Becoming Santa (2011) - full transcript

- Everybody knows the
story of Santa Claus.

It's awesome.

♪ Here comes Santa Claus

♪ Here comes Santa Claus

He's up in the North
Pole making toys.

And we say, how do we do this?

How do we make all these toys?

It's easy.

Santa's magical.

♪ Vixen and Blitzen
and all his reindeer ♪

- He flies around in his
sled dropping presents off



to all those little children.

- He's a figure that
stops time, freezes time

and delivers to everybody
all over the world

in one night, which is
virtually impossible.

♪ All is merry and bright

- Santa drops down the
chimney, puts out the toys

and then magically touches
the side of his nose

and up the chimney he goes.

♪ 'Cause Santa Claus comes

- Getting up, you know,
at some ungodly hour

the next morning and finding

that hey, Santa had
actually been here.

- So all the
children of the world

get presents from Santa Claus.



♪ And say your prayers, 'cause
Santa Claus comes tonight ♪

- Yes, there is a
Santa Claus and yes,

he was a real person and
that's a proven fact.

Hi, I'm Jack.

I'm 44 and I live in Los
Angeles where it never snows.

I grew up in New Hampshire
where every Christmas

was a white Christmas

And my mother was a
Christmas fanatic,

from perfectly placed ornaments

on three different
Christmas trees

to gifts for total strangers.

Christmas got hard when my
mom passed away, 10 years ago.

I started dreading it.

Then last Christmas
my father died

and my Christmas
spirit was gone.

I have no family of my own

to make the holiday
season special.

So I needed to do something
different for Christmas.

I needed to find a way
to enjoy the holiday.

Recently, one of my parents'
friends showed me a picture

of my dad as Santa at a
neighborhood Christmas party

taken a few years after
my mother had died.

I didn't know he did that.

Maybe my dad was onto something.

Maybe my dad was looking
for some Christmas spirit.

Maybe if I became a
Santa, I could find some

of the Christmas
spirit I had lost.

I decided to get a
suit, bleach my beard

and become Santa Claus.

I do everything that
Santa is asked to do

and maybe along the
way I could get some

of that Christmas spirit back.

Is it gonna hurt?

It's gonna hurt.

The fumes are gonna
be really strong.

Okay.

- I mean, normally it will
sting and itch a little bit.

Not to the point where
you're gonna pass out,

but it's gonna be uncomfortable.

- Wow, that's a lot of fumes.

You okay?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

You can
take the opportunity

to step outside and-

- Yeah, I'll go outside.

A little more toxic
than I expected.

There's
like nowhere to go.

- I can't get away from it.

I can't get away
from the bleach!

I just remembered I don't
have health insurance.

Is that killing you?

- Yes, 'cause it hurts.

I see it happening.

I see him morphing into him.

- Oh that's good white!

What do
you think?

Can you think?

Kinda like a little
GQ Santa there.

- So now, all right.

I hope I'm ready
for the rest of it.

♪ Do you believe
in Santa Claus ♪

♪ And the stories
you've been told ♪

♪ Does Santa really
dress in red ♪

♪ And live up where it's cold

Hi.

Hi there.

- Are you Adele?

Yes I am.

- Hi Adele, I'm Jack.

Jack,
nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

So what do you look

at something traditional,
Coca-Cola, royal-

- Wait.

All of the above.

What's the
difference between traditional

and a Coca Cola Santa?

A Coca-Cola Santa has
the buttons in front.

And the traditional
has the collar.

- Okay.

Okay, this is wool.

- All of a sudden I feel
like Carol Channing.

No, no dice.

- It's very furry.

Ho ho ho ho!

- Oh that looks good!

- How much does a suit
like this going to run me?

- This is about 550.

- $550.

That's right.

- This is the Coca-Cola Santa.

Yeah, this looks like I
should have a muff or a purse.

Yes, I
have to try on this.

Okay.

Wow!

- This is Father Christmas.

This is Father
Christmas at his best.

- Ho ho ho ho.

Okay.

- Looks a little
creepy without pants.

- Yeah, that's ugly.

You need to wear pants.

This
jacket is how much?

- This $650.

- 650, wow.

That's, you know
what, some kid's

not getting a
Playstation this year.

This is beautiful, but
this is not the Santa I am.

- No, no, you're more
receptive to people.

- Yes!

18 1/2, 32.

I usually make it
an inch longer,

so when you read out for the
kids it'll be long enough.

- Okay.

- My goodness, it is
a big head, 25 inches.

A model size?

Yes, 24 waist, ah 50.

- Thank you.

- Was a pleasure meeting you.

- You need a deposit?

- Nah, I trust you.

I trust all Santas.

Although a couple of them
were not so trustworthy.

They still owe me money,
but I trust you.

I believe in Santa and
I know he's gonna pay

so it's not a
problem, he'll pay.

- All right.

♪ You see the story's
really true, ♪

♪ 'Cause I am Santa Claus

- Santa Claus obviously
comes from Father Christmas.

- Santa Claus for me is a figure

that came out of
the mists of time.

- There's my belief that the
three wise men were Santa.

- Some of them think that
actually the first Santas

were actually the wise
men, because they did,

you know, bring the gifts.

- I found an article that was

in the Turkish Times
about Santa Claus.

And according to the story,
not trying to knock anybody,

said he was a
Black Turkish monk.

- To be honest with
you, I've heard

so many different versions,

I don't know if I really know
exactly how he came to be.

- Santa started long, long ago

and the spirit has perpetuated
through the centuries.

- The real true roots of
Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas.

- I'm Carol Myers and I have
the St. Nicholas Center.

It is primarily a website
and over a million people

visit every year and they
come from 155 countries.

We provide resources
for families, churches,

and schools for
celebrating St. Nicholas,

so people can
understand who he is

and why he's important today.

- He was actually
born in Patara.

Patara is located in Lycia,

which is now located
in Southern Turkey.

- His family had
been very wealthy

and they died of the
plague when he was young

and he had inherited
their entire fortune.

He was then raised by an uncle.

And as a young man, one of
the most significant stories

that has shaped our
understanding of St.
Nicholas occurred.

He had heard of a man
who had three daughters

and the man had lost,
lost his business,

lost his whole
livelihood and had no way

of providing for his family.

- In those days, if children
did not have, you know,

little girls didn't
have a dowery,

or little boys didn't have
the money to go to school,

the boys would wind
up being servants

and the girls would wind up
being servants, or prostitutes.

- This distressed Nicholas.

And he tried to think
of how he could help.

- He did have a reputation as
somebody who gave to the poor.

And at times he gave
anonymously to the poor.

He didn't wanna be recognized
for his good deeds.

That we do know
historically as accurate.

- And so in the dark of night,

he tossed gold
through the window.

Well, the first
daughter saved the gold

and she was able to be married.

And he did this
again two more times.

The third time the
father caught him

and Nicholas asked
him not to tell.

But obviously the story got out,

or we wouldn't know it today.

But that really is the roots

of St. Nicholas as a gift giver.

- I knew that becoming
Santa was more

than just putting on the suit.

I needed to be confident
in what I was doing.

I knew that I needed some
professional training.

Hello, Santa.

Hello, gorgeous.

Someone who would help me
answer the difficult questions.

Someone who would give me tips

on how to present
myself as Santa.

- Okay, here's your finished-

- My finished suit.

- You're finished, look at this.

I
needed Santa school.

So I found a school in Denver

that was being taught by
a woman named Susan Mesco

who had been teaching
Santas for over 25 years.

So I decided I needed
to go to her school

and learn from her.

Thank you.

- You're welcome,
it was a pleasure.

- I'm sure I'll be
seeing you again.

- You better.

All right,
thanks Adele.

- Welcome to Santa School.

You're here to become Santa.

This weekend we have
about 20, 25 Santas

that have flown in from
all over the country.

Most of the men come to me and
say, I'd like to play Santa.

