Good Question! Where are the missing Buel Porter holiday displays?

Story by Patti Brown

Over the past seven decades, Buel Porter’s holiday displays have charmed Estes Park. It began with a display of Santa in a helicopter which he created for his own home in 1955.

The first one created for the Town of Estes Park was Santa and his reindeer which came in 1957. He created several whimsical ones—Christmas in Bugville, the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe, and Santa’s Xmas Card Studio.

He also created religious ones including an elaborate nativity diorama with a manger shepherds, wise men, and animals in 1958 that was originally displayed in Bond Park.

That was followed in 1960 by larger-than-life images of the shepherds who were 23-feet tall, their sheep that were six-feet tall, along with a star that was five and a half feet from point to point.

The following year he created Three Wise Men on camels, and he also created a 22-foot-tall display of the Risen Jesus crowned with a six-foot wide halo that was originally displayed at Easter but eventually became a part of the Town’s Christmas decorations.

This year, several readers asked why two of the extant yuletide displays—the nativity and the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe—were not erected.

The Town paid him about $300 per display which roughly covered the cost of the wood and paint.

After nearly 70 years, the plywood substrates on which the displays were painted are showing their age. In many cases the wood has deteriorating. Holes the size of quarters drilled over the years to allow bolts to be attached to bracing frames have allowed water to seep into the wood and weaken it.

Out of an abundance of caution, both the nativity, which is stored and cared for by Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, and the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe, which is cared for by the Town of Estes, were kept in storage. A spokesperson at Our Lady of the Mountains said the church custodian is planning to build a new backing for the historic display.

Local sign maker Kent Smith, who owns and operates Smith Sign Studios, said he can help to repaint the signs with the proper kind of sign enamel paint, and he can even match the vintage colors, but he is concerned that the wood panels they are painted on are frail and in many cases degrading due to weather and age.

The laminating glues that were used in manufacturing plywood in the 1950s are not proving to hold up over time. When the displays were first created it was expected they would have a lifespan of only 10 years. The last display was created in the mid-1960s.

Porter, a sign painter from Kansas City moved to Estes Park in 1951 and bought Estes Park Signs from Morey Cameron. Before arriving in Estes he had painted billboards, including images of the Coca-Cola Santa.

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