Killingly, Connecticut -
Mr. Whipple's Christmas Wonderland and Gravestone Chapel

After 35 years of delighting thousands, Mr. Whipple has retired and his Christmas Wonderland has closed forever. We hate to see it go. Thanks, Mr. Whipple. [Barry Nelson, 06/01/2003]

[RA: March 2004 - Latest work is that a Kevin Meehan, Millis, Massachusetts, bought all of the stuff at Mr. Whipples. Meehan plans to augment his own holiday display on his 42-acre farm. ]

Mervin Whipple is the proprietor of this attraction, and his Wonderland receives visits from tens of thousands of people every year. Mervin greets each visitor and clicks a little clicker-counter to make sure his numbers are correct. Hundreds of thousands of lights, several Macy's-window-style displays, and a tiny chapel built out of the remnants of Mr. Whipple's year-round business: selling gravestones. Apparently one of his sons died at the age of 28 when installing the display years ago, so Mr. Whipple now keeps the display up all year long. Mr. Whipple has a whopping electricity bill, so he installed a box into which one could throw a few dollars to help defray costs. He also sells a series of postcards for 25 cents each. People are bussed into Ballouville from as far away as Boston to view this attraction. Sometimes they are let in before the locals, which results in catcalls from the frozen crowds. He's been featured on all the networks and CNN. It's located off a complicated set of turns near Route 395 in Dayville, CT, home of Zip's Diner. [Barry Nelson, 03/05/2002]