And the first thing I say
to them is we don't play.

You're gonna become Santa Claus

and we have 2 1/2 days to do it.

What I take first is
what's in their heart.

And then we mold that,

give them really the
tools that they need.

This is my 27th year of
teaching Santa Claus School.

This is just gonna be the
foundation and the groundwork.

What you do with
this beyond here

is what's gonna make you.

we're playing a game.

Who brought their
rolls of dimes?

I did.

- Your dimes are because
we don't say the K word.

What's the K word?

Kids.

- Oh, he said it!

He owes me, you
owe me a quarter,

'cause you already been through.

Okay, we don't say the
K word, which is goats.

We don't call children goats.

It just doesn't sound nice.

It doesn't sound polished.

It doesn't sound
traditional, or magical.

But when Santa says, now
children, children gather round,

that is so Charles
Dickensy, isn't it?

It just elevates you to
such a level of polish.

So every time you
say the K word,

it goes into this little bank.

I'd like to have you
guys tell us who you are,

where you're from and why
you decided to be a Santa

and to come here and learn
more about being Santa.

Let's start right here.

- My name is Jack Sanderson.

I'm from Los Angeles.

I thought I would
make a good Santa.

And so I grew my beard out
and was at a target store

and a couple of kids
said, "Hey, it's Santa!"

A couple of whats?

- A couple of children.

Let me open this roll of dimes.

Gosh, darn it!

Oh it gets better.

- I was sitting here thinking
I'm not gonna open my roll

of dimes, I'm never
going to say it.

I'm never going to
give a dime for it.

- Everybody stand up.

Santa only hos three times.

- There was a strict ho ho ho.

One, two, three!

Ho, ho, ho!

- Three hos and you're out.

- Go ahead and
make me snowflake.

The Santas will be
very, very frustrated,

because they can't
make a snowflake.

No, it's not a snowflake.

Make me another one.

It's a Easter egg!

Make me another one!

It teaches them how
hard the children work

when they bring
something to Santa Claus.

I'm keeping that baby's
attention aren't you?

We're just gonna back
you in, princess.

Click, boom, picture,
look where you were.

But by the time that child
winds up for the pitch

that baby's back
in mommy's arms.

So that is the back
the trailer in.

Santa Bill, come on over.

- Santa Bill came in
to show us reindeer.

He looks like a prospector.

- Reindeer is actually the
European name for caribou.

There were nine
subspecies of reindeer.

- Initially, Santa Bill smelled
like a friendly mountain.

And then as he stood there,
longer, less friendly,

but it didn't make
me like him any less.

It oddly made him
a little endearing.

- Here's a reindeer in velvet.

- The reindeer was
shorter than I expected.

It still had velvet
on its antlers.

So the antlers grow
inside the velvet

and there are blood
vessels inside the velvet,

which causes the
reindeer to bleed

When the velvet
starts to peel off,

or it scratches the velvet off.

One, two, three!

Loosey-goosey!

Got it!

- Dab it on your
foundation there.

- Pat taught the makeup session.

After you get some on you
wanna start applying it

on the high spots on your face.

- Not a guy you look at
and think, he knows makeup.

You wanna get a
good coat of white stick.

You wanna go the opposite of
the way your eyebrows are.

That way you can
make them bushy.

- Having put on the
glitter, I thought,

I'm never wearing this
glitter when I go out

and do my own Santa.

And then when I was looking
at the guys, I thought,

that glitter is really
giving them a shine

that actually looks pretty good.

I'm either really tired,
or my tastes are dropping.

- I want you to start
thinking like Santa.

If you start trying
to memorize this,

it's gonna be like a
bad constipation day

when you try to get
that answer back out,

like, oh no, I know he
had it in there somewhere.

- She's crazy.

- I'm losing it.

- You can see she's crazy.

- I have no idea, okay,
what I'm gonna do to you,

I mean, with you.

- But she's
well-intended, I think.

She's clearly got a kind heart.

- We're all old enough
to remember the day

that the Beatles
hit Shea Stadium.

I can remember the
panic and the screaming

and the excitement.

That is exactly
what a three, four,

or five-year-old is gonna feel.

Oh my God, Santa's here.

Santa is a rock star.

You are the rock star.

And if you feel the energy
that the children give you

that magic should rock you.

It's so important to feel
the love from those children

and let them give to you, okay.

I'm sorry, it's
just so important.

It's just so important that
you realize how big you are

to them and to not take
that bigness into the ego

and to give it back
to those children.

Okay, I'm sorry.

A lot of children come to
Santa with huge requests.

Give my daddy a job.

My mommy's very, very sick.

So-and-so is drinking.

I mean, they'll confide
things to Santa Claus

that they won't tell
their mom and dad.

And that is the stark reality
of being a great Santa.

Now remember, Santa is powerful,

but he can't control everything.

And you can tell the child
you're not all-powerful.

What the child is looking
for is Santa to understand

and take some kind of action.

Your action has
to be believable.

Does the child believe
you're really gonna,

oh, I'm going to turn the
sky to green or orange?

Well, guess what?

The child looks up in the
morning and you didn't do it,

so now the child
doesn't believe in Santa

and even Santa let him down.

One of the most
important things,

your action should
be non-verifiable.

Who does Santa know?

Oh wait, he knows the President.

Oh goodness gracious.

Has anybody ever wanted
to win a football game?

Well, he knows those players
and he knows those coach.

Are you getting
the hang of this?

Let's say Santa needs
to fly up to heaven

to give somebody a message.

Guess what?

Those reindeer fly pretty high.

- In essence, I've
been given permission

to lie to children
and to lie big.

I've got an in with God.

I've got an in
with the President.

I know the coaches of every
sports team across America.

I'm okay with Santa
knows everybody.

I'm not okay with Santa
will pull strings for you.

I do believe it's
important that kids feel

like they're listened to.

Make eye contact
so that they know

that they're being listened to.

Empathize, give, the
feelings that they give you,

you wanna give back to them

so that they know that
you've heard them.

My biggest question was:
What do you say to a child

when they ask you
for a specific item?

Because you don't wanna
promise them something

that they may or may not get.

And the most useful
thing I heard today

was the answer to that question.

The answer is: I have a
surprise present for you

and you're gonna find out
on Christmas Day what it is.

And it's something I
know you're gonna like.

I go back and forth
between the feeling like

I'm gonna be really great at
this and I don't wanna do this.

This is crazy.

Tomorrow I think we
drank the Kool-Aid.

- We'll slide down here.

You can see you got Star Wars.

- We went to Target this
morning for a review of toys.

- Superheroes, they're back.

They never went
away.

You got Batman, you got
Superman, you got Spider-Man.

You got Iron Man, you've
got Captain America.

There's a Captain
America movie coming out.

Is there?

Yeah.

I realized that I know
a lot more about toys

than I should for a
single man who's 44.

The
old-fashioned games.

You've got new ones too that I
don't know a whole lot about.

- Cranium is a great game.

These guys are in an age
bracket that is not up

on the latest movie
or the latest things

that kids are looking at.

Is this one of
those remote control jobbies?

I'm not sure.

All the Air Hogs
are the remote controls.

Yeah.

- I, being immature,
am up on these things.

I'm a geek.

- Be jolly, be merry.

Be loud as you come
through the door

with your ho, ho, hos.

- Our final exam was
the Santa Challenge.

Every Santa had to meet
with two children and Susan.

Ho, ho, ho, merry
Christmas everybody!

She's a
little shy today.

You just tell me
what you want for Christmas.

You just
gotta just,

tell him what you
want for Christmas.

No!

Yes you do.

- Uh, Santa doesn't
speak no Espanol.

I don't
want Santa either!

- I got this.

- I'm gonna puke.

Susan played
a difficult child.

- Do you think that 13
is too young to have sex?

- That is really deep.

- And her objective was to
provide an impossible challenge.

