The Art of Manliness - April 03, 2014


Episode #12： Interview With Santa Claus


Episode Stats


Length

17 minutes

Words per minute

173.08234

Word count

3,071

Sentence count

244

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Dave Davis is a member of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas. He has been a real beard Santa Claus since 2004 and has been with the order for 5 years. Dave talks about how he became Santa and why he decided to become one.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 This episode of the Art of Manliness podcast is brought to you by Online Great Books.
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00:00:54.160 Brett McKay here, and welcome to a holiday edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
00:00:59.160 Well, because Christmas is this Friday, we decided to invite a special guest on the podcast.
00:01:04.940 Santa Claus is our guest today.
00:01:07.180 Well, at least a guy who works as a Santa Claus.
00:01:09.060 His name is Santa Dave, or Dave Davis.
00:01:11.080 Santa Dave is a member of the Art of