Illustration by Britt Spencer
For about one month each year, from the Sunday after Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year’s, the 6500 block of Murdoch Avenue blossoms into a fiery garden of lights, decorations, and merriment that must be visible from space. The scene is packed with PVC-pipe snowflakes, sand sculptures, plastic snowmen, and enough strings of lights to strangle a giant gingerbread man.
Though no one seems to remember exactly when the annual decking-out first started, longtime resident John Kuehner clearly recalls the how and why. It had little to do with the Christmas spirit. Like many of our most sacred, enduring traditions, Candy Cane Lane—as it’s now dubbed—sprang from the spirit of competition.
A little over a decade ago, Kuehner, an HVAC technician by day, decided to spruce up his home and yard for the holidays to enter a contest. He won. But then he realized that the rules prohibited him from winning again for the next three years. “I said, ‘I can’t wait for three years,’” recalls Kuehner, “so I just had to go for the block award, which you can win every year.”
Kuehner contacted a few neighbors, and together they wrapped some trees in lights and won the block award. When they caught wind of adjacent streets’ plans to compete the next year, they decided to “take it up a notch,” Kuehner says, and hung a 30-foot, 350-pound sign from aircraft cable between two oaks. Candy Cane Lane was born.
Since then, the tradition’s taken on a life of its own. Every year, the residents add something, whether it’s a Santa sand sculpture, neighbors taking shifts in Christmas-light suits, or accordion performances. And more people come—some 1,500 per weeknight and more than 2,500 on weekends. The street has gotten so choked with traffic, sightseers have started parking at the nearby Ted Drewes and walking down Murdoch. Church buses bring carolers. Marriage proposals have been made here. And every year, the street collects money for charities.
But a decade-plus of do-gooder efforts hasn’t dulled the competitive edge. Other streets have laid claim to the crown, notably Angel Avenue (4700 block of Prague Avenue) and Snowflake Street (6500 block of Neosho Street). To keep up, several regulars, including Kuehner, take days off work to ensure that everything is blinking, glowing, and ho-ho-ho-ing in time. After all, there are awards to be won.
Every winter, neighborhoods across St. Louis host friendly competitions to see which house boasts the best holiday decorations. In the same spirit, we wondered, “Which destination boasts the most twinkling lights?” Some places could only offer ballpark figures (understandably). But across the board, these beloved institutions boast enough bulbs to make even Clark Griswold proud.
Santa’s Magical Kingdom at Jellystone Park: 2 million
Way of Lights at Our Lady of the Snows: 1.9 million
Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park: 1 million+
Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden: 1 million
Brewery Lights at Anheuser-Busch: 700,000+
Wild Lights at the Saint Louis Zoo: 500,000