- You're not the real Santa.

- Course I am.

No!

- Breathe, breathe.

- And she had a great time.

- I think my water just broke.

- I know it did, I'm all wet.

- Show us the train, Santa.

- The train?

- The train.

No, no, the train.

There you go.

No, the train, right there.

I just closed the
train.

I'm gonna go outside
to smoke a cigarette.

Will you watch my brother?

- Sure.
- Okay.

- I'll watch Victor for you.

Bye Santa.

- You probably
shouldn't be smoking.

- So we're gonna
stop at the door.

Okay.

- Johnny's gonna come out
and talk to us a little bit.

Now.

- Yes, sir.

Take
in a deep breath.

Blow it out.

Again.

Here we go.

- Ho, ho, ho.

Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!

Goodness, look, my
chair's all ready for me.

Hello young lady.

Oh there, we're
almost there, right?

Is there anything special
you'd like to tell Santa.

- Yeah.

- There is?

What would you like to tell me?

- Um, I like candy.

- You like candy?

Well, I don't know a girl
that doesn't like candy.

Here's a candy cane for you.

Can Santa have one of your
special hugs before you go?

Oh ho, that is a special hug!

- Hi Santa.

What's your name?

- Carol.

- Carol, that's
a wonderful name.

Do you know that
Christmas carols are one

of my favorite things.

Are you a Christmas carol?

- Uh-uh, I'm just
really worried.

You know, Osama bin
Laden, that everybody's

been looking for him everywhere
and nobody can find him,

but you're Santa and
you could find him

and then you could kill him

and then a lot of
people wouldn't be dead.

You could save the
whole world, Santa.

- Wanted Santa Claus to
help kill Osama bin Laden.

I don't know any children
except for the one

that Susan played, who spend
that much time watching CNN.

So what I hear you saying is
you want Osama bin Loden dead.

- Yup!

You got it.

- All right, well, Santa
doesn't kill people,

but Santa will talk to some
of the people in charge

in the Army and I will see
if I can help them find him.

- You're the only
one that can help.

Nobody else can help,
Santa, you're the only one-

- I have a plan.

You're gonna get him.

- Would you like me to
tell you what I'll do?

I know people at the UN,

I will go talk to
the people in charge

and I will see if I
can help them find him.

- Why don't you just tell
those people where he is.

- Because Santa
is going to help.

It was a long circuitous
back and forth.

He's a very difficult
man to find.

- He's a bad, bad man.

- He's a bad, mean man

and mean people are
excellent at hiding.

May I have one of your
special hugs before you go?

- Yeah, well thank you Santa.

- All right, you enjoy that.

Goodbye, Carol!

Thank you for coming today.

That was torture.

That was torture.

- They've worked very, very hard

and they wanna thank
everybody for coming

from wherever you've
come from to see Santa

become Santa Claus
this evening, tweak.

- Tweak.

- All right, okay.

Santa school is over.

I got a Bachelor of Santa.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- Graduation was sweet, but
like a lot of bad theater,

there were more people on stage

than there were in the audience.

I like these guys.

These are regular
guys with good hearts,

probably only one or
two of them are thinking

that they're gonna do
this and make money.

And the rest I think
are actually searching

for some Christmas spirit.

It's hard to have Christmas
spirit by yourself.

You need to have Christmas
spirit with other people.

That's a good one.

And so, by being Santa,
you get to meet a lot

of other people and
have Christmas spirit.

I absolutely think
it was a success.

I think it was completely
a successful weekend.

Going through this
school brought me closer

to Santa as I'm
going to portray.

- Jack is an
amazing Santa Claus.

He has it.

He's witty, he's fast, he's
humorous, he's sensitive.

He's very confident.

I'm very impressed.

- I feel like I could
do it for a season.

I don't see myself
making a career,

a lifetime career out of it.

Always thinking like
Santa, always being Santa,

um, I don't think
I could do that.

- He's gonna be one
of the top Santas

in the world if he
continues with this.

Saint Nicholas died

on December 6th,
in 342 or 343 AD.

- The story of St.
Nicholas, as it spreads

through Northern
Europe, it does take

on individual belief systems.

Of course, it varies
from place to place,

whether it be in Germany, or
whether it be in Scandinavia.

- The honoring of
the 5th of December

as St. Nikolaustag,
St. Nicholas Day,

is something that's
very much a part

of the German, Austrian,
Northern European traditions.

You've made out your list
and you either put it

in a shoe or you
put it in a stocking

and you put it out
on the clothesline

and if you were good, whoa,
it would come back loaded

with all kinds of goodies.

And if you were bad,
you were whipped.

Sinterklaas of the Netherlands
is a perfect example of that.

He was a moral authority.

- In Europe, St. Nicholas
is usually accompanied

by a variety of characters.

In Austria, the
character is Krampus,

which is a devil figure.

In Germany, it's Knecht
Ruprecht, who is a farm servant.

In Czechoslovakia, It's a
devil character and an angel.

In the Netherlands
it's Zwarte Piet.

- Zwarte Piet is Black Pete.

He is a figure in the
Netherlands that arrives

with St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas.

Zwarte Piet is a Black
man played by white people

in black face painting
their faces black.

It's a pretty shocking tradition

with a pretty shocking history.

- As the story goes,
St. Nicholas was able

to enslave the devil for
one day out of the year.

So he will take the
form of Black Peter.

He carries the account books

and he'll write down the
names of bad boys and girls

and year after year
those that are bad,

he will kidnap and take off
to diff disagreeable places.

In fact, many Dutch
mothers were known to say,

you better watch out

or Black Peter's gonna
come and get you.

- What you've had
is the contrast

between the good
saintly white person

and the suspicious, exotic,
devilish, inferior other.

And in this case, that
would be Black Peter.

- It's not anything that I
thought was still happening

in the world today.

Today, Zwarte Piet is the
helper of Saint Nicholas.

They're the ones who are
giving out these little treats

and they're joking and
they're making funny faces,

not totally intelligent,
but very playful character.

- In many places,
especially with children,

They don't have a lot of
daily interaction with people

that are racially
different from them.

If the only black
people they see

are in festivals as
blackface representations,

that's probably not
a great foundation

for building images
of those people.

- There have been
groups that have tried

to dress up the Zwarte
Piet in different colors

and so they're no
longer Black Peters,

but there's orange
Piets and green Piets.

And they're more like clowns.

There were huge outrages saying,

you know, you're
killing our tradition.

This isn't the way we
celebrate our holiday.

How can you change it?

- People don't like giving
up their traditions.

What they'll do is they
will use techniques

of neutralization and claim

that they don't mean
what they say they mean.

It's a lot easier to say
you got black sliding

down a chimney than to say
that he's black because we want

to scare white children.

- But most of these
characters are rooted back

in the Middle Ages when there
was a much greater sense

of the tension and conflict
between good and evil

than we feel in
our society today.

And these characters have
simply remained from that time.

- I'm going to
Phillipsburg, New Jersey,

where I have volunteered to
be Santa on the Polar Express.

I've been told that it's
four 90 minute rides

and on each ride, Santa will
need to visit with 360 people.

That's a lot of people in
a brief period of time.

Hi, I'm Santa, good-bye.

- All right guys,
welcome to Polar Express.

We're gonna go over
everything for you real quick

so everyone understand
how everything works.

Many of you have
done this before,

Some of you have not, all right.

In about 15 minutes you're
gonna board the train.

Once everybody's on the train
we're gonna start going.

All the lights will
go out on the train

while the Polar Express
song starts going.

Tammy and her crew,
there's Tammy,

will be delivering hot
chocolate through the train.

And you're gonna go
through it every six,

handing out cookies after that.

I will say, there's
reindeer on the track

and a big, fat
guy in a red suit.

At that point you'll
slowly stop the train

to hopefully not
knock us off our feet.

When the train comes to a stop,

they will move their
prospective guys into the cars.

