One of the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts in years past was four questions about your experiences with Santa Claus. Here are my responses:
1) Did you ever send a letter to Santa Claus?
I don't think I ever did send a letter.
2) Did you ever visit Santa and "make a list?"
We visited Santa Claus every year down at the Marston's Department Store in downtown San Diego where my grandfather worked for 55 years. I think we "made a list" sometimes, especially as we got older and the desired gifts became more complex. My recollection of visiting Santa is one of awe - this really big fat person in a red suit with a long white beard, who flies around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, who goes down chimneys to leave gifts for children, all in one night - I knew the story and didn't question it for a long time (being a pretty smart kid, I guess).
2) Did you ever visit Santa and "make a list?"
We visited Santa Claus every year down at the Marston's Department Store in downtown San Diego where my grandfather worked for 55 years. I think we "made a list" sometimes, especially as we got older and the desired gifts became more complex. My recollection of visiting Santa is one of awe - this really big fat person in a red suit with a long white beard, who flies around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, who goes down chimneys to leave gifts for children, all in one night - I knew the story and didn't question it for a long time (being a pretty smart kid, I guess).
An aside: Yes, that's me on Santa's lap in about 1953 at Marston's Department Store. I really wanted to make this photograph colorized so I did it in both the MyHeritage Photos and Ancestry Photo shops but Santa's outfit turned out black.
3) Do you still believe in Santa Claus?
They say that in the first part of your life, you BELIEVE IN Santa Claus. In the second part of your life, you DON'T BELIEVE IN in Santa Claus. In the third part of your life, you ARE Santa Claus, and in the last part of your life, you LOOK LIKE Santa Claus. In my case, I have three of these attributes ... still (I hope!).
The magic of Santa Claus in a child's eyes is priceless. Everybody eventually FIGURES OUT that SC is a figment of imagination - why do we fool our children like that? I love giving gifts to my wife, children and grandchildren, especially secret gifts. I've had a beard for 45 years, been practicing my "ho-ho-ho's" forever, but am working on reducing the belly. I still believe ... irrational, isn't it?
I love going to the shopping center, and sitting on a bench near Santa's workshop and watching the little ones go up and talk to Santa. Several years ago, one little boy waved at me on the escalator the other day - he knew! I've thought about being a "store Santa," but doubt if I ever will. I even had an offer five years ago to be a "store Santa" - a guy in line at the Padres game invited me to join them! Then there's my 9-year old grandson, Charlie, who used to call me "Grandpa Ho-Ho-Ho."
I try to watch the movie "Christmas Story" every year and laugh at all of the jokes - especially the Santa Claus, the dad's lamp, the mom working so hard, the boy's tongue stuck to the lamppost, and the BB gun incident.
4) When did you find out "the truth" about Santa Claus?
We lived on the second story of a two-story house at 2119 30th Street in San Diego from the time I was 4 until I left home in 1968 at age 24. The house did not have a fireplace, so my brother Stan and I could never figure out how Santa Claus could bring the presents under the tree. Did he come in the window? Did Dad leave a key or leave the door unlocked?
My maternal grandparents, Lyle and Emily Carringer (“Gram and Gramps”), built a beautiful home on Point Loma in 1951, and Christmas Eves were spent there for many years – and it had a fireplace! Our stockings were hung there in hopes that Saint Nick would fill them to the brim. Before bedtime, my grandmother would lead us in Christmas carols while we lay in bed – it was a wonderful way to fall asleep, and is one of my most cherished memories of her (my eyes tear up every time I think of this! they just did again).
Santa was always good to us, probably because, in retrospect, we were usually pretty good boys – mischievous but not criminal, loud but not abusive, whirlwinds but not destructive. We usually received toys that were all the rage of the day, plus the usual boring clothes, and fruit, candy and small toys in our stockings. The most memorable gifts were the "good" toys, of course. BB guns and Davy Crockett coonskin caps in 1954, Flexible Flyers (sleds on wheels) and a baby brother in 1955, bicycles in 1956.
Of course, Santa Claus isn’t mysterious forever. The Point Loma house had a two car garage that my grandparents had filled with generations of stuff – it was a wonderful place to hide, explore and search. Brother Stan and I wanted bicycles in 1956. We found the bicycles in the garage before Christmas, but didn’t tell anybody else. Sure enough, on Christmas morning they appeared by the fireplace and Christmas tree marked “from Santa Claus.” Aha! So, now we knew, but being rather smart astronauts we didn’t tell the folks – why kill the golden goose?
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