps one day it will be repaired and the sleigh will drive itself again!
A refurbishment
In 2023 the word went out to the community, asking for funds and help to restore the sleigh that was looking a bit tired
… and she is now a shiny bright red with more toned-down art!
A community member shared a video of the old sleigh in her new red coat on the Anthony Horden & Sons facebook group – and Anthony Hordern Snr commented “Well done you’ve made an old man very happy”. This clip has a rather vintage feel don’t you think? (We estimate the angels on the other side of the street were a wee bit faster than planned and they are being held steady while the rest catch up for the 2nd lap).
Of course, Santa didn’t always arrive from the North Pole (the Driver Reviver shed), on at least on two occasions he was flown in to Coolah (reminiscent of his NSW tour flying in by seaplane c. 1930)! In the late 1970s/early 1980s, local aviator, Wing Commander (ret.) Chad Martin DFC ** did a low pass over the main street in his Auster with Santa an active passenger, tossing lollies out to the children that lined the street (EVERYONE DUCK!). He was flown to Booyamurra, a property close to town and then driven back in.
The Parade
Although Coolah’s Parade/Carnival has gone through a few different versions, moving to a weeknight and back to a Saturday afternoon/night, even moving to the Oval for a few years, we were pleased to have it return to the main street in 2023. After all, the chaos of children running barefoot across the closed off roads (and the occasional wail heard after a skinned knee and the shushing and mild reprimands from parents about the dangers of running on the road), groups of friends meandering up and down the street, people stopping for chat or having a sausage sandwich, locals doing a spot of shopping with stores opened specially for the afternoon or at the additional market stalls, all onlookers eagerly awaiting the parade itself – is something you can’t quite replace!
Here are some photos from one of the Christmas Street Parades in the 1980s:
The Parade in 2024
2024’s parade was a bigger than ever – activities for the children started in the afternoon and the Kevie Cup (rugby vs. netball teams) was held, before launching the parade. Coolah Central School carried large illuminated lanterns (provided by Light’nUp Inc., Lismore) in the parade along with community group floats, and of course Santa and his sleigh handing out lolly bags. Live music enlivened the night followed by the Illuminart Lightshow and a finale of fireworks.
Why not come and join us for the Christmas Parade in 2025!
If you have photos, memorable anecdotes or historical notes on Coolah’s Christmas Carnival/Street Parade or the Sleigh, please email us at web@coolahnsw.com.au, we would love to learn more!
For those who like to follow the breadcrumbs
*The town of Coolah already had a connection with the Hordern family as Lebbeus Hordern, a director of Anthony Hordern & Sons, owned Turee Station – located to the East of Coolah – for a few years. June Baillieu, niece of T. L. Baillieu who owned Tongy Station (next door to Turee Station) also married Samuel Hordern. Not related, but interesting is Betty Gulliver was the Aunt of Bruce Beresford, the movie director.
** Chad Martin was the first airman that was trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme to command a heavy bomber squadron, specifically 460 Squadron RAAF. He had previously served with 57 Squadron RAF and was known for his exceptional leadership and bravery, as evidenced by his Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) citation. The Martin family have properties between Coolah and Cassilis.
Sources: Coolah District Diary 773/23 (author: Rhonda Courtney), Coolah District Diary 806/25 (author: Lee Doyle), Wentworth Courier August 26, 2017, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Film & Sound Archive, http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/ Trove, Anthony Hordern & Sons Facebook Group, Rhonda Courtney, Ken Pellow, Chink Lloyd, Shiona McMaster, Gale Stanley. Photos: as attributed.