1979_12 The Daily Collegian December 1979

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December 10,1979
The Daily Collegian
They still believe, the little ones'
CSUF student moonlights as Santa Clause
According to Santa Claus, this year's
kids are being affected by the rising cost
of living and are asking for less.
Santa, also known as Mark Price, a
CSUF Radio-TV major, spends several
days a week talking to boys and girls at
Fashion Fair Mall and hearing their
Christmas wishes.
"Kids this year aren't asking fc a lot
of things. Last year, they'd ask for about
11 things. This year, they just ask for one
or two things, like a little girl will ask
for a doll or a coat. I guess their parents
have drilled it into them," he said.
He said one of the most frequent re¬
quests he hears from little girls is for
a Makeup Barbie. "I get ten thousand
a night," he said. "The boys want'trucks
and cars. Skates are very big this year,
too," he added
As Santa Claus, he hears some
strange requests, also. "One little girl
lust wanted a tiny bottle of perfume
because her brother stank," he said.
Price works year round as a Child¬
ren's ontertainer. He makes his living
as a professional clown and magician.
He has been a Santa Claus before, so he
is accustomed to working with the
youngsters and  making  them  feel   at
"Some of the kids get pretty scared.
When they get up there, about 40 per¬
cent open up and 60 percent clam up. If
they don't say anything, I suggest
things, like a truck or something, and
pretty soon their eyes light up and they
start talking."
■s on the knee of Santa.
Photo By Kip Smith
Although he has done some of his
magic for youngsters as Santa Claus,
this job is strictly talking to the little
ones while the "elves' take a polaroid
picture of them. * I try to talk to the kids
as much as I can, but with this outfit,
they 're out to make money' on the
pictures. If they had their way, it would
just be one kid after another."
But the youngsters are still excited to
see Santa, he said. 'They still believe,
the little ones," he said. 'The thing to do
is to catch their eye in line, and make
some eye contact with them. I try to
pick their name up in line -- I never ask
them. I try to pick it up from someone.'
"The kids are good this year. I never
get any 'brats'," he said, adding that
the only ones that are any trouble are
little ones who are afraid but their
mothers force them Up there anyway.
He has to be careful, he added, be¬
cause quite a few of them have come
back to see him a second time, and he
has to be able to recognize them. "One
little girl had her grandmother bring her
all the way back to tell me that her
mother wouldn't let her leave any car¬
rots for Santa," he said.
He also gets some "big kids" who
come in to have their pictures taken,
he said. "One old lady came in to have
her picture taken with me to send to her
relatives back east," he said. What did
she want for Christmas? 'She wanted a
new house,'he said.
'A lot of teenagers come in to have
their pictures taken with me. The older
girls usually want boyfriends. Some
want cars, but most ask for boyfriends,"
he said. "And five foot 11 is the most
popular height," he added.
At $4 an hour
The fine art of hiring, applying for, the job of Santa
How does someone become a Santa
Claus? I was curious so I decided to ask
some questions at the Fashion Fair
office to find out how they hire a Santa.
"I'll be with you in a little while," the
lady said to me, "I have an interview
with a prospective Santa. You can sit in
if you like."
Thinking it would be a perfect oppor¬
tunity to find out what the process was
like, I accepted the offer.
'The people running this business are
not very successful," she explained to
me. "The mall has always run it before
and I think they'll be doing it again." I
wondered how the Santa applicant, a
large man in his twenties with a loud
voice, was taking this information. He
seemed to ignore her statements.
"I don't know what the qualifications
for Santas are. They hired me to do can
wrap and the lady who was supposed to
interview Santas had a nervous break¬
down two hours before the Santas were
supposed to show up," she continued,
handing the man an application.
He proceeded to fill it out. 'It says
here 'references,' but I don't have any.
Well, actually I do, but I don't know his
name. I think it was Bob," he said.
"Bob," the lady repeated.
"Yeah, you know. Bob. Or Don. The
mall guy. I was just standing there and
he was standing there and we were
talking. He said that I'd be a good Santa
Claus. So I called up and quit my job
and came down to apply."
("Oh brother. This is going to be
good," I thought.)
They agreed to skip the  reference
"Position applied for...Santa Claus,"
he said. "Ho-Ho-Hoer." He looked at
us for a laugh. We smiled weakly and
the lady winked at me.
'The job pays $4 an hour. There are
three Santas who work four hours at a
time,' she explained to me. "\'m not
sure how they find them. They must run
an ad or something.''
The young man looked up. "I haven't
been looking in the want ads, really.
I've been really busy. I'm trying to
start a church and it's really a bad time
to be trying to do that,' he said.
"I can understand that," the lady said.
"Everybody would have their own by
now* She added, curiously, "What kind
of church is it?"
("Oh, boy, here it comes," I thought.)
'It's a psychic church.'
('Right,' I said to myself.)
'Actually, it's a second church for
anybody to come to. Christians can come
to it, Buddhists can come to it - anybody
is welcome." He went on to explain
how his church didn't have anything
to do with a Cod or philosophy, it just
worked on the spirit to clean it up'like
a tarnished piece of metal. The inter-
veiwer said that was nice, and I didn't
dare look up for fear of laughing.
'But anyway, back to the application.
'Education.' Do I have to put the exact
address of the grammar school?"
'No,' she answered.
She explained a little more to me
about the operation of the Santa Claus
business. 'The mall doesn't make a
profit on the Santa. It's just there to
bring people into stores. The costumes
and scenery belong to the mall. Usually
they handle it, but this year they decided
to have someone else do it because it's
just frantic here with Christmas."
"So I see,'I said.
"Most people do this to make extra
spending money for Christmas. It's a
nice job for the girls. It's very presti¬
gious to be a Santa's Helper," she said,
adding that the Santa's job was a fun
one, too.
The man looked up again and agreed
that being Santa would be the best thing
in the world. 'If I had enough money,
I 'd give out everything to everyooOy and
it'd be great,' he said.
'What's your name?' I asked the
woman, who said it was Virginia.
'Virginia..?' I needed a last name.
'I don't-want to give^yot. my last
name because *l-*von 't benere after two
more days. I 'm quitting," she said.
"I only wanted apart time job, and
this has turned out to be a full time
thing. I was hired to do can wrap, and
that's a blast, putting things in the can
and wrapping them up. But I'm taking
care of the Santas and helpefs and I'm
in charge of making sure there's some¬
one in the booth when no one shows up.
It's not getting any better and I'm so
tired and disgusted at this stage of the
game that I just don't care, and I'm
so sick of it I know I'm going to have a
terrible Christmas,* she said.
•> I said I was sorry to hear that. I was
ready to leave. As I made my exit, I
debated whether or not to wish them a
Merry Christmas, but decided against it.
I don't know what happened to Vir¬
ginia or Santa Claus, but I'm sure I'll
remember that Christmas interview for a
long time to come. Because now, I've
seen it for myself.
Yes, Virginia, there are a lot of Santa
Clauses. You should know.
They make four dollars an hour.