- caption
- A lot of work goes into becoming Santa Claus.
- source
- Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
- Being Santa Claus involves more than
wearing a red suit. - Aspiring professional Santa Clauses attend Santa Claus
school, where they learn everything from the history of Father
Christmas to how to whiten their beards, Vox reported. - Being Santa Claus doesn’t come cheap – one Santa pays $750 to
import his beard from Switzerland.
For premier Santa Clauses, simply acting like Santa Claus isn’t
enough – becoming Santa Claus is what sets them apart.
“There’s two kinds of Santas: There are professional Santas and
there are guys in red suits,” Santa Rick, a former mediator and
divorce arbiter who runs the Northern Lights Santa Academy in
Atlanta, Georgia, told Vox. “And the difference
for me is there are those who want to better themselves and learn
and master the trade, and there are the others.”
That’s what Santa Claus school, where aspiring professional Santa
Clauses learn how to stand out, is for, Vox’s E.J. Dickson
reported.
The Northern Lights Santa Academy also has training sessions for
Mrs. Clauses and elves. But Rick isn’t the only Santa helming a
Santa school. Santa Ed has been running the Santa Claus
Conservatory, an online training program with more than 2,300
aspiring Santas, since 2013. The courses range from $97 to $347.
“At the Santa Claus Conservatory, Ed leads workshops and seminars
on everything from beard whitening and care to the nuts and bolts
of search engine optimization,” Dickson wrote.
And at the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School, more than 200 aspiring Santas
gather each year to attend a three-day series of classes where
they learn everything from the history of Saint Nicholas to
reindeer habits, Business Insider previously reported.
Santa Jim, who has played Santa in the Boston area for more than
14 years, attended a couple of Santa Claus schools to perfect his
role as Father Christmas, he previously told Business
Insider’s Rachel Gillet.
“I’m very high-energy, so I tend to put on a little bit of
a show: The Night Before Christmas, and caroling, and magic,”
said Jim, who is the official Santa Claus for Boston’s tree
lighting and has covered the Red Sox Christmas card.
“A lot of people think being Santa Claus means just showing
up, sitting on the couch, and letting kids sit in your lap. But
what I do is a lot more.”
For Jim, being Santa involves creating
an online presence, booking gigs up to a year in advance, and
working year round – December remains his busy season, for
obvious reasons.
But becoming a professional Santa doesn’t come cheap. Jim imports his beard from
Switzerland for $750, has a belt that costs $400, and spends more
than $300 a year on dry cleaning.
Rick, of the Northern Lights Santa Academy, told Vox that
high-end Santas can earn up to $25,000 a season, but the cost of
travel, lodging, and garb can eat into the pay. A quality Santa
costume and accessories costs at least $1,000 and a beard set
made of human hair can range from $1,800 to $2,500, he said.
It’s also not for the faint of heart. “Anybody can put on a
suit and become Santa, but most people shouldn’t be Santa,” Jim
said. “You have to have a disposition for it, and you have to
love kids.”
He added: “You have to be a performer. Santa Claus puts on
a show.”