All aboard!

I'm 10
minutes away from making

my first public
appearance as Santa Claus.

You're so authentic!

- Ho, ho, I'm not
authentic, I am Santa!

- Cue Santa as you
go through the cars,

you know, in the bi-levels
there's two sections

in each bi-level.

All right, you give out
the first gift of Christmas

in each bi-level, in
each section of bi-level.

Okay.

- All right.

- When Santa comes out,
are we right behind him?

You're behind
him, yes ma'am.

- So after I give the
first bell of Christmas,

then I can say, you all
have the spirit of Christmas

and then they can
give out the bells.

Perfect, perfect, okay.

There's
reindeer on the track

and a big fat guy in a red suit!

- Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

Merry Christmas,
merry Christmas!

Ho, ho, ho, Merry
Christmas everyone!

Hello young lady!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Hello, how are you?

Ho, ho, ho!

Who can tell me where the
spirit of Christmas lives?

At the North Pole.

- At the North Pole, I'm not
sure that's the right answer.

Ho, ho, ho, ho!

Where does the spirit
of Christmas live?

In your heart.

In your heart.

In the heart!

Oh in your heart.

And you know who got that right?

Your mommy, yes.

So she gets the first
jingle bell of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

But you all know where the
spirit of Christmas lives,

so my elves are going
to give everyone a bell.

Merry Christmas!

Hello, merry Christmas,
I like your Thomas hat.

Hello, how are you?

I'm so glad you came today.

Good to see you.

I'll be back in a bit.

Merry Christmas everyone!

What a lot of pajamas we
have on the train today.

Merry Christmas
to you, fine sir.

Merry Christmas.

- Wait right here.

This way I can regroup.

As the elves catch up to you-

- Yes.

- Now what's gonna happen
is I'm gonna let the elves

go ahead and start getting
the kids ready for the photos.

This is where you take your
time going back through.

- Okay.

- But mind you-

- Devan will pace me.

- Well between Devan
and myself, yeah.

- Okay.

- We'll be able to
take care those things.

- Okay.
- All right.

- Great.
- Doing good.

- Doing good so far?
- Oh yeah!

- Do you wanna take
a picture with Santa?

Oh my goodness,
what a big crowd.

Who know you could get so
much pretty in one picture!

Have you been good?

You seem to have a little doubt?

Cheese.

- Cheese.

Still cheese.

Hello, merry Christmas.

Santa's very happy to see
such pretty, good girls.

You have to keep helping
to clean up, right?

'Cause one time doesn't
get you on the good list,

it's consistent behavior.

What's your name?

Ryan?

Ryan?

Ryan.

- Ryan, how are you, Ryan?

Did you do anything
bad this year?

No?

Santa, I slept
through the night all night!

- Congratulations,
that's wonderful!

Hey, I saw
you on Dora, and you-

- Oh, Dora the Explorer?

Yeah.

- Yes, that was a
cartoon, you know.

But I'll speak to Hanna Montana

and see if she doesn't
need her slippers anymore.

Are you all in
business together?

Yes.

- Well you have a merry
Christmas, all right?

One of the cruel lessons
of life is that you can

have what you want, but
not the way you want it.

Hi!

Oh my goodness, I
almost missed you.

It's a little girl who
couldn't, you know,

Santa, Santa, couldn't
wait for Santa to be there

and once Santa got close,

didn't want Santa
anywhere near her.

And then she would wave
and Santa would wave back

and move closer.

Oh would you like
to feel my fur?

Very soft, you wanna feel it?

No, no, no, she wanted
Santa from over there.

Oh, ho, ho, ho,
ho, ho, thank you!

- Yes, good-bye!

- Good-bye, Santa loves you too!

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

Santa will just
wave from over here.

'Cause you scare
Santa a little bit.

That old Sondheim line,
"Don't come any closer,

"'cause you know how
much I love you."

America probably
never had Santa Claus.

When the United
States was colonized,

it was primarily the Protestants

and Protestants did
not observe saints.

And so St. Nicholas was never
the same in this country

that he has been in
many European places.

- We now see the
Americanizing of Santa,

because of course, the
Dutch, it was Sinterklaas,

but many of the non-Dutch
neighbors could not pronounce

that, so and they will
anglicize that to Santa Claus.

It will be the United States
that will basically change

Santa's image and give
it back out to the world.

At the beginning of the
19th century, St. Nicholas

or Santa Claus is still dressed
in his religious clothes

in the clothes of a Bishop.

In the 1821, "The Children's
Friend," Santa is no longer

in the clothes of the Bishop.

He's now in a red coat.

He has his name scrawled
across his hat there.

He has one reindeer in that one

before we have eight
two years later in 1923.

The Civil War was
what actually helped

to propel Christmas to
becoming the big holiday

here in America that
we know it to be.

This happens to
be the front page

that was on "Harper's Weekly"
for January 3rd, 1863,

showing Santa
sitting in his sleigh

handing out Christmas boxes.

Thomas Nast was an
immigrant from Germany

and he did his drawings
here in America.

It was a propaganda piece, no
ifs, ands, or buts about it,

in order to show that Santa
had joined the Union cause.

That doll is named Old
Jeff for Jeff Davis

of the Confederacy, the
President of the Confederacy.

As the article says,
old Santa's tied

that chord pretty tightly
around old Jeff's neck

and he seems to be kicking
very much at such a fate.

Lincoln would actually call Nast

his best recruiting Sergeant
for all his patriotic pictures,

as well as his pictures
of Santa Claus.

In the 1866 centerfold
that Nast does called,

"Santa Claus and His Work,"
showing him at the North Pole

for the very first time, so no
country could ever claim him

and use him for propaganda
like he did in 1863.

It's also equidistant to
anywhere he wants to go

in the world on
Christmas Eve night.

He's sewing all the
dolls clothes himself.

He's carving the wooden
toys in the workshop.

The elves hadn't even come
along yet at that time.

In fact, he's not even
married to Mrs. Claus,

that doesn't have
really officially
happen until about 1899,

although there is one
allusion in the 1870s,

he may have been
married to Holly Claus.

It was during the
Civil War period too

that our Christmas customs and
traditions were just coming

to fruition at the
beginning of the Civil War.

Christmas trees were
just becoming popular.

The first Christmas tree
dealers arrive in New York City

to sell to what they
thought were gonna be

the German population, but
more people started buying.

Christmas cards were
just becoming popular,

although they will
not be mass produced

until after the Civil War.

The very first White
House Christmas tree

was during the administration
of Franklin Pierce in 1856.

By the time we get
to the Civil War,

there are 15 or so states

have declared Christmas
a legal holiday.

Dickens is also serializing some

of his Christmas stories too

in the pages of
"Harper's Weekly."

So we have all this
going on at that time.

- Merry Christmas!

Ho, ho, ho.

Ho, ho, ho, ho.

Call it a wrap?

- Santa needs a drink.

Santa is wiped.

That is a grueling exercise.

I have some Advil back
at the hotel I'm going

to be taking for my back.

Santa can tell you firsthand,

childhood obesity is
an epidemic in America.

A lot of it has gone across
Santa's knee this evening.

I can't believe this
is a volunteer job.

Somebody's getting a deal.

- Now you understand the life
of the common day Santa Claus.

- Yes.

It was fun for the
first half of the day.

And then for the second
half of the day it was work.

As fun as it was, I don't
think I would do it again

without getting paid.

My voice was killing me.

My suit got all sweaty.

My Santa hat got sweaty

and I couldn't get it
dry between the rides.

So when I finally put it on

at the end of the evening
it was cold and wet.

And it was going through
my mind as I was posing

for these pictures
what Susan said

about you're gonna
pose for pictures

and these pictures are gonna be

in people's family albums
the rest of their lives.

And they're gonna
remember them forever.

I don't know if I wanna
be in their photo album

for the rest of their
lives.

