Ford Rotunda Building at Christmas 1961, photo by kbreenbo.
Today on Absolute Michigan, we’re featuring the Ford Rotunda and the annual Christmas Fantasy. The feature on the Rotunda in the Detroit News tells how it burned in 1962 and explains:
Over the nine years the Christmas Fantasy was held, almost 6 million people visited it. Thousands of Detroiters had their first visit with Santa at the Rotunda, and memories of Story Book Land and the miniature circus mingle with childhood memories of stockings by the fireplace and cookies for Santa.
Check this out on black and see more in Karen’s Ford Historic Archives slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 
I remember going to the Christmas Rotunda display while attending Thomas Houghton school in Detroit. It was so magnificent, my eyes could not get big enough to take it all in. I thought about it, and so looked forward to the next year. Alas, the fire happened before I could once again go. I saw it on the news and cried and cried. I still miss it. My Dad used to go there and have lunch when he worked at Lincoln Mercury in Dearborn. He still misses it too.
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My parents took us the the Ford Rotunda every year for the Christmas displays. The dolls were my favorite. They had dolls in costumes from all over the world! The whole experience of going there every year was magical. I was 10 years old when it burned down and cried. Every time we passed the location thereafter I cried. To this day I get so sad to even think about it.
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I was 9 years old when it burnt down. Like you I cried and still feel so sad. We went each year. My Dad worked as a chemist at Ford and my Mom made some of the outfits for the dolls. It is a very special childhood memory.
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