The "Marguerite Santa," a staple of Christmas for many Sweetwater County residents remembering the piece at Marguerite Gift Shop in Rock Springs, is on display at the Rock Springs Historical Museum throughout December. The display can be seen at the firehouse window at the museum from 6:30-7:30 p.m., nightly.
The iconic red suit is a giveaway for who it is, but it isn't often people see the big man sitting at an organ.
The Marguerite Santa returned to the Rock Springs Historical Museum Monday for the museum's annual Christmas display at the building's firehouse window.
The display was originally seen at the front window of the Marguerite Gift Shop in Rock Springs from the mid 1940s until 1977. The shop closed in 1978.
Generations of residents remember looking at the mechanical, music-playing display during shopping trips in Rock Springs, with a few residents seeing it as a sign Christmas season had arrived.
People visiting the museum can also look at a scrapbook of Rock Springs Rocket Miner articles about the display, as well as memories from residents.
One person, Reid Webb, remembered watching the Santa play with his father.
"As we would stroll up an down the street, I would insist we go back to the Santa. Watching him play that organ, you knew as he looked at you through the small mirror that he could tell if you'd been naughty or nice," Webb wrote in an entry for the museum's scrapbook. "The fascination was spellbinding for a toddler."
The Santa can be seen nightly through the firehouse window from 6:30 p.m., to 7:30 p.m., throughout December. The museum is open from 10 a.m., to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
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