The Strange History of Santa Schools
Every December, shopping malls, markets, parades, and office parties call in an army of Santas to headline their Christmas festivities. Donning the red suit is no small responsibility: The best Santas must know the correct way to say “ho ho ho,” how to squint those magical eyes and apply the right amount of makeup for rosy cheeks, and how to care for that signature beard — and also stay calm and react safely should a little one try to give it a yank. So how are these skills perfected? Welcome to the strange world of Santa schools.
While the history of Santa Claus dates back to the fourth century CE and a generous man known as St. Nicholas, professional Santas are just a little more than a century old. The idea of Santas-for-hire began taking shape in the late 19th century, when American department stores began turning holiday shopping into a full-fledged production.
By 1910, any store with a toy department was expected to have a jolly, white-bearded man for children to tell their Christmas wishes to. As stores scrambled to fill the red suit, one boy in Albion, New York, found himself captivated by the character. That boy, Charles W. Howard — who first played Santa in a school play as a child and never grew out of the role — would go on to teach generations of others how to properly become St. Nick.
After spending time playing Santa in several upstate New York stores, Howard grew disillusioned with what he saw among many of his fellow Santas: cheap suits, unkempt beards, and a lack of storytelling flair. So in 1937, Howard opened the Charles W. Howard Santa School right in his own home. With just three inaugural students, it was a humble operation — and deeply idiosyncratic.
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During their schooling, prospective Santas studied the season’s must-have toys and treasured stories, and were coached on how to handle a kid if they cried. No detail was overlooked: Howard even hired a reindeer expert from Michigan to teach the Santas how to properly feed and handle the Christmassy creatures. His belief that Santa Claus required both heart and craft showed in his deeply earnest, almost spiritual teachings.
Howard’s passion and skills paid off: He was hired to play Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City from 1948 to 1965, and served as a consultant on the 1947 classic film Miracle on 34th Street. When Howard died in 1966, his school moved to Michigan and continued under new leadership, eventually becoming the flagship institution known as the “Harvard of Santa Schools” in what was an increasingly crowded field.
By the 1960s, Santa schools had multiplied. After Howard’s home-based operation took off, similar programs sprouted up across the country. The world of Santa training became even more elaborate. There are now symposiums on beard bleaching, as well as marketing and business lessons for those looking to take their Santa role pro. The child-first approach that informed Howard’s earliest teachings carried into modern Santa schools: Many offer the services of early childhood educators and specialists with experience working with children facing anxiety, loss, or other challenges.
Even as Christmas wish lists and Santa-experience expectations evolve, the core thread remains the same: Santa shouldn’t just be imitated, he should be embodied. “He errs who thinks Santa enters through the chimney,” Howard once said. “Santa enters through the heart.” Nearly a century later, his sincerity lives on. Strange as Santa schools may seem, they also keep the magic of Christmas alive, turning Kris Kringle into much more than a costume, but rather a presence that lives vividly in a child’s imagination.
