For 53 years a pink Santa standing in the Brown Furniture window was a holiday tradition in downtown Coffeyville. His jolly face and back and forth movements welcomed young and old alike. In 2019, the Fred Brown family donated Pink Santa to the Midland Theater Foundation where he has been displayed in the Alamo Building just west of the Midland.
Over the years, the back and forth movements became jerky, and the pink suit faded. Thanks to the efforts of three long-time Coffeyville residents, Derrick Morris and James and Sonya Cantrell, Pink Santa has been totally renovated and is once again moving and dressed in a new pink suit.
Derrick Morris, retired president of Parmac, began the work by repairing the motor. “I got the motor to turn,” said Morris, “but he had pieces missing so it was a bit of a puzzle to figure out how he was supposed to work.” Morris made a new rod to move the arms and enlisted the help of a friend from Parmac to make a new crank arm. Due to his age, Pink Santa is not moving as smoothly as he originally did, but he once again has that familiar back and forth movement. Morris also repainted Santa’s face.
Meanwhile, Sonya and James Cantell, retired owners of Cantrell’s Jewelry, began their work. James made Santa a new stand and Sonya, an avid seamstress and longarm quilter, began the search for pink velvet fabric. She soon discovered how many shades of pink velvet there are while looking at fabric stores and online. Once the suitable fabric was obtained, she started deconstructing the old suit to use as a pattern.
The fabric was old, and it was very deteriorated and falling apart. It also made her hands itch so she decided rather than using the old suit as a pattern, she would find a sewing pattern that would work. Once all the pieces were cut out, she began sewing them together making adjustments as needed along the way. “I actually had Santa living in my sewing room so I could try the suit on him as I went along,” Sonya said. “It was a lot of fun knowing Santa would be restored and our community could continue enjoying him during the holiday season.”
Santa came to Coffeyville in 1957 from the Dallas Furniture Mart wearing the traditional red suit as ordered by Milton Brown, Fred Brown’s father. Pink was the favorite color of Fred’s mother, Doris, however, and she secretly ordered a pink suit.
When Santa arrived and while her husband was away on a hunting trip, Doris replaced the red suit with the pink one. When Milton returned from his trip, he was met with a surprise. Instead of red, his Santa was dressed in a bright pink suit. He wholeheartedly approved, however, and the tradition began of a jolly pink Santa located in the big corner window at Brown Furniture.
“I remember how much I enjoyed seeing Santa at Browns when I was young,” recalls Morris, “and that made the project worth doing. Now a new generation gets to enjoy him, too.”
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