Scared Of Santa

Oh The Horror!

When I was a kid, the only Santa worth going to see was Switzer’s Santa on Grafton Street. My parents, my sister and I would stand in line with hundreds of other families in the freezing cold and the line would stretch around the building for what seemed like miles. Back then the windows of the shop would be full of wonderful mechanical scenes of elves in their workshops busily nailing together wooden toys, singing carols and feeding the reindeer. Nowadays Switzers is no more and Brown Thomas stands in it’s place. They did away with the Christmas windows in favour of glitzy mannikins wearing skimpy Santa lingerie and designer gowns. I guess there was no profit in the old Santa’s workshop ones.

Going to see Switzer’s Santa is one of my best Christmas memories because, of course, Switzer’s Santa was the real one. All the others were just Santa’s helpers and that, my mother assured me, is why I could see the stitching on their beards. This became my method of sorting out the real from the stand-ins and the beard on Switzer’s Santa was fluffy and white and seamless.

I don’t remember ever being scared of sitting on Santa’s knee but this webpage gave me a laugh. I can’t say I blame the kids in a lot of these photos…I bet they’ve just spotted the seams: Scared of Santa

6 Responses to "Scared Of Santa"

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  1. Fi

    December 19, 2005 at 3:27 pm

    Classic Photo Claire!

  2. gingerpixel

    December 19, 2005 at 4:44 pm

    I should probably point out that the photo is not my own (although the girl (or maybe it’s a boy) on the left does look a lot like my sister (sorry Debs)). It’s from the link at the bottom of the post.

  3. Paige

    December 19, 2005 at 10:35 pm

    Brings back memories. Mind you, those same elves looked very scary after a night of hard drinking in the Pav. I used to take an alternative route home, cos their eyes would follow me all the way up Grafton street!

  4. cahony

    December 20, 2005 at 3:57 pm

    I can strongly relate to your stories about Switzers, it was an annual trip which will be burned on my brain forever. I think the window displays were the best part of it though. Thank god, cause the queuing was ridiculous.

    Some of those ‘Scared of Santa’ photos are hilarious, although I’d have to admit, I think I’d be scared of the Santa in number 7 myself :/

  5. Sinéad

    December 21, 2005 at 9:38 am

    It’s such a pity Switzer’s is gone, I loved that window.
    I was never scared of Santa, but I remember throwing a wobbler at the circus when a clown came over to talk to me as a kid. I was terrified and still find clowns slightly creepy.

  6. red mum

    December 21, 2005 at 10:55 am

    Those pics were great! I laughed heartily at them.

    And I meant to post about the lack of christmas windows too Sinead, its terrible. Maybe I still will.