Santa Claus Comes to Town - V

Eaton's mounted their first parade for their Montreal customers in 1925 and the tradition continued every year until the FLQ bomb threats in 1969. It was canceled that year and never ran again under Eaton's sponsorship.
The Monday after the parade in Toronto - no one at Eaton's worked on a Sunday, in fact the curtains were closed on their store windows on the "Lord's Day" - many of the floats and all of the costumes would be loaded on freight trains and shipped the 550 kms distance between Toronto and Montreal.

Children who appeared in the parade were often on a waiting list for three years before they were chosen. They were paid a small amount and rewarded with cookies and hot chocolate at the beginning and end of the parade.


The parades were taken over by civic groups after Eatons' discontinued sponsorship and the Toronto and Winnipeg parades continued uninterrupted. There was a decade or more lapse before it was to recommence in Montreal.

It was a long wait before the Parade began and we were always bundled up warm for the parade parkas, scarfs, gloves and toques. But just to remind us that it was even colder where Santa Claus came from he was always preceded by a display of ice and snow.

18 decembre - San Malachia O'Morgair

Santa Claus Comes to Town - IV

Eaton's Department Store held its first Santa Claus Parade in 1905 in Toronto. The Parade was so successful that in 1909 the company decided to stage a similar parade in Winnipeg.
I was one of those kids who thought that giant caterpillar was a monster - I hated creepy, crawly things. I was quite content on year's when it didn't make an appearance.


The small hand-pulled tableau wagons were a good way to recycle paper-mâché figures from previous large floats. Some of them were animated by gear works attached to the wheels.


In 1965 when Eaton's abandoned the Winnipeg Parade because of rising cost and declining profits it was taken over first by the Winnipeg Firefighters and then as a combined effort by various civic groups. This year's parade celebrated 101 continuous years of welcoming Santa to Winnipeg.

16 decembre - Sant'Albina

Santa Claus Comes to Town - III

A few weeks after the 1951 parade had made its way through the streets of downtown Toronto the preparations began for the 1952 edition. Eaton's Special Projects manager began meeting with designers and the construction chief in their suburban workshop. The final designs and plans were settled on in late February and work could begin.


I seem to recall that the only real horses we saw in the parade were those ridden by the Toronto Police Mounted Squad at the beginning of the parade - even Cinderella's steeds were created in the Weston workshops. Unlike today when many floats are created from Styrofoam, in the 1950-60s they were constructed from plywood, papier mâché and wallboard. Forms were cut and shaped on metal, chicken-wire and wood frameworks.


Metallic papers and gallons of paints gave them colour and texture. Floats could take anywhere from two weeks to two months to complete depending on the complexity of the design and animation effects required.


From the earliest days Eaton's floats were known for their animation effects - sew-saws, turntables, prancing reindeer and moving figures. Up until the 1980s the dynamics of movement were accomplished in the simplest manner possible - students hidden within the frameworks manipulated the gears.

12 decembre - Santa Giovanna Francesca Frémiot de Chantal

Santa Claus Comes to Town - II

Though in later years the parades would have definite themes in 1952 the parade had a broader scope. The floats went beyond the traditional fairy tale characters with some fanciful and unusual floats that still reflected the world of children.



Eaton's had published the story of Punkinhead, the sad little ginger-haired bear who wanted to be in the Santa Claus Parade in 1948. By 1950 he had been established as a favourite appearing not only in the Parade but in Toyland as merchandise: stuffed animals, watches, records and story books. He was still a feature as late as 1986 in their Christmas marketing. I only wish I still had my Punkinhead stuffed bear - apparently it would be worth a small fortune today.


Is it just me or does this look like propaganda for the Toronto Board of Education?? Though the colouring book only showed two froggies walking beside the float there would have been 20 or more - all of them Eaton's employees, their family members or students from local schools - all volunteers.



Costumes for the parade were made to standard sizes and marchers were fit to the costumes with minor adjustments being made. Most of the costumes were a size too big so warm clothing could be worn underneath. Even a court lady can get cold when the wind is blowing down Bay Street.

08 decembre - L'Immacolata Concezione

Santa Claus Comes to Town - 1952

Last year I thumbed through the first colouring book that the Eaton company put out in 1951 for their annual Santa Claus Parade. The Parade was a big event in Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg. It meant that Christmas had officially begun - I seem to recall it being on the last weekend of November and Christmas decorations didn't appear until then - anywhere. Of course there is a possibility that I may be romanticism everything with the "things were better back then" brush old folks like me tend to paint things with.

And looking at the calender of Saints I noticed today was Saint Nicholas so what could be more appropriate than starting a look through the following year's parade in the Eaton's collection at the wonderful Archives of Ontario.

The 1951 colouring book had been a runaway success for the store but there had been a few complaints that the drawings were too detailed for younger children to colour. The 1952 and subsequent editions had simplified drawings which allowed for bigger swatches of colour but remained faithful to the fantasy of the floats we saw on the parade route.



Looking at that Drummer following the majorette reminded me that the Black Watch Band always officially led the parade off.


The average float was around 40 feet long but no float could be over 15 feet high because of the overhead electrical and streetcar wires. Of course to us kids they were gigantic and the people riding on them - mostly Eaton's employees - were magical and that Princess! Why she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen!

