Is Rudolph’s story politically correct? Should he be dropped from our Christmas celebrations? Is he now passe? Those questions are brought to the table by the Professor’s House website. Of course, Rudolph came onto the scene in 1939 when Rudolph the Christmas promotion coloring book for the Montgomery Ward department store. An employee, Robert L. May, developed the character in 1939’s coloring book.

Professor's House

The Professor’s House article says, “Rudolph is once again struggling to gain acceptance, only this time it’s not from his reindeer pals, but from parents. In our hyper-sensitive super politically correct world, Rudolph is being turned away from childhood stories. It isn’t that Rudolph himself is so politically incorrect, but apparently there are those out there who believe that Rudolph should be taken on his own merits and not judged on what service he can provide for others. . . .

“Of course, Rudolph underwent many story lines before the final and now frequently memorized version came to light. Originally, Rudolph lived in an entirely segregated reindeer village, still the victim of taunting and teasing, but in a warm and loving household. Santa has been unaware of the reindeer’s glowing nose until he caught a peek of the red light from under Rudolph’s bedroom door while delivering the presents to Rudolph and his family. The foggy and nasty weather outside had already caused multiple delays and a few accidents, and thus Santa wake Rudolph from his sleep to ask for his assistance. He was instantly heralded as a hero by the reindeer that had never met him before, and won the perpetual adoration of Santa without hesitation.

“In this version of the story, Rudolph did not have to win the respect of his brutal taunting peers, he simply showed up. Perhaps this version would have rung a better chord with the current Rudolph rejectors of today.”

“Just like all children’s stories of classic creation, the morals do not always exactly match what we would teach our children, but the basic criteria are still there. Rudolph still learned to be himself, he never tried to remove or amend his shining bright red nose. He knew to love himself and eventually others would see that he was a gift just like all other reindeer. Sometimes, all our own children can do is love themselves and hope that someday someone may recognize their true potential.”

[To see the entire article, http://www.professorshouse.com/family/holidays/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer.aspx Do you agree? disagree? -- Santa Walter]

Santa For Events serves a broad range of quality Santa appearances. In clarifying answers to the Bay City News reporter, Allecia Vermillion, it is clear that there are at least 8 different Santa appearance scenarios (with differing mix on how much group entertainment versus private conversations versus photo shoot):

Santa teams with companion Elves for a quality experience

1. intimate family setting, 1 to 6 children, 20 to 30 minutes;
2. home party with 12 to 25 children, 40 to 60 minutes;
3. small company Christmas party on their premises (employees and families with 12 to 30 children, and occasionally a party with just  adults.)
4. mid-sized company party with crafts, face painting, cookie decorating, storytelling, games, with Santa photos as a highlight.
5. intermediate company Christmas party (employees and families, up to 600 people with 200 children)
6. management company hosting Christmas party for their tenants, both offices and apartments
7. non-profit organization public appearance (e.g. History San Jose and Happy Hollow Park and Zoo – photo session of 2 hours, antique fire truck entrance, $100 honorarium)
8. retail space photo shoot for client who sells photo packages to the public

Within those 8, there is variety on what type and how much group entertainment is expected. That’s why the 5 different monologues! Some of the monologue lines are aimed at listening adults while being addressed to children. Sometimes, it is for everyone; other times Santa is entertaining adults.

Santa Walter of Santa For Events

Santa Walter, along with Santa Charles, are well represented in recent news articles. The secrets of being a professional premier Santa are revealed.

• KRON4 article: San Jose Teacher is a Santa to Believe In Created by Kimberlee Sakamoto on 12/23/2009 9:49:00 AM –  “For San Jose elementary school teacher Walter Roach, the holiday  season starts with a standing appointment to get his beard bleached every  year over Thanksgiving weekend.”
  

• KCBS has interviewed Santa Walter for some radio spots as well.
  

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is approaching quickly already!  Where did all the time go?  We are excited to visit for your family Christmas party this year and excited for all the little ones.  Some children will be celebrating a first Christmas this year!  We are also excited for a visit with the adults in the family.  We can’t wait to see all the children and adult faces light up when they see Santa!

