I grew up being fed a steady diet of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. My little imagination would take flight as I was transported into the world of make-believe as the stories were read by my Mother. Do children today even know the basic fairy tales and nursery rhymes? Or do parents avoid them because they think them “violent” and “too scary,” not suitable at all for young children? What a shame. I can’t see where they did me any harm.

I’m sure that’s why this quirky little piece of history nearby in Oak Ridge is now sitting lonely and abandoned. It’s a relic from a simpler time, when children could be easily amused. It’s the Fairy Tale Forest and Storyland which first opened its gates in 1957 and closed in 2005.

Driving by you can’t miss the signature shoe from the nursery rhyme There was Old Woman who lived in a Shoe. You know that one, don’t you?

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do!
So she gave them some broth without any bread,
And she whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed!

Hmm…my guess is that in today’s society she would be arrested on child abuse, but they probably deserved it for messing up the shoe from toe to heel. If you are curious as to the origins of the rhyme, click here. I even found one site where someone had written a ‘kinder, gentler” version of their own—ugh. Nothing is sacred.

The shoe is huge. This is the view as I stand next to it:

I love how it even has big wooden bobbles for buttons, although a few seem to have gone missing.

There isn’t much left to see except for the facade. It’s really sad.

Through this window I could see a knight in not-so-shining armor.

This happy mushroom greets people out by the road. Are you feeling transported back in time yet?

There was an article in our local newspaper about a month or so ago about the Fairy Tale Forest. It was the brainchild of a German immigrant, Paul Woehle, who wanted to keep alive the stories from his native Germany to share with his new country. Woehle made most of the life-size figures that are said to exist in the forest from a plaster, burlap and sawdust mix in a workroom on the grounds. How did he make the shoe I have to wonder? Oh how I wanted to creep around the back and steal away into the childhood realm that lurked behind the locked gate! There are no No Trespassing signs posted, but the article talked of how it was frowned upon to enter the closed site. Next time I think I might get the courage up to ask if I can go in to take some photos. Maybe under the guise of doing a story, after all, it wouldn’t be a lie now, would it? You all would like to see more I’m sure!

I did peek through the gate underneath the shoe, but was disappointed with the view. Nothing to be seen!

I connected strongly with the Fairy Tale Forest. How I wish it was still in operation so I could go through it and relive a part of childhood! You see, when I was a child we visited Storytown U.S.A. in Lake George, New York several times. I remember going in and out of the miniature houses and posing with the statues. If you look closely in the first photo below you can see me and my sister posing amongst the characters. There I am by the skunk and my sister is by the elephant.

Here we are with Paul Bunyan.

Obviously these photos were taken a few years apart since we are both a few years older in the last photo (taken in 1960). Storytown opened in 1954. It still exists today, but was swallowed up and incorporated into a Six Flags theme park called the Great Escape. At least it’s still there.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our little escape back in time. I wish I could end with “and they all lived happily ever after,” but unfortunately for the Fairy Tale Forest in Oak Ridge, New Jersey that is not the case.

 

More...