I’ve always wanted to be a department store Santa. Really, I’m not just saying that for shock value or to shamelessly draw readers into another mind numbing, yet humorous, holiday article. I also don’t mean to imply that I want to change careers. However, I think it would be a blast to dress in a Santa suit and get a “boots on the ground” Christmas experience by talking with the true believers at some mall or department store. Are they even still called department stores? Maybe the correct term is now destination shopping experience or multi-level retail goods buying facility. Regardless, Santa is still Santa and I want that gig one day.
It was the year 1890, in the small industrial town of Brockton Massachusetts, when an American Main Street tradition was born. James Edgar, a philanthropist and department store owner created a red suit from newspaper sketches and images of St. Nick and made history by becoming America’s first department store Santa. Big Jim, as his friends called him, was a tall, heavy set man with a snowy white beard and a booming voice. He opened The Boston Store in Brockton in 1878 and operated the establishment until his death sometime in the early 1900s. He was a happy and prosperous man who loved children. He originally only wore his Santa costume for one hour every afternoon in December, except for Saturdays when he wore it for three hours. He didn’t sit on a throne or chair, but instead wondered through his store chatting with kids and their parents. Read more about this truly remarkable man at http://firstdepartmentstoresanta.com/yankeemagarticle.pdf
My earliest memories of a department store Santa are from the late 1960s and the Sears and Roebuck store in Mountain View. The Sears Santa, as we called him, was a knock off Santa. Cheap Santa suit, lack of padding, less than authentic dreadlocks looking wig and he always smelled of cigarettes and whiskey. Still, believing in old St. Nick at this young age, I couldn’t be sure that this wasn’t his older (out of work) brother trying to make a little holiday scratch by covering a shift for the big man who was obviously busy managing toy production up at the North Pole. Maybe Santa was just trying to do his bro a solid. Not wanting to take any chances, I treated the man with the respect the office demanded. However, a minor detail always confused me as a snot-nosed elementary school kid. Why, when visiting several stores at one large center or mall (Liberty House, Emporium or Gemco), did each location have their own Santa? Granted, he’s magical, but that seemed like a logistical nightmare. Some astute Mall manager finally figured this conundrum out and somewhere in the late 70s, he or she talked the retail players into pulling their resources and the centrally located Mall Santa was created. Mall Santa came complete with seasonal props, attractive Santa’s helpers and a variety of picture package options.
Back in December of 2007, I wrote a delightful holiday piece entitled A Visit With Santa, The do’s and Don’ts of a Traditional Holiday Experience. A segment of the article reflected on a place called Santa’s Village, which was a Christmas themed amusement park located off Highway 17, in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. During the month of December, this was a festive, winter wonderland filled with merriment and holiday magic. The rest of the year it looked like some freaky adult rest stop attracting lonely long-haul truckers, out of work carny’s from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and a lot of pot growing hempologists hoping to one day see their chosen crop be legalized as a pain relieving medicinal alternative. But, alas I digress.
At the height of popularity, Santa’s Village was a collection of rides (The Spinning Hot Cocoa Cups), restaurants (Sugar Plum Bistro) and a petting zoo featuring baby reindeer (probably goats). This was department store Santa on steroids. If we were lucky enough to make a pre-Christmas visit, we were convinced that this sit-down on Santa’s lap was perhaps the real deal because if this wasn’t the real Santa, it was a damn good facsimile. The guy or guys they chose to play the role of Mr. Claus, walked the walk and talked the talk. They carried their weight with pride, the hair and beard were authentic (no wigs or weaves) and his naughty/nice list was very authentic. The mountain mirage even employed real life elves, aka dwarfs, midgets and/or little people. Even the supposed Mrs. Claus fit the profile perfectly. She worked her ginger-bread apron and bun in a winter bonnet costume perfectly. As a family, we only made the pilgrimage to the Soquel Pole once before the property was eventually foreclosed upon. Sadly, some Christmas-hating developer bought the land and turned it into a sterile business park on the outskirts of the Silicon Valley. Unless I’m mistaken, they did lease a pad to a fast food operator. My attorney has advised me not to identify the company in print, but let’s just say it rhymes with Fin and Fout Burger. Try the double-double Reindeer burger for old time sake.
The ultimate department store Santa movie is of course, Miracle on 34th Street. This delightful holiday yarn has been made three separate times. The original version was released in 1947 and starred Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle, John Payne, Maureen O’Hara and a very young Natalie Wood. A remake came out in 1973, staring Sebastian Cabot as Santa. Others in the cast included Jane Alexander, David Hartman, Roddy McDowell and Jim Backus. Of the two, I liked seeing Mr. French play the bearded-one, however I preferred the original version due to the cinematography of New York City during the mid-1940s. Department stores such as Macys and Gimbels were prominent destinations back in the day and Santa had celebrity status. A cheesy television version of the timeless classic was released in 1994 staring Dylan McDermott, Elizabeth Perkins, the precocious Mara Wilson and Sir Richard Attenborough as Father Noel. As much as I was charmed by the precautious Miss Wilson, I couldn’t get past Dylan looking like he wanted to bust into full on Bobby Donnell mode from his hit TV drama, The Practice. Elizabeth Perkins has also always creeped me out since she bedded Tom Hanks in the movie BIG.
I’ve often wondered if they have a Santa in department stores in other countries. I bet Harrods in London, England would invite Mr. Claus to drop by, but what about Jiuguang in China, Big Bazaar in India or Myer in Australia? I suppose he would be welcome as long as he didn’t try to infringe on local customs, sales, religious or cultural traditions. I’ll have to keep that in mind if I can’t find a department store gig locally. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to check this Santa experience off my bucket list, but one day I will be channeling my inner Santa sitting on the big chair and sharing the Christmas magic with a line full of holiday crazed kids, hopped up on candy cane dust, anxious to share their list with The Claus Man. Ho, Ho, Ho. I need some work on that.
Leave a Reply