Somehow, I know this is not
nice, there were a few people

who had writhing
babies in their hands

that were like greased pigs.

And they walk toward you
and put the baby on you

and you're trying to hold the
baby and smile for the picture

and the baby is
contorting and doing yoga

to try and get away from you.

And it's just like, why?

You like this child, right?

It's your child and you're
tormenting it this way.

Ho, ho, ho, ho.

And I can't say to those people,

uh, Santa can't take a
picture with your greased pig,

because that's
what they paid for.

They paid for the picture
with their writhing child.

Santa thinks you're
gonna learn to swim

when your parents
throw you in the water,

ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

By the way, pigs are cute.

The version of Santa
Claus today when you get down

to the nitty gritty
is not so historical,

but is basically based
on the Coca-Cola Santa.

They made Santa
Claus in America.

- My name is Phil Mooney.

I'm the archivist for
the Coca-Cola Company.

Today we're here at the World
of Coca-Cola in Atlanta.

There are a lot of people
who ask whether or not

we interpreted Santa
Claus, we gave him the red

and white costume, for instance,

because those are
colors obviously

associated with Coca-Cola.

That's certainly not the case.

Thomas Nast was using that red
and white costume character

very widely in the 19th century.

- And if you look at the
image, as you can see

that N. C. Wyeth,
Leyendecker, Norman Rockwell,

a number of illustrators
were already

showing Santa Claus
in red and white

before Coca Cola had their
first illustration in 1931.

- The reason Coca-Cola
began to use Santa Claus

in advertising, it was
really very interesting.

Soft drinks essentially
were a summertime beverage.

There wasn't a lot of
market for soft drinks

in the winter months.

And so as they started
to think about how

to associate Coca-Cola
with the holiday season,

they started to
think of Santa Claus.

Here's a guy who has
to go around the world

in 24 hours delivering toys.

He's certainly
gonna get thirsty.

So why not have Santa
enjoying a Coca-Cola?

And so that was sort of the
germ of the advertising idea.

And so they employed an
artist named Haddon Sundblom,

a very well-known
illustrator of the period,

to create an image of
the real Santa Claus

pausing from his duties
to enjoy a Coca-Cola.

You can relate to this person.

It's somebody you'd enjoy
having at your house,

sitting around a table
and talking to him.

And I think that that's
what most of us take

from the holiday season.

It's about family.

It's about being with friends
and it's about sharing

at a very special time of year.

And I think that's
what Sundblom captured.

And that began a legacy
of over three decades

of Sundblom creating
a new Santa Claus

for each holiday season.

There really is only one
classic interpretation

of Santa Claus and that's
the Sundblom interpretation.

We're on our way
to Quincy, Massachusetts,

where a gentleman
named George White

has enlisted me
to be Santa Claus

in the 57th Annual
Quincy Christmas Parade,

which I've been told is the
second largest Christmas parade

on the east coast.

George said he had some other
things he may need me to do,

but he hasn't said what yet.

I haven't gotten a call
back from him in over a week

and I have no idea
what the schedule is

or where I'm supposed to be.

Hello.

- Hi, George, it's
Jack Sanderson.

Yeah, how you doing?

- I'm good, how are you?

Up to my ears.

- Up to your ears.

Yeah.

- All right, so what's, so
tell me what you need from me.

Well what
I would like to do

is set up a brief meeting.

- Well, I'm here to do
whatever you want me to do.

Just swing
by here and pick me up,

we could go, both go
to the fire station.

- Okay, what's your address?

You know
where Bridge Street is?

No, but
I'll find it, 1000-

- Bridge Street is
the street you're gonna be on

when you come out of
where you are now.

- Right.

Then you
head towards Quincy.

Continue through that light
for another two or three miles.

You'll see a store on the
corner, just take a left.

- What's the store
on the corner?

Take a left.

- Go out here, take a
left, go through the light,

take another left.

You'll
see a road leading up

to Mile Roadway,
that's not the one.

Go by that one and when
you see the next one

then you'll see the
sign on your right,

that's where I am roughly.

- That would've been it.

And I'll be right
down the road a way though.

I'll be staying at the
end of the roadway.

- At the end of Southern Artery?

Well you'll be
off the Southern Artery

when, I know when
you're going to be going

it'll probably take you
maybe 15 minutes to get here.

There he is.

Hi George, I'm downstairs
in the lobby for you.

I'm looking for George White.

- Oh, George, oh, wait a minute.

You know George.

Yes I do.

And he was here.

I thought this where he came by.

I seem to think he went out.

I don't know where
else he would have gone

to be honest with you.

Are you his son?

- No, I'm Santa Claus.

No,
all right, wise guy.

There he is.

Here he is.

We've been looking for you.

Hi George.

- Super!

- Thank you.

- Where's the rest of your suit?

- It's in the hotel.

So I got the car right out here.

You ready to go?

- I'm ready as you are.

George says
we need Santa Claus

in the Quincy Christmas Parade.

Right.

- So as Santa Claus
I may be riding

on a fire truck tomorrow?

Right, up
on top of the ladder.

The ladder on top of the truck.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- A seat up there.
- Oh.

- You have to sit up on top.

So what do
you think, at midnight?

Seatbelt?

Is there a seatbelt up there?

- Aw we got ladder belts,
we'll strap you in.

- Okay.

No problem.

- You're just not gonna run me
thorough any cables downtown?

- I don't think there's
anything that tall enough

that's gonna hit ya.

- All right, cool.

- Okay.
- Thank you.

- All right, great.

- Super.

- Super.

Thank you very much.

Okay, you're welcome.

♪ made
on Christmas Eve ♪

- Tonight is our Annual
Tree Lighting Ceremony.

- I just found out an
hour ago that I'm supposed

to be here for the
Christmas Tree Lighting

'cause I didn't know.

- We have a puppet show.

We entertain the kids
for about a half an hour

and we bring you on.

You sing a few
songs with the kids.

We walk outside and we
turn the tree lights on,

which signifies the
start of our season.

- I just had a big
meal of Brazilian meat

and got back to the hotel,

found out I had to
be here in an hour.

I hate rushing and
I smell of garlic,

but this is what they want.

I said I'm here to do
whatever they want.

That's what I'm doing.

There's 15 costume
characters and we're all

going on together at
the end of the ceremony

that precedes the Christmas
Tree Lighting in Quincy.

Characters!

- Characters on.

I have to sing Christmas carols

and I feel like I can't
remember any at the moment.

I'm not sure why I'm doing this.

♪ Are made on Christmas
Eve ♪

At this moment, it doesn't
seem like it was a good idea.

♪ Now I know I'm one, just me

♪ I saw Santa

♪ Jingle bells, jingle bells

♪ Jingle all the way

- Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

What a beautiful
group of children

we have here this evening.

Have all of you, have all
have you been good this year?

Yes!

- Did you write me a letter yet?

- I'm writing it.

- You better hurry up!

- Quick, here let Santa
work through the crowd here.

What did you do that was good?

- I helped my mom
wash all the dishes.

- That's an excellent
good thing to do.

Who else here helped
their mom with the dishes?

You tell me something you
did that was good this year.

Can you say that again,
'cause Santa can't hear well

in this ear?

Santa's gonna assume that
was a good thing to do.

What did you do that was good?

- Um I uh...

- Oh Santa suggests that
this year you pre-plan.

What did you do that was good?

- Um I played with my toys.

- Okay, what did you do for
someone else that was good?

- Be good for my mom.

- That was very good.

What are we doing now?

Good-bye?

We're done?

Are we done?

We're gonna go light
the Christmas tree now.

You are.

- Am I gonna lead
everybody outside?

I think so.

- Which way is it to
the Christmas trees?

It's that way.

Well who's gonna show
Santa how to get there?

You will?

All right, I guess we're
all going outside now

to light the Christmas trees.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

That was a, a seat
of the pants hour.

