Santa's Pet Day

One of the worst days for a Mall Santa is Pet Day.  This a day when Pet Owners get to bring Fluffy, Duke, and little FiFi to get a picture with Santa.

It is a joyous day for the pet owners, but not Santa.

These Animals, for the most part, want to be there less than Santa does.

They squirm, fidget, and lick Santa.

The worst animals will try to crawl up you and get in your beard.

I have been humped, licked, and had Great Danes try to sit on my lap.

And the Bad breath.  Most of it smells like week old garbage.  It is tough to smile when you feel like you are going to vomit on the set.

My worst experience was with a pair of Ferrets. They would not stop wiggling back and forth.  They were Slinky's on steroids who have one objective:  your beard.  They bounced out of control in each of my hands until they got there.  Each of them got tangled in my beard. I was freaking out.  I was trying to get them off my face.  Their owner kept telling me they would calm down, which they didn't.  They headed for my hat.
These stinky rodents were more interested in creating chaos than taking a picture.  But we did it by getting help pinning them against my stomach.

When it was done, I was left with tiny scratch marks on my face, and an instant dislike for ferrets.

And of course the call of "next pet" came from the camera person.. fortunately for me it was a docile chihuahua.

Go Forth and Do Well

Shane

Origins of a Mall Santa Claus

Bringing Magic to the Mall

 It takes all kinds to become a Mall Santa.  All have one pressing need: money.  Most Santa's basically treat it like a job.  Even fewer want to convince children that they are truly are the Jolly Old Elf.  A small minority, however, want to create a magical experience that brings people back to your Mall every year.  I was one of those.

I treated it like an acting job.  Being a method actor at heart, I became Santa every time I was on the set.  Anyone can listen to kids read off their lists, sit still for pictures, and be semi convincing to children.  It is a special few that can make children believe.

The suit, the beard, and the set are just props.  It is the man and his imagination that make the experience have meaning.

I was a part-time fake bearded Santa.  That is the lesser of the two kinds of Santas.  Malls prefer Full season and fully bearded Santas.  My kind of Santa means you have more than one Santa at your Mall.  Sometimes as many as 3 or 4 of them work the same mall. So you can see the dilemma it can cause for parents and kids who make multiple trips to a given mall.

I wanted to be the best I could be.  After all I was taking on a job where my picture would be in more homes than Elvis and Michael Jackson.  I took that responsibility seriously.

My Santa was different to say the least.  When I came out to the set, I treated it like I was a rock star greeting his fans.  On the set I made if fun for the kids.  I used accents, humor, and every tool I had in my bag of tricks.

If the camera went down, I found ways to insure we didn't loose our audience.  If had people who didn't want photos we would politely pull them through the line.  When those people were gone, I lead the rest in carols until our problem was fixed.

The job isn't always easy.  There are times when patience isn't just a virtue, its the name of the seat you sit on.

Why I became a Mall Santa

Why I became a Mall Santa

Becoming a Mall Santa isn't like any other job.

Growing up I wanted to be President.  I even thought I wanted to be a teacher.

When you are young and believe in Santa you don't think that his job is available.

I wanted to be an actor, a writer, and a soldier. Santa wasn't a job that ever crossed my mind until my sisters had kids.

It all started with a small dilemma that my sister Kim had.  She wanted her kids to visit Santa Claus without going to the mall.

She wanted pictures of her kids with Santa.

My first wife, Dorothy, said "Why don't you be Santa?"

That is how it all began.

Next thing I knew I was the Santa for my National Guard unit's Christmas Party.  And then that became an annual thing.

Then it stopped for years.  The Costume gathered dust in a closet. My wife and I divorced.  I moved to New Mexico. It seemed that my days as Santa were over.

I remarried.  Times got tough.  I needed to make some extra money during the holidays.

Like magic an add for Mall Santa's appeared in the local newspaper.  I thought about how much fun it was to be Santa.  I thought about how easy it was to get into the role. So I applied.

That was the beginning of my journey as the Jolly Old Elf.