2 DECEMBER 12, 2021 THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE 3

Opening Lines

A sampling of this year’s 2 00 participants who learned to be Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus at the Charles W. Howard Santa

Claus School in Midland, Mich., in October. Photographs by Nic Antaya

How to portray Santa over Zoom, retain

a properly husky voice — and stay jolly

BY STEVE FRIESS

quality costumes, had no training on interacting with

squirmy or fearful children, and didn’t know about

such topics as the proper care of reindeer (kids often

ask about Rudolph).

Howard, who spent 18 years as the world’s most

visible Santa on the climactic float of the Macy’s

Thanksgiving Day Parade, taught such things. He

turned his school over to a colleague from central

Michigan before his death in 1966 — which is how it

came to be that the 84th annual session of the

Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School kicked off

over three days in October in Midland, Mich., about

125 miles northwest of Detroit.

“We’re here to build the Santa spirit in your

hearts,” promised Tom Valent, the cleanshaven and

relatively trim 71-year-old school director who has

been appearing as Santa locally for 47 years. He was

talking to the 200 Santas and Mrs. Clauses from

across the nation in a community center auditorium

that (coincidentally, Valent insists) boasts bright

green seats and ruby red carpeting.

Valent and his wife, Holly — yes, Holly — took

over the school from its second operator in 1987. “It’s

always worked, and I have all the confidence in the

world that it’s gonna keep working,” he said. “I’m not

going to tell you I’m the greatest Santa. I’m not. I just

love being Santa.”

To folks not in the Santa biz, the “craft” itself

would seem simple: Don ye now the Santa apparel

(plus a fat suit if necessary) and barrel into a room

with a sack of toys over your shoulder or sit on a

What You Learn

at Santa School

B

ack in 1931, millions of Americans were

introduced to the modern image of

Santa Claus through Coca-Cola ads

featuring a bearded, rosy-cheeked

fellow clad in a red suit with white trim.

Santa Clauses soon began popping up across the

land, often at department stores to draw parents and

children and promote sales. Random employees were

frequently thrown into service.

By 1937, a Rochester, N.Y., department store

Santa and full-time dairy farmer named Charles W.

Howard had surveyed the Christmas landscape and

decided someone needed to improve the Santa stock.

Thus began another seasonal tradition: an annual

school where aspirants could learn the fine art of

personifying Christmas. Average Santas lacked