Remember This Throwback Christmas Advertisement for Benson’s Wild Animal Farm in New Hampshire?
For some of you, this will be a nostalgic blast from the past. For others, you might not have any clue what this place is, or perhaps it existed before your time.
So, let's learn more about Benson's Wild Animal Farm.
Even though this park has been closed since 1987, it has an active Facebook page with reviews written as recently as a few years ago, which goes to show how beloved this place was. The page describes Benson's as a "long-running private zoo and amusement park in Hudson, New Hampshire," that was open for 60 years starting in 1927.
It turns out that the fun at Benson's didn't stop when the weather got colder. Someone posted this to the New Hampshire Heritage, History, and Memories Facebook group, showing a 1980 Christmas advertisement from the park.
It turns out that Benson's hosted a two-month seasonal event called Christmas in New England, featuring everything from Santa Clause to horse-drawn hayrides, shows, a petting zoo, food and refreshments, shows, and $1,000,000 worth of Christmas lights and decorations. That's worth around $3,400,000 today, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Holy cow. How awesome does that sound?
It's always interesting to see blasts from the past like this, so thank you to the person who shared this. How about you? Do you have any holiday memories from Benson's Wild Animal Farm? Reach out to us on Facebook and let us know.
In the meantime, here are some of the best horse-drawn sleigh rides in New Hampshire and Maine.