I was lost for 30 seconds
when the woman who singing

just handed me the microphone.

Ho, ho, ho, ho, now what?

Hi, hello, merry
Christmas, young fellow.

I think I used what I
learned in Santa School,

big entrance, loud, merry
Christmas to everybody,

make eye contact with as
many people as possible.

Santa coming through!

Hello Mr. Mayor!

Santa!

Thank you for
welcoming me to your fair city!

- Hey glad to see you.

- Hello sir.

- I love you!

- You know this boy?

- He's one of our
great Quincy kids.

- Oh.

I know the Simpsons has been
on the air for 20 years,

but if ever a Mayor
Quimby existed,

twas the Mayor of Quincy.

Five, four,
three, two, one!

- Oh Mr. Mayor, it's beautiful!

And suddenly everybody
wanted a picture.

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

I think it went very well.

I had a number of
people say to me,

you are the best
Santa we ever had.

Are you being good?

- Yeah.

- You are?

Are you being good
to each other?

Yeah.

- You are, all right.

Are you playing together nicely?

- Yeah.

- Mom, are they?

- They're doing great.

- Once I helped with a
door in my classroom.

You helped with
a door in your classroom?

- Yeah.

- Well that was very good.

Would you like to
ring the bells?

I guess to be able to walk
in there and feel prepared

and go with the flow and be loud

and know how I'm
gonna present myself

is a direct benefit of having
attended the Santa School.

If I hadn't attended
the Santa School

I might not have thought
of having a big entrance

or of having the bells.

Susan's suggestion of
having the bells, great.

Can I ring the bells?

You may ring the bells.

Go ahead, ring the bells.

Bells are a terrific
prop, crutch, tool.

The bells are good.

Who's got their hand
on Santa's butt?

Not me!

- All right.

- This is two pillows.

- All right now.

Santa's sorry he started.

This is a terrible
admission to make.

Being Santa is a job that I
enjoyed doing this evening,

it made me happy.

Thank you for coming tonight.

It was nice to meet you.

Goodnight.

- People wanna feel good

and people wanna
know the essence

of what Santa was about.

And the more you talk about
it, the more they embrace it.

And it happened right
here in Massachusetts.

My name is John Marion.

I am the President
of Tuxedos by Merian,

which is a family-owned
business since 1951.

We're third generation here.

This store is located
in downtown Brockton,
Massachusetts.

Brockton is the
home of the first

department store
Santa, James Edgar.

He took the images
from Thomas Nast

and decided that he
would travel to Boston

and get a Santa suit made.

In his store in 1890
December, he had his suit on

and walked the floor
and picked the girl

with the prettiest
ribbon on her hair

and gave her a Christmas doll.

The following year we see

other department
stores copycatting.

And that's how the tradition

of that kinda started it's way.

Before James Edgar, Santa Claus
was only in illustrations.

There was no Santa
Claus walking around.

There was no Santa
Claus in a store.

There was no Santa Claus
that you could visit

and talk to him about
your wish list of toys.

James Edgar brought him to life.

Children look up
to that character

in ways of which I
can't even imagine.

I think that in
order to play Santa,

you have to be a very
unique individual,

one that understands
how important

a role it is to
play Santa Claus.

- You'll find out from
talking to just about anybody

that does this, it's not
a job, it's a calling.

- Everyone in my family
believes this is my destiny.

- Well actually the first
time I ever played Santa

I was only 12 years old, so
I think it was predestined.

- Some things in life,
you're chosen to do them.

And this is one thing, I was
just chosen to make kids happy

and try to bring a little
bit of joy in their life.

- When I got into this business,

I got into it for the money.

I do it now because I love it.

- If you do it
more than one year,

then it's something that
you were always meant to be.

And I was meant to do and
I firmly believe that.

- You have to live the part.

You have to love kids.

You have to love
bringing joy to the world

and joy to the people you meet.

- I realized there are
literally thousands

of Santa Clauses
performing this work

and they're all doing
it for the same reason,

that's to make people
happy and see them happy.

- The children are the
most important thing.

It's not you, you're
playing the role of Santa.

But to children, you
can give them delight

and joy that lasts
them for a lifetime.

- I've always believed that
the magic of Santa Claus

is something that a child
should always experience.

And I've made that
my goal in life.

- My personal mantra
as the years go on

is just to always be the Santa
I always wanted as a child.

And as long as you
strive for that,

you're gonna do really well.

- I want 20 years
from now, the kid

that sat on my lap today,
to come back with their kids

and sit on my lap again.

I want, that's my vision.

- It made me more
trusting of people.

It made a more
loving person of me.

It changes you.

And if it doesn't, then you
shouldn't be a Santa Claus.

- I have the best
job in the world.

This is it.

It can't get any better.

Good
afternoon, everyone.

And welcome to the 57th annual
Christmas Festival Parade.

Gorgeous day!

Beautiful day.

Perfect
day for a parade.

The new guys
don't touch nothing.

All right, Santa.

It's strapped in pretty
good, so you can stand.

It's not going anywhere.

Mind you, we're not
moving that fast.

All right,
all right, that's good.

Merry Christmas!

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

As Santa in the Quincy
Christmas Parade,

I did an awesome job.

Merry Christmas!

Ho, ho.

Hello!

Merry Christmas!

One of the reasons
I did a good job,

it wasn't that hard.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The parade was pretty awesome.

The parade was one of the
more fun things I've done

in a few years.

I remembered the tips
I got from other Santas

to make sure you're look at
both sides of the street.

There were a lot of
people out there.

I think I got the feeling
of the rock star Santa.

Merry Christmas.

People were screaming,
Santa, Santa.

I'd look over and wave at them

and then they'd be thrilled
that I had heard them.

Merry Christmas!

And it was nice to have
people be excited to see me,

because in my nine-to-five job,

people are usually
not excited to see me.

I still feel a very solid
line between Jack and Santa

and I'm relieved
by the solid line.

At the end of the parade
we went up to the airfield.

There had to be hundreds of
children up there at that field.

Wow, what a big crowd.

Like the President of
United States was gonna come

down the line and
shake everyone's hand.

And that's who I was in that
moment, I was President Santa.

- Say ho, ho, ho!

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho,
ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

Oh thank you.

A lot of children
handed me letters.

Have you've been a
good boy this year?

Can you give me a
water gun and?

- Oh my goodness, well I dunno

about Santa bringing people
guns, but I'll work on it.

I'll do the best
I can, all right?

Look at you wrapped
up like a present.

What a lovely bow you
have on your head.

- What are the Elves names?

- Well the top elf
is named Jingles.

And he's in charge of
managing all the other elves.

Jingles is sort of a
middle-management elf.

Mrs. Claus is good,
thank you for asking.

Merry Christmas.

Are you being good?

Uh huh, that's what I thought.

I know that the
Santa's persona comes

with a level of responsibility.

I knew that, but
to experience it

is a different level of knowing.

When I was up there
greeting the children

and saying hello to
all those children,

I felt the true level
of responsibility to it.

The line between Gary and
Santa is very,

very, uh, it's not there.

Everything in my closet
is red or khaki or green,

but I have a truck that kinds
of says, I'm Santa Claus.

- I go to a restaurant,
it's like being a celebrity.

I have people interrupt
me at dinner to ask me:

Do you know you look
like Santa Claus?

Really?

Ho, ho, ho, ho.

- When I went to a natural
beard I couldn't be me anymore.

I had to be Santa Claus.

- The line between
myself and Santa,

I don't know that there
is a real difference.

- I'm Santa Ron Robertson.

And what do you
do when you're not Santa?

- I'm never not Santa.

- There's no true
division of life.

I consider myself more Santa
Claus than anything else.

- Every day I wear red;
red pants, red shirt,

red socks, black shoes
most of the time.

I'm Santa.

- Even when I'm digging
and doing landscaping.

When a kid sees me
and they're like,

is it possibly that's Santa?

