Wanted: Amiable and jolly Santa Claus to hear Christmas wishes and pose for photos. Must have stamina and a real beard. Suit will be provided. Twinkling eyes, belly laugh pluses.
So reads the typical ad for a nontypical job.
What makes the work so nontypical is that Santas in malls and department stores all over the world spend every day of the holiday season hearing thousands of gift requests. Santa is both customer service representative and magician, walking a fine line between marketing and mythological magic during the holiday season.
Few other jobs in retail require the same ability to cope with screaming children, overbearing parents and long lines of impatient visitors while trying to live up to the burden of a myth. But the payoff is generous. Who else at retail can make so many children smile? Still, there are grueling demands. What sales clerk has had a cynical visitor tug on his beard to see if it is real?
Then there are the physical requirements of a job that involves having hundreds to thousands of people, of all shapes and sizes, sit on your lap each day. Although it is interesting to note that some stores, such as Selfridges and John Lewis in London, no longer have children sit on Santa’s knee because of sensitivity to current cultural climates.
Difficulties aside, the men who assume the Santa mantle and the businesses that host them take the job very seriously. Some argue it’s not a job at all.
Macy’s Herald Square is very clear that the Santa seen at the eighth-floor Santaland is the man himself. “We have the one and only Santa,” said Elina Kazan, spokeswoman for Macy’s Herald Square flagship. “Santa is Santa, he’s jolly Old Saint Nick. He always says, ‘You have to believe, just like the movie [‘Miracle on 34th Street’].'”
Santa is in residence at Macy’s from the day after Thanksgiving, and Macy’s annual parade, until Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, Kazan said, Santa departs to fulfill his duties delivering toys to all the world’s children.
Because Macy’s Santa has been certified as the real deal by “Miracle on 34th Street,” which was released in 1947, Kazan said there is no hiring criteria for the position. “In terms of qualifications: He’s jolly, he comes down with Mrs. Claus, she makes him cookies, his name is Kris Kringle,” Kazan said.
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Macy’s has had Santa in its store since 1862. His role as grand marshal in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924, the parade’s inaugural year.
Approximately 300,000 people annually visit Santa in Macy’s 13,000-square-foot Santaland during the Christmas season, Kazan estimated. The man in red is assisted by 100 to 200 elves each year. Macy’s elves go through the company’s elf school to learn elf etiquette and how to be good Santa’s helpers.
Harrods in London’s Knightsbridge says it also has the genuine article. “We can’t comment about recruiting because we have the real Father Christmas,” said a spokeswoman. “He comes to Harrods every year in the first week of November, where he is the guest of honor at our Christmas Parade; he then takes up residence in our grotto on the fourth floor and stays until Dec. 24.”
Other stores are less circumspect about the process of establishing an in-store Santa. In London, most Santas are recruited from the entertainment industry, and at many events, companies are subcontracted to source candidates.
Melbry Events, the Twickenham, England-based company providing Santa and his elves to Selfridges this year, said all of its staff is from the entertainment industry and it has a rigorous screening process to find good Santas.
“All Santas and elves must be good at interacting with the public, and when we hold auditions, we do role-plays of numerous situations. For example, we like all our Santas and elves to bend down or sit so they are at child level,” said Melanie Hurley, director at Melbry Events. “They are also given a brief, and instructed on various things including how to handle children with special needs and disabilities.”
John Lewis on Oxford Street has a more personal approach to Santa recruitment. “Our Santa is one of our team who works here all year-round in the toy department,” said Ellie Dossiter, toy department manager. “We chose him because he actually looks like Santa. He starts growing his beard every July to get it ready, and then cuts it off when he finishes on Christmas Eve. We didn’t give him any training, but he is very good with children, and even visits local hospitals.”
But not all Santas are perfect, surely. “We’ve had a smelly Santa before,” said Hurley. “But then, what do you expect with a thick costume, small cabin and no air-conditioning? It just meant we washed his costume more regularly.”
Some placement firms say the qualifications for Santa are largely intangible. “Anyone who wants to play Santa must have a big heart and a lot of love and compassion for children. We also tend to pick people with natural beards,” said Ruth Rosenquist, spokeswoman for the Noerr Group. Noerr contracts out Santas, mostly to Simon Malls. This year the firm placed about 200 Santas, Rosenquist said.
Santa Jim is Noerr’s oldest Santa, at 76. He’s appeared as Santa at the Roosevelt Mall in Garden City, N.Y., for 50 years. Santa Jim also helps Noerr interview and hire its other Santas. He said that, in addition to passing a background check, aspiring Santas must have a jolly personality, a natural beard, the tone of Santa and good grooming habits.
“Children carry the memory of sitting on Santa’s lap into adulthood, and that magic then lives on in their children and their grandchildren,” Santa Jim said.
Santa Jim helped Noerr put together for Santas a top 10 list of things they should know. The list includes thinking like a professional by paying attention to details such as body language and inflection, and never promising a child something that can’t be delivered.
“When asked the impossible or improbable, Santa should use positive phrases like: ‘Santa will see what he can do about that,'” to put the child in a positive mind-set. “Building the child’s sense of self-esteem and inner strength is paramount,” reads one guideline on the Noerr list.
The most popular gift requests Santa Jim gets are Barbies and Baby Alive dolls for young girls, Power Rangers and Spider-Man merchandise for young boys, video games for boys ranging in age from five to 35 and ponies for teenage girls. Santa Jim said he is surprised by how many girls ages 14 to 18 ask for a pony. Most tell him they’ll keep the animal in their bedroom if their Christmas wish is granted.
Santa Jim is at the Roosevelt Mall for 50 days during the holiday season. He said last year he saw 43,000 people during that time.
“I hate to toot my own horn, but I am a drawing card to the mall for merchants,” he said.
There are also opportunities for freelance Santas. Craigslist.com contains numerous listings seeking a Santa or offering qualified Saint Nicks in cities all over the U.S. Rates for freelance Santas vary widely, ranging from flat fees of $175 to $250 for a visit to hourly rates from $16 to $60 an hour.
In the U.S., acting experience isn’t the only route to a Santa gig — aspiring Santas also can go to school. An Internet search turned up at least three Santa schools in the U.S. The Santa Claus School in Midland, Mich., was founded in Albion, N.Y., in 1937 and claims to be the oldest of its kind. It’s a nonprofit organization that teaches Santas how to be, well, Santa. The International University of Santa Claus conducts workshops all over the country teaching everything from how to make a grand entrance to Santa-appropriate grooming and appearance.
— With contributions from Jeanine Poggi, New York, and Lucie Greene, London