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Santa’s role in the Macy’s holiday season is not relegated to the parade and Thanksgiving Day. After the event, Santa Claus takes his place on his throne within the Macy’s store, where he remains until Christmas as a prime holiday attraction for kids and their parents. Equipped with hired elves, Santa greets thousands of children who come through the doors of the colossal store, conducting the usual store-Santa routine of listening to their wishes and posing for a photograph, which parents can purchase from the store.
Despite the large number of children to attend to, Macy’s maintains that there is only one Santa Claus hired. It is known, however, that at least some years have featured two Santas, concealed from one another by a labyrinth such that children cannot see both at once.[1]
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The tradition of an in-store Santa, in fact, originated with Macy’s years before the first parade, and was later adopted by other stores.[2]
In 1926 Santa’s presence drew such crowds that an average of 5,000 children a day visited the Macy’s Christmas grotto. In response Santa was moved out of the toy-department to a “safer” location on another floor.[3]
In-store Santas have since become a holiday staple of department stores and shopping malls across the nation. The practice has proven to be profitable, as it not only attracts customers but gets kids thinking and talking about the toys they want within the walls of the store that sells them. |
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[Images]
Santa with child image courtesy of: <http://www.newyork.de/index.cfm?PID=41081>
Santa with baby image courtesy of: < http://www.azar-ny.com/id4.html>
[1] P&P Online Catalog Start, <http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@band(fsa+8d23938))>
[2] Macy's, "Macy's Company History," n.d. <http://www1.macys.com/store/about/history/index.jsp> (6 December 2005).
[3] William Leach, Land of desire: merchants, power, and the rise of a new American culture (New York: Pantheon Books, 1993), 331-338. |
