Dear Santa Letters

During its century and a quarter existence the Eaton's Santa received hundreds of thousands of letters from thousands of Canadian children.  By 1915, Santa was receiving 15,000 letters.  Every letter was given a response.  Here are a few samples:

1.  Janet wrote:  "I sure enjoyed your parade last Saturday.  I was lucky and had a very good seat in the City Hall.  So I got a very good view of yourself and your reindeer."

2.  David wrote:  "How are you feeling today.  I saw the Santa Claus Parade on TV because I wasn't feeling too well...I would like a Johnny Astro or a motorrific car and something for Budi bird."

3.  Mary wrote:  "Please would you give me some doll house funcheur (furniture)...I have some Coke and food for your reindeer.  I will right (sic) the names of them if I could but I can't.  There is a pichure (sic) for you."

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/eatons/letters.aspx#top

The Eaton's Santa Claus Parade is Christmas

"The Eaton's Parade is Christmas." (Bruce West)

http://www.torontovintagesociety.ca/2014/11/torontos-santa-claus-parade-est-1905.html

It all started in 1905 when a man in a red suit and white beard arrived at Union Station in Toronto. Accompanied by the Eaton family, he walked to the Eaton's store on Queen Street as a crowd looked on.  Not to be outdone, two years later, he arrived on horseback to be greeted by excited children and their parents.  From 1910 to 1912, the parade was a two day event, starting in Newmarket and finishing in Toronto at Massey Hall, where Santa Claus was welcomed by 9000 children.  In 1913, Santa arrived by a sleigh pulled by eight live reindeer from Labrador.  

Santa arrives via sleigh pulled by live reindeer courtesy http://blogs.canoe.com/parker/2009/11/11/.

In 1917, floats were added to the parade for the first time, all built by Eaton's employees.  Volunteers rode on the float, outfitted in costumes sewn by Eaton's seamstresses.  In 1919, Santa Claus made a grand entrance, arriving by airplane.  In 1930, the Mother Goose float premiered at the parade, becoming a thirty year tradition.  The Great Depression did not deter Santa Claus or the parade planners:  the parade continued as planned, although some of the floats would have been made of cheaper materials.  The Second World War did not interfere with the parade either, although the floats were pulled by horses rather than gas guzzling tractors.  In 1941, half a million spectators attended the parade.

A crowd awaits Santa in 1918 courtesy http://blogs.canoe.com/parker/2009/11/11/.

The 1950's ushered in a new era as the parade was telecast on TV for the first time.  While in 1949, only 3600 Canadian households had a television set, by 1960, three quarters of Canadians owned one.  Many tuned in to the parade which included 2000 participants by 1952.  Children who volunteered for the parade were paid a small fee.  Colouring books were handed out to children in the crowd.  Eaton's took out full page ads in the newspaper to promote the event.  The parade, the largest of its kind in North America at the time, never grew old.  As one Torontonian explained:  The parade promoted "a rare and special thing called wonder".

http://deskwindsor1.rssing.com/chan-11959857/all_p10.html

Once Santa Claus arrived at the Eaton's Store on Queen Street, children would line up in front of the magical Christmas window and push their noses up to the glass to catch a glimpse of the latest toys. The line wound its way around to Toyland, where the tots each took a turn on Santa's knee, sharing with the jolly man their Christmas wishes.  

Eaton's Toyland Display courtesy http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/eatons/memories1.aspx.

While Eaton's withdrew their sponsorship in 1982 due to financial difficulties, the parade continues. As Torontonian Bruce West explained:  "The Eaton's parade is Christmas".  The two cannot be separated.

Parade circa 1952 courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/torontohistory/10967017703.

Frozen Facts

After seeing the Frozen production at Hollywood Studios in Disney World, Rob and I decided it was high time we watched the movie.  We loved the story and the music, especially the song "Let it Go", which was written in only one day.  Here are ten facts you may not know about the runaway hit from last Christmas.

1.  Elsa, the queen of Arondale, was originally supposed to be a villain.

2.  The names Hans, Kristoff, Anna and Sven are a tribute to The Snow Queen author Hans Christian Andersen.

3.  Walt Disney wanted to make a movie based on the short  The Snow Queen, which inspired Frozen, since the 1940's.

4.  Since the movie frozen was released, Elsa and Anna have become popular baby names for girls.

5.  Fifty different animators worked on the scene in which the ice palace is built.  The production team visited a hotel made of ice for inspiration.

6.  In March of 2014, two Boston firemen sang "Let it Go" to a little girl trapped in an elevator to calm her down.

7.  The painting in the palace gallery is a representation of Jean Honore Fragonard's The Swing.

8.  Limited edition Frozen Anna and Elsa dolls have been selling for $10,000 on eBay.

9.  Olaf references Bert's penguin dance from Mary Poppins when he performs "The Summer Song".

10.  Online searches for flights to Norway have increased by 153% and tourism in Norway has drastically increased since Frozen premiered.

11.  Frozen is the highest grossing animated film of all time.

12.  Because of her braid, Elsa has 420,000 CGI strands of hair, 10 times the amount of Rapunzel.

13.  An actual reindeer visited the studio to serve as inspiration for the character of Sven.

14.  The longest single frame in the movie took 132 hours to complete.

15.  The animation team created a snowflake generator program to build 2,000 different snowflake designs.

Source:  "54 Things You Never Knew About Frozen"
at http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/frozen-is-awesome#.xpKQDjJqw.

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