And over the next few days we'll follow the parade as it wends its 10 kilometre route from Christie Pits to Eaton's Flagship store on Queen St.


06 decembre - San Nicola di Bari

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - VI

A band blaring out "Santa Claus is coming to town" always announced his arrival. One can only think that the poor band members were ready to run screaming into the streets after playing the same tune for two hours.

Earlier Santa's arrived in a variety of conveyances - horse, train, aeroplane and one year in a giant silver fish (!!!!) but by the 50s it was the tradition sleigh drawn by reindeer. And you'll notice that Rudolph is not amongst the lot - he was the mascot of the rival Simpson's store across the street!

And up he headed to Toyland. Where you could ride on Punkinhead's train, play in a fish pond and sit on Santa's lap for a few precious minutes as you whispered your heart's desire into his ear.

20 decembre - San Domenico di Silos

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - V

Sometimes the connection with Santa, Christmas or Fairy Tales was a trifle vague but as long as it was colourful it didn't really matter.
Of course many of the floats were recycled with a chance of colour, an alteration of structure. This year's Animal Fair could be next year's Circus Float - but only the most precocious of children - who are you smirking at? - would have noticed.
Santa was always preceded by a float to remind us - if the blowing snow and below zero temperatures weren't enough as you sat on the curbside - that he came from the North Pole. I recall Teresa Michaelski and I having a heated discussion as to whither the Ice Queen's palace should be coloured blue or pink. What color was ice in your world?

19 decembre - San Dario di Nicea

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - IV

A few more floats, marchers and bands before the man of the hour appears!


The parade route in the 1950s was about 10 kilometres through the centre of Toronto from Christie Street down to Yonge and Queen St where a special staircase led Santa right into Eaton's Toyland.

That first colouring book was very detailed in design and looking at it now it would have been very difficult for some kids to "stay between the lines". Following editions were less accurate depictions of the floats but easier to colour.



18 decembre - San Malachia O'Morgair

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - III

And the parade continues. Most of the marchers in the parade were Eaton's store employees and their families.

I always wanted to be in the parade but I have a feeling the thought of being at the Christie St Transit Barns at 0430 parade morning was the main reason my parent's dissuaded me of the idea.

To a five year old it was a mystery how they could walk on their hands for so long! But then clowns could do anything.

Okay the green duck may have been a flight of my imagination but the cow? No I'm pretty sure cows were purple back then!

17 decembre - San Giovanni de Matha

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - II

There was a brief while in the 30s-40s where more commercial characters like Felix the Cat appeared but by the 1950s the parade was made up of characters from fairy tales, nursery rhymes and childrens books.Clowns were a feature of all the parades - my own favorite were the upside down clowns. The big heads, more in the Mardi Gras tradition, frightened me for some reason.
The tableau wagons were a hold over from the old style Circus parade - and figures could be moved from small wagons to bigger theme wagons in another year's parade.
It hardly mattered that next year Cinderella's coach, minus the crown, would become the property of Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater and his wife. It was all magical.

16 decembre - Sant'Albina

Christmasy Things - Windows

Yes I'm still with the Christmas postings - there are, after all, 12 days of Christmas and I've got a few more things I'd like to share.

There was great rivalry between the two big department stores in Toronto when I was a child. Eaton's and Simpson's stood across from each other, Eaton's on the North East side of Queen and Yonge, Simpson's on the South East. My first credit card was from Simpson's (account number 8T362606 - now how come I can remember that but not the combination to the lock at work?)At no time of the year was that rivalry keener than Christmas.

Eaton's had the yearly Santa Claus Parade and Santa's radio broadcast on CFRB every night at six o'clock. So everyone knew that the real Santa was at Eaton's - my mother explained that the one at Simpson's was his cousin who was giving him a hand because there were so many children to see, you had to hand it to Isabella for quick thinking. I recall I always covered both stores just in case.

They both had their Toyland but for me Eaton's won on that one hands down. Oh yeah Simpson's had a talking Rudolph and a fish pond but Eaton's had Punkinhead the carrot topped bear and a miniature train ride through the North Pole. Fishing I wasn't big on but trains.. well where's the choice? And Punkinhead - I even had a Punkinhead stuffed bear. Wish I knew where that bear was today, they tell me it would be worth something - sic transit orso.

But where Simpson's always came out on top where their Christmas windows, particularly the one at the Queen-Yonge corner. They were wonders of mechanical whirligigs, flying creatures, hard-working elves and sparkling new fallen snow - so different from the gray slush we stood in with nose pressed against glass to see Santa's workshop or a Victorian Christmas in old Toronto. Eaton's were further up on Yonge St and just didn't seem to have the same magic. Maybe it was that extra trudge in the slush or just that first seen was first wonder.

In our previous home in Ottawa that tradition had disappeared with the demise of downtown department stores and the advent of malls but fortunately in most big cities it still survives. I recall Marshall Fields windows when we lived in Chicago and Ogilivy's in Montreal when I lived there. Last year I got to London in time to see them at Fortnum and Mason and this year it was Galeria Kaufhof on the Marienplatz in Munich.



28 dicembre - Strage degli innocenti