INDIANAPOLIS — The annual signal that the holiday season has arrived in Indianapolis mysteriously appeared in its usual Thanksgiving morning.
The bronze cherub mysteriously appears on the old L.S. Ayres clock on the southwest corner of Washington and Meridian streets every year at this time, and once again, locals were not disappointed.
The baby angel came out of hiding to watch over downtown Indianapolis shoppers until Santa Claus arrives on Christmas.
In 1947, the L.S. Ayres department store commissioned Herron School of Art instructor David Rubens to create the thirty-six inch tall bronze sculpture. The cherub has perched atop the historic clock every year since, except for 1992. May Company bought L.S. Ayres and eventually closed the downtown store, putting the cherub in storage in its St. Louis headquarters before a local outcry brought it back for 1993.