CHRISTMAS AT KNAPSTEIN’S GIFT SHOP c. 1960

(Adapted from a story by Peter Norman in the 2025 H&GHS Journal No. 46)
(Images courtesy of Peter Norman and Roger Edmonds).

From 1957 until into the early 1970s, every Christmas Mr. Knapstein, who ran The Gift Shop on Seaview Road, invited Father Christmas to visit Henley Beach. Soon it became THE big holiday event.

Father Christmas never arrived the same way twice. One year he rode in a trailer pulled by a car. Another year he turned up in an old rattly car that definitely wasn’t built for reindeer.

Kids and parents packed the footpath, waiting for the big man in red. Once Father Christmas was settled on his special chair outside the shop, children lined up—sometimes more than a hundred of them—to tell him how good they’d been and what they hoped for.

Some even brought him presents. One little boy tried to give Father Christmas a biscuit… but after waiting so long, all he had left was a warm handful of crumbs. Santa still said thank you, of course!

The Henley & Grange Historical Society wishes everyone a Merry Christmas in 2025.

CHRISTMAS AT KNAPSTEIN’S GIFT SHOP
253 Seaview Rd, Henley Beach
LHS c. 1960 – RHS (same spot) 2025