hmmm.....I can remember going to Salem on an overnight class trip in the mid to late 1960’s. They seemed open to tourism then since they had tours through the town and gift shops, etc..
They probably didn't like Arthur Miller, or were big Marilyn Monroe fans, or maybe they didn't want themselves dragged through the mud via guilt-by-association. A generation after the infamous trials, the town repudiated the verdicts and posthumously exonerated all of the victims.
I was there a couple of times in the 60s and remember “Spell” shops and witch themed attractions.