Then and Now: Spotting Santa in Spokane
![Present day: Santa Claus (firefighter Russ Reser) poses Wednesday on the truck-mounted sleigh that the firefighters’ union uses to carry Santa through Spokane neighborhoods. The truck-mounted Santa has been going on tours around the city for more than 50 years. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/97x3NhwoW3h8dSQeipi6qNiKuQE=/1200x800/smart/media.spokesman.com/photos/2015/12/20/firefightersanta.jpg)
Spokane kids have always loved Santa Claus. The jolly elf with a white beard and red suit who grants wishes is an American character shaped by Clement Moore’s 1822 “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and magazine illustrations by Thomas Nast.
Santa Claus shows little similarity to St. Nicholas, the 4th-century monk known for leaving gifts in stockings. Dutch immigrants to the United States celebrated that early saint, whom they called Sinter Klaas, short for St. Nick.
Santa Claus was at the center of the commercialization of Christmas throughout the 20th century. Store Santas were common in Spokane, starting in the 1920s. The Santa craze peaked in the 1950s, when Santa letters flooded the Post Office, Santa appeared in ads for everything from heating oil to new cars, retail stores planned their year around the holiday and kids queued up to talk to Santa.
In 1954, an estimated 5,000 children waited to see Santa Claus arrive in downtown Spokane in a reindeer-drawn sleigh. Santa has been used as a goodwill ambassador for companies, clubs and organizations, like the Spokane firefighters union, which has paraded a Santa, riding on the back of a truck, for more than 50 years.
In the 1960s, the Retail Trade Bureau and Pacific Northwest Bell organized a time to call and talk to Santa. Kids who lived out in the country had a hard time getting to see Santa, so they had to use the phone.
From a Dec. 22, 1951, Spokesman-Review story: The voice on the phone was young, but confident. “These little kids asked me to call the North Pole for ’em,” said Bobby Archendall, 13. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I called The Spokesman-Review. I thought maybe someone could talk to ’em. You see, they still believe in Santa Claus.”
It was 5 p.m. and busy reporters were on deadline, hunched over typewriters, reporting on a big snowstorm. The operator transferred the call to a female reporter. “Hello!” squealed an excited little girl. “I’m Rosalie and I just wanted to tell Santa what I want. Is he there?” But she didn’t wait for an answer before launching into her list of dolls and accessories.
The busy reporter had to improvise. “Santa’s out in the toy shop right now,” she said, “but I’m taking messages for him.”
A 6-year-old brother named Todd took the phone and asked for an electric train, a drum and a football. The reporter double-checked each list. Todd said, “Tell him I’ll be good. I gotta go eat now,” and hung up.
Typewriters clattered on, but there was a grin at every one of them.
– Jesse Tinsley