SANTA CLAUS ISN’T COMING TO TOWN

—he’s already here—

One-of-a-kind museum boasts over 5,000 Santa figurines, collectibles and antiquities

The undisputed home of Santa Claus throughout time has always been documented as the “North Pole,” but he might have moved to Columbus in 1990.

At least 2,500 versions of him.

The Santa Claus Museum located in Columbus on 604 Washington St. is a unique experience solely found in one of the oldest towns in Texas.

From classic Coca-Cola Santas, animatronics, figurines, collectibles and statues to Dutch interpretations of the jolly old man, the one-of-a-kind museum is home to the largest collection in the United States, currently boasting over 5,000 different Santa collectibles.

The museum opened in 1990 and was initially called the Mary Elizabeth Hopkins Museum, named after a local and lifelong resident of Columbus who boasted a collection of 2,500 Santas. After her passing, her two children, a son and daughter, felt the collection was too important to just store or give away, thus turning to the CHPT.

Hopkins was given her first Santa collectible as an infant when she was merely six months old in 1913. Her parents knew he captured her heart when they realized that the only toys she would play with were the Santas given to her. Over time, her parents gifted her more and more Santas, as well as her siblings, friends and loved ones, and she began collecting them with her husband.

The idea of the museum was initially frowned upon by eight CHPT board members at the time who didn’t see the collection as part of Columbus’ history. However, one sole member, Laura Ann Rau, thought otherwise, seeing Hopkins’ collection as Columbus history given that Hopkins was born and raised in Columbus and collected the Santas while living in town.

Rau advocated for a space to be set up to display the collection of Santas, going as far as donating a home she owned on Washington St. for the cause, where the Santas still remain to this day.

The name of the museum was changed in the years that followed to the Santa Claus Museum after former Columbus Chamber of Commerce Director and current Santa Claus Museum tour guide Billy Khan suggested the museum accept collections from other parties within Columbus given the number of calls about wanting to donate Santas to the museum.

The idea was initially turned down by the chamber, who felt that the museum was a landmark dedicated to Hopkins and no one else. It wasn’t until Khan spoke personally to Hopkins’ daughter, Mary Ann Pickens, about the calls to donate Santas and his conversation with the CHPT and chamber, to which she stated “to do anything he needed” to bring people to the museum.

“I took her out to lunch,” said Khan. “We went to Nancy’s Steakhouse, and I told her about these calls, and I told her that the Board of CHPT was saying, “no, it’s the Mary Elizabeth Museum.” She slammed her hand on the table and said, “Billy, do whatever you need to do to get more people into the museum, to expand the museum. Use other museums around the country. Any sort of museum has a rotating collection, do it.”

Since the museum was rebranded and renamed as the “Santa Claus Museum,” four more collections have been added on display, bringing the total number of Santa pieces to over 5,000.

On top of Hopkins’ initial collection, the museum now features the Luman Collection, the Hubanek Collection, the Potter Collection and the Redus Collection.

The Luman collection was donated by Elaine Luman and Merrill Luman, who collected the Santas throughout marriage. Traveling the world together, they collected Santas from various regions, highlighted by their Russian and Asian Santas. This was one of the key reasons why the museum expanded from Columbus only donations to Texas wide.

“Firstly, we only started collecting ones from Columbus,” said Khan. “Then we decided, okay, we can do Colorado County. Then when the Lumans called, we decided to expand it to Texas and Texas only because of their Russian collection.”

Merrill also donated handmade needlepoint pieces to the museum that can be seen on display throughout the two rooms, having expanded from just a singular room after the Lumans donated their collection in 2019.

The donation given by Neva Lou and Al Hubanek, who moved to Columbus after passing through town one spring and falling in love with the charm. Their collection, which was also donated in 2019, features over 400 Santa figurines collected since the late 1990s. One of the collections donated, the Redus collection, is only halfway full, with the owner of the collection, Eugenia Redus, a former Colorado County nurse and board member of the CHPT telling a member the museum will get the other half after she dies.

“Somebody went and approached her about two years ago and said, Will you donate your standard col lection,” said Khan. “She said “not until I’m dead.” They kept hounding her though and kept asking until finally she said, “I’ll give you half the collection now and you’re going to get the other half when I’m dead!”

The museum will be open every Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. as well as on Saturdays during the month of December.