And I give them that wink
and their eyes light up,

automatically that's Santa.

It happens every
day and I love it.

- The fact is, the fact, if
you're going to be Santa,

that it's important that you
maintain that image 24/7 365.

If they look at you and know,

you know immediately
that they know.

Mom, mom.

- There's not a day that
goes by that I'm not

reminded several times
that I am Santa too.

I've always had one fear always,
one will walk up some day

and didn't get what he wanted
and kick me in the shin.

But that hasn't happened yet.

- Dear Santa.

Racing Down the Rails
Set, the Thomas Train,

train table, kindergarten,
"Moon & Stars."

Love Max.

Well, I'm fine, Max.

Thanks for asking.

And it's just a
seven simple items.

The moon and the stars.

Anthony, Anthony's
parents were very smart,

because this is, as you
can see, a photocopy.

Make Your Own Mask, Design
& Drill Activity Center,

Play and Freeze ice cream
maker, Take-Apart Crane,

Build It Big Brick
Construction, extra mortar,

Bloco Animal building Set,
Extreme big Bubble kit,

Puppy Pursuit Games,
Carnivorous Creations

and an Aquasaurus.

I don't know what
an Aquasaurus is,

but I think I might want one.

Train table and play board,
concert and master violin,

talking self-service
gas station,

Junior Space Explorer
Inflatable Shuttle.

Awesome!

If this were my kid,

I would feel like I
was doing a good job.

He's got a huge
range of interests

and he clearly wants
to get involved.

That's awesome.

Anthony, Santa will try.

I don't know what I'm gonna
do with these letters.

I'm not, I can't, you
can't throw them away.

- Hi, I'm Pete Fontana.

I'm a customer
relations coordinator

for the New York Post Office.

And I'm also in charge of
Operation Santa in New York.

All the letters to
Santa that are addressed

Santa Claus, North Pole
come to Operation Santa

in the post office.

We anticipate anywhere between
300 and 500,000 letters

to Santa right here in
the New York Post Office.

Nationally, we expect
to receive millions

of letters to Santa this year.

The letters to Santa are
opened and sorted and redacted,

which is just a fancy term
for taking all the personal

information out of the letters.

What we give them is
a code on the letter.

We leave the first names,
what the children want,

their clothing sizes
and people come in here,

read through these letters,
decide which ones can fit

into their budget or
which ones touch them.

And then they go out, buy the
gifts and package them up,

get them ready for mailing.

And in New York we have
five designated post offices

where they can mail
these packages.

This is a traditional
letter to Santa.

We always love the ones
that do the drawings.

Child writes: "Here's
what I want for Christmas:

"A Barbie Castle, earrings,
a globe, computer.

"Please Santa."

And it's signed, Kimberly.

And she put a bunch
of hearts on this.

Letters to Santa come
to Operation Santa
Claus in New York

from every country in the world.

One year we had a letter that
had a special needs wheelchair

and the kid sent us the
picture of the wheelchair.

It had all the special
attachments on the wheelchair

and the wheelchair cost
over $20,000 to purchase

and the family
couldn't afford it.

They didn't have
health insurance.

So I made sure that
this particular letter

made it into the
daily newspaper here.

The next day I had
that wheelchair.

Soon as it was
published in the paper

I had the wheelchair
for the child.

Operation Santa Claus
started right here

in the New York Post Office

and it's been operating
for close to 100 years.

The importance of it
is to help the needy

and to keep the belief
and spirit of Santa alive

and the Postal Service does
that with Operation Santa.

- Rachel?

Hi!

Hi.

Nice to meet you.

- Wow, good to see you.

Good heavens, even
have the rosy cheeks

and the rosy nose.

- It's freezing outside.

- Tell me, you're
choosing the coldest day

in the year so far
to see what it's like

to be a sidewalk Santa.

My name is Rachel Wienstein

and I'm the Director of
Development and Communications

at Volunteers of America,
Greater New York.

- How many children do
you have in your shelters?

- We have about 1200.

Okay.

- In our domestic
violence shelters,

our homeless family shelters.

And these are all
toys coming in.

These are Santa's
elves undressed,

or actually not
clothed as, nevermind.

Volunteers of America's
sidewalk Santa's

have been around for 107 years.

The first Santas appeared
on the streets of LA in 1902

and the program gradually
crossed the country

and ended up in New York.

And now today we're
the only ones.

Only in New York are
the sidewalk Santas

out there on the street.

Now I can't exactly
place the time,

but look, that's we've
been doing this since 1902.

Wow.

- Our Santas, many of them
are formerly homeless,

formerly drug addicted,
their health is compromised.

You know, one of the
things we believe

is that people truly can turn
their lives around for good

and so we end up
hiring some of them

and some of them are
our best employees.

Why the white belts?

- Why the white,
to distinguish us.

To distinguish us
from the real Santa.

This is the original.

- This is the original chimney.

We put a lockbox in there

and then our Santas would
stand out on the corner

and with their bell.

Not like this, because
your arm gets too tired.

You gotta hold it down here.

Okay.

- That's the right way to
ring a bell when you're Santa.

But the real tradition
is feeding the hungry.

This year the food
voucher program

will impact probably
about 6,000 New Yorkers.

Looks fab!

- Ho, ho, ho, ho.

Ho, ho, ho.

- Very close.

- Mrs. Claus has really
been treating you well.

Now what do you think?

- Feels like you're putting
a bale of hay on my head.

Hold on.

♪ Over the hills we go

I know it's itchy, I know, but-

- I haven't complained yet.

- I just hear you huffing.

♪ Bells on bobtail ring

- I'm hot.

- Are you ready to
go out on the street?

- You tell me, you're in charge.

Am I ready to hit the street?

- You look great.

Now you probably should have
used the bathroom before,

'cause you're not-

- I'm a camel.

Okay.

Okay, no drinking, no
eating, no smoking,

nothing with your
beard and wig on.

You know, you are the
epitome of goodness.

This is where you're going
to stand and ring your bell

and appeal to
everyone passing by

to drop some money into it.

- Okay, is there anything
I should say to them?

- Help feed the hungry,
merry Christmas.

Or happy holidays,
'cause there's a lot

of Jews in this city, you know.

- So, holidays, help
feed the hungry.

- Yes, happy holidays,
help feed the hungry.

- Okay.

- That'll be great
and then you're gonna

ring your bell some,
but like I said,

keep your arm down here
so you, get too tired,

yeah, all right.

- Okay.

- Okay, terrific.

- Hi!

- Hi, thank you.

- Thank you.

Bam!

♪ Jingle bells, jingle bells

♪ Jingle all the way

♪ Oh what fun it is to ride

Help feed the hungry.

♪ In a one horse open sleigh

Volunteers of America,
merry Christmas.

♪ Jingle bells, jingle
bells, jingle all the way ♪

Thank you!

♪ Oh what fun

Thank you!

♪ It is to ride in a one
horse open sleigh hey hey ♪

- How I feel after Christmas
is rather shocking,

I actually get depressed.

Santas in January,
it's

you're not the
center of attention.

Like you just were the last
four weeks and it's intense.

- There's a sadness there
too 'cause you miss seeing

that smile on these
children's faces.

- I guess it's a phenomenon
of called post-Christmas,

you know, depression, you know
that Santas may go through.

I know I went
through it last year

and it was a very
difficult time for me.

- Santas are a very
unique bunch of people.

They're very caring
and they're very loving

and they're very feeling people.

- I don't have relatives.

I have one sister who's
not usually available.

And I have a son who's 20
years old who has a girlfriend

and spends a lot
of time with her

and especially Christmas
Eve with her family.

I do my fly bys
on Christmas Eve.

I do church on Christmas Eve.

And when I went home
that night, I was just,

I felt so alone.

I know that sounds funny that
Santa needs a place to go

on Christmas Eve, but
maybe that'll help me deal

with that loneliness that
sets in when I come in

about one o'clock in the
morning on Christmas Eve alone.

