Hex Appeal | Up Close

By now, almost everyone knows about the complicated historical connections between Salem, Massachusetts, and witchcraft. But in the town’s Lappin Park, at the western end of the Essex Street pedestrian mall, there stands a bronze reminder of the lesser-known role that a popular 1960s sitcom played in reshaping Salem as a tourist destination.

The statue, sculpted by New York’s Studio EIS as part of a publicity campaign by the cable channel TV Land, depicts actress Elizabeth Montgomery as her most famous character, the fictional witch Samantha Stephens, riding a broom past a crescent moon.

Montgomery, who passed away in 1995, had been a successful actress since the 1950s, but it wasn’t until the hit TV show Bewitched came along in 1964 that she rose to stardom. During the show’s eight-year run, she starred as Samantha, a witch who marries an advertising executive and attempts to live a “normal” life in suburban Connecticut (or New York, depending on the episode). Although she has vowed to live a magic-free life, Samantha frequently gives in to temptation, casting spells with a now-iconic twitch of the nose and a tinkle of xylophone. In 2002, TV Guide named Bewitched one of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time.

In 1970, when a fire damaged the Bewitched set in Hollywood, the show’s cast and crew hit the road to film eight episodes in and around Salem, as the characters attended a “centennial witches convocation.” The episodes featured many local landmarks and sparked a tourism boom that continues to this day.

Some local residents protested the filming, concerned that it would dishonor the memory of the real people who were persecuted during the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693. But while plans for the statue sparked similar concerns, some 1,500 fans turned out for its unveiling on June 15, 2005.

History remains complicated, but for most, the Bewitched statue represents nostalgic fun and an irresistible photo op. So go ahead: Touch that famous nose, make a wish, and listen for that little tinkle.