"Twas the Night Before Christmas . . . "

In addition to the baskets containing candy canes, goodness coins, a couple of books that might work to share, jingle bells to ring, antlers and a Rudolph nose for children with which to pose, there are also gift-goodie bags (just a little something), small Christmas tattoos, friendship braclets, and stickers, as desired and as we can fit them in. Since each group is dynamic, no one program works for all groups!

"Have you been naughty or nice?"

Thanks so much for inviting Santa For Events to your home Christmas party!

Should Santa Claus Walk?

By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide

Updated December 17, 2009

About.com Health’s Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Is Santa Claus an unhealthy role model for children? He is overweight, eats cookies, and uses a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer rather than getting around walking or biking. Should Santa change to walking for transport and eat healthier throughout Christmas Eve? <http://walking.about.com/od/holiday/a/santaclauswalk.htm>

Snow in 1932 in San Jose

Yes, Virginia, it CAN snow in San Jose!

Did you recognize Saint James Park under snow? This photograph was taken in 1932 after San José’s heaviest snowfall in fifty years. The San Jose Evening News reported snowball fights in a cactus field; a dusting of snow on the annual Fiesta de las Rosas Parade; and a run on film by residents wanting to photograph the winter wonderland. This is just one of more than 75,000 images that HSJ cares for in the Research Library and Archive. [Reposted from History San Jose]

Santa Reads in Willow Glen

Mark December 19, 10:00 AM on the calendar! Returning to Le Boulanger, (map) Santa reads to children every year in Willow Glen, arranged by Norma of the Willow Glen Professional & Business Association. There is no cost involved, and hot chocolate and cookies are being provided by Le Boulanger. Santa says, “Giving back to the community in a worthwhile way is all part of Christmas spirit.”

The address is:
1351 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125-3034

Hours: 6 AM-6:30 PM Mon-Sat

Sunday 7AM-5PM

(408) 288-7095

Norma said, “Santa Walter, looks like we are confirmed for Saturday, 12/19 at 10am at Le Boulanger.  I am so EXCITED!  I want you to know that all I have to do is visit your website for a quick attitude adjustment – you create happiness.  Thank you! Thank you!  Oh, cookies and cocoa will be provided.”

[Editor's NOTE: An engineering friend passed on this article. The following humorous detailing of the physics involved does not take into account the way that time is divided, sub-divided, and divided continually. You know: hours: minutes: seconds: tenths of seconds: hundredths of seconds, etc. Santa simply uses smaller time slices. As Santa does not really pay attention to the math involved, he just does it! -- Santa Walter]

Subject: Is There a Santa Claus: An Engineer’s Perspective

There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the Population Reference Bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming that there is at least one good child in each.

Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second.  This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the  remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get on to the next house.

Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. This means Santa’s sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second – 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour.

The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized Lego set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousand tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a  conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds.

Even granting that the “flying” reindeer could pull ten times the normal amount, the job can’t be done with eight or even nine of them – Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch). 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance – this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth’s atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip.

Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,500 g’s. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.

Therefore, if Santa did exist, he’s dead now. With this in mind, we wish you a Merry Christmas.
–
Randy Duke

A Visit From St. Nicholas

So who really wrote the classic poem we all know and love so well?

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danc’d in their heads,
And Mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap –

[Thanks to ClassBrain.com for clarification on the origin of the classic poem.]

The poem was originally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, but it is now thought to be the work of Major Henry Livingston Jr. (1748-1828)
First publication date: 23 December 1823
Source: The Toronto Library
Source URL: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1312.html

The following notes are courtesy of the Toronto Library:

• In the year 2000, Don Foster, an English professor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, used external and internal evidence to show that Clement Clarke Moore could not have been the author of this poem, but that it was probably the work of Livingston, and that Moore had written another, and almost forgotten, Christmas piece, “Old Santeclaus.” Foster’s analysis of this deception appears in his Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous (New York: Henry Holt, 2000): 221-75.
• [Dunder and Blixem were] Later revised to “Donder and Blitzen” by Clement Clarke Moore when he took credit for the poem in Poems (New York: Bartlett and Welford, 1844).

Notes copyright © 2005, Ian Lancashire for the Department of English, University of Toronto.

Every season Santa Walter donates an appearance to a good cause as a fund raiser. This past season, the donation was to an Oakland school, and the high bidder is a wonderful family that is excited about a visit from Santa!

Santa Fundraiser Donation