Fairytale Forest

Paul Woehle Sr., then a 40 year old German Immigrant to the US, began building Fairytale Forest with his own hands in 1955. With help from his two sons, he was able to complete the project in two years, and it opened to the public in 1957. He used the forest, more than capable of being mysterious and fantastical on its own, as a canvas. A winding path led guests through the woods, and along the way they were able to glimpse key moments from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.

More than 20 cottages sat nestled in the trees, their interiors depicting frozen scenes from the most famous children's stories. Though visitors could not actually enter the buildings, they could peek through the windows to see what was unfolding within. A small plaque on each cottage gave a brief summary of what could be expected within, be it the Gingerbread Man escaping his oven, or the three bears debating what to do with a sleeping Goldilocks.

In winter, the forest was decorated to bursting with lights, transforming it into a winter wonderland the likes of which can nowadays rarely be found outside of story books. Those visiting the forest in winter could expect to be greeted by Frosty the Snowman and a cup of hot chocolate. Santa Claus awaited eager youngsters in his Christmas House, and gently interrogated each for his or her Christmas wishes.

Today, the Fairytale Forest appears to be the location of genocide on fairytale creatures. The doors of paint-peeled cottages are kicked in, their former residents torn apart or missing entirely. Viewing windows are smashed, and everywhere broken Christmas lights litter the forest floor. While I abhor those who vandalize any building, this hits on a much more personal level. Though my last visit here was probably at the age of five or six, memories came rushing back as I wandered the silent forest.

I caught myself remembering the Christmas Village with the elves packing toys for children as holiday music hummed from speakers hidden high in the trees. I remembered having to stand on tip-toe to see through the window on Snow White's house. I remembered wondering if the gingerbread house was really made of gingerbread. The memories superimposed themselves over the carnage I was actually witnessing, and it was all I could do finish my work as quickly as possible and just leave the place behind. As we returned to the Jeep, the skies grew dark with rain.
~Rusty

Photography can be viewed here:
http://rustytagliareni.blogspot.com/2011/07/fairytale-forest.html

HUGE thanks to Spudz64 for allowing us the use of his old 8mm reel.
The vintage footage was shot during the summer of 1964, a very stark contrast
to the modern-day footage which we filmed...

You can check out Spudz64's channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/spudz64

Music - "La Petite Fille De La Mer" by Vangelis

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Abandoned
• Fairytale
• Forest
• Weird
• NJ
• Christina
• Mathews
• Rusty
• Tagliareni
• Forsaken
• Decay
• Childhood
• Park
• Playground
• Childern
• Grimm
• Tales
• Storybook
• Vangelis
• rot
• Past
• History
• Sorrow
• Sadness
• Depression
• neglect
• Red Riding Hood
• Mother Goose
• Snow White
• 7 Dwarves
• Rainbow Shaft
• memories
• 8mm

[spudz64]

Awesome work, thanks again using our footage and being a part of this!

[AntiquityEchoes]

@spudz64

Your footage MADE this video. Thank you so much for letting us use it.

[SPITFIRE1761]

Excellent video!!! So sad, but beautiful!!

[TheTaoistdragon]

I remember going here as a kid in the early '70's. Creepy.

[tweetlebugzz]

i dont understand why it has been left to rot. someone needs to buy it and fix it up

[laurieeas]

I LOVED this place as a child and grew up to be a children's librarian. I talk about the impact that place made on my imagination so often that I all but fell out of my shoes when my brother sent this. I wish I'd won the lottery. I'd buy it for a some lucky elementary schools.

[tish4554]

they have been fixing up the exterior this summer, and they have put up a new fence, probably to stop all the trespassing. There is a good farmstand there, and i've never tried the BBQ at the place that was the hot dog place, but it just celebrated 1st anniversary. (I drive past all the time on my way to my sisters house)

[Drummer2mama]

How very sad. Not only did I go there a few times as a child, but I also brought my daughters there about 8 or 9 years ago. It was a bit run down, from what I remember, but not as bad as your footage shows.

[jennc922]

Thanks for this! I live nearby Fairytale forest & remember going on a "field trip" here when I was very young. They DID try to revive Fairytale forest about 12 years ago or so, sadly - it just can't compete with today's technology. It is a great remembrance of what used to be.

[sybeve]

Neat. Kind of reminded me of Storybook Gardens in Wisconsin Dells that I saw as a child in late '60s or early '70s. Not sure if it still exists today or not.