Oh my goodness!

What a wonderful hat!

Hi!

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

- To stop believing in Santa
Claus at an appropriate age

is a completely
foreign concept to me.

I kind of feel sorry for people

that stop believing
at any certain time.

- Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas
and you know what?

- There might not
be a Santa for you,

but there's a Santa for me.

I'm sorry that you don't know,
better go figure that out.

Everybody else is unenlightened.

- Is the faith the fact
that there's a gentleman

in the North Pole that
actually comes in a sleigh

that actually lands on your
roof, that comes down a chimney,

that puts all these toys there.

Is that what we're believing in?

Or are we believing
in the goodness

and the kindness of humanity?

The fact that we've created
a story for a child,

but as adults, we
actually perform

what it is that
this being's doing.

- I don't think there's
anything better about humans,

anything more redemptive about
humans than when we give.

- And whether it's
doing it for charity

or just to bring joy to
your child or a loved one,

there is, there's
something wonderful

about being a secret giver
and doing it mysteriously.

- We need a person
or a force out there

to promote the ideas of
goodness and kindness

and generosity and
happiness and joy.

I think
Santa is maybe a bit

of a common
denominator for us all.

- There are Christian Santas.

There are Jewish Santas.

There are Muslim Santas.

There's a Buddhist Santa.

There are Wiccan Santas.

And there were
probably Santas who

have never seen the inside

of a place of worship
in their life.

What do they share in common?

They share the belief
that love, hope,

and joy is the best of us.

- For me, Santa Claus helps
deliver all of those feelings

that should be present
in all religions.

I think that he creates
this magical experience

for people without having any

of those roadblocks
that we put up.

I don't think we mean to
put up those roadblocks,

but we do.

- Along the way, as
I'm becoming Santa,

he is real, I'm convinced,
because he's it.

He is the only thing that
is keeping the spirit

of giving and compassion and
concern for others alive.

I don't know what my
father's intentions were

when he put on that Santa suit.

If he was looking for
Christmas spirit or not,

it doesn't matter.

Point is, when he
put on the suit,

like all the guys
that put on the suit,

he created Christmas spirit
by giving of himself.

One of the things that I loved
about the people that I met

is that some of them were
living in their bliss

and they provide great
examples of how to live.

Peter Fontana, who works
at Operation Santa Claus

in New York loves
the job that he does

and seems to be the
perfect guy for that job.

He is really fulfilled by
the job that he's doing.

Susan Mesco.

I'm gonna say Susan is crazy,
but she has found her niche

and she is thriving within it.

Rachel Weinstein at
Volunteers of America,

clearly great at what she does

and thriving in what she does.

Jeryn Calhoun and Santa Bob
from Vegas, both social workers,

Santa Sandy runs a halfway
house for recovering addicts,

Santa Earl and his
wife ran a home

for mentally
handicapped children

out of their own home
for over 20 years.

When I think of
all these people,

I suspect that they
all had kind hearts

before came to the
jobs that they do.

They all enriched their lives
by helping other people.

Those to me are
examples of how to live

and lives well-spent,
whether they're Santa Claus

or whether they're
working with Santa Claus,

or whether they're
using Santa Claus,

everything that they're doing

is to help other people
improve their lives.

There are lots of
people on TV who

will tell you how
to live your life

and the Santa community
lives their lives

as an example of how
to treat each other.

That is an awesome thing to see,

people who are living
what they believe.

That's impressive.

I feel a little conflicted
'cause I've gotten high marks,

high compliments and I'm
still not feeling committed

to a life as Santa.

This is one of those
things where I feel

like I've learned a
lot and I probably

don't even know yet
everything that I've learned.

♪ It's the day before
Christmas here ♪

♪ I'm sitting out
back in shorts ♪

Merry Christmas.

♪ No snow and flowers

Well now it's nine
o'clock on Christmas Eve.

And in a few minutes, I'm going

to go do some sneak and peeks.

The children go to bed
on Christmas Eve night

and Santa Claus
comes into the house

and starts putting
presents down.

And the parents wake
the children and say,

shh come here, come look,
Santa Claus is downstairs.

Oh did did I hear something?

And the kids have
to run back to bed.

These will be my last
events appearances as Santa.

And I'll be putting
the suit away.

I think I enjoyed
everything that I did.

I don't know if
I'll do this again.

Even in my street clothes,
I look like Santa.

People are always
waving and smiling

or just smiling and
not saying anything.

And it occurred to
me after a while

that that must be what
it's like to be pretty.

I wanna trim the beard
back, trim the mustache back

and go back to
looking like myself

where people didn't notice me.

I honestly, I don't know
if I'm gonna do this

again next year.

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

Let's go knock this one out.

Santa needs help off
the sofa.

- Yeah I got Ester
an Easy-Bake Oven

And Asher asked
for a microscope.

- What are the girls names?

- Kendall and Kyla.

- Kendall.

- Kendall's the older one.

- Okay, all right this is
going to be really quick.

- Hey, guess who's downstairs?

I heard him.

- What do you think?

Do you know who I saw?

Do you know who I
think is down there?

Oh look, look.

- Oh who's that?

Ho, ho, ho.

A lot of presents
for good girls.

Oh everyone's asleep.

Gonna put out one gift
for each good girl.

I hope Kendall likes that.

To Santa, oh
that's gonna look good

on my refrigerator.

Dear Santa, enjoy some cookies
and milk, Kendall and Kayla.

Oh and a picture of, oh a
good picture of Rudolph.

Oh he'll like that.

Cookies, oh!

Um, oh and carrots for
the reindeer, excellent.

Oh, ah, just
enough to keep Santa going.

Those girls had better
still be asleep.

Santa's got a lot of houses
to get to.

Was that cool?

Oh my gosh!

Holy cow!

Oh my gosh!

You just saw Santa.

Where's Rudolph?

I think
he's on the roof.

Oh I can't believe it.

I can't
believe it either.

This is the first
time in my entire life

that I saw Santa.

That's amazing.

It's the first time
that I ever saw him.

- You know, those kids

are never gonna forget
that experience.

Ah, I might just
do one more year.

♪ All I want for Christmas

- Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho,
ho, merry Christmas

to you and to everyone.

- Ho, ho, ho, ho!

♪ All I want for
Christmas is you ♪

- Ho, ho, ho.

♪ There's just one
thing I wanna see ♪

♪ That's you there
under that tree ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, ho.

♪ Honey all I want
for Christmas is you ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas.

♪ With all these silent nights

- St. Nicholas in his
current manifestation

is universally recognized
for his ho, ho, ho.

♪ Jingle bells just
wouldn't ring ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas.

- I really don't have a ho, ho.

♪ 'Cause without you
here, that cheer ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, ho,
merry Christmas.

♪ And all I want for
Christmas is you ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, excuse
me I coughed on that one.

♪ And all I want for
Christmas is you ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, and
merry Christmas,

which I have to
admit it is better

than Hanukkah, even
though I'm a Jew.

♪ That's you there
under that tree ♪

♪ Honey all I want
for Christmas ♪

- Ho, ho, ho.

- Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas.

Ho, ho, ho, it just
seems so.

♪ For those little
girls and boys ♪

♪ 'Cause those things

- Ho, ho, ho and happy holidays.

- I can only imagine what
James Edgar would do.

Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!

♪ And all I want for
Christmas is you ♪

Ho, ho, ho,
ho, ho, merry Christmas!

- I don't know if you
know, like snowflakes,

there are no two ho hos are
exactly alike.

I tickled myself with that.

♪ There's just one
thing I wanna see ♪

♪ That's you there
under that tree ♪

- Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho
merry Christmas everybody!

- I'm not a jolly fat
man, I don't ho, ho, ho.

♪ Just you all I want

- Happy Christmas to all
and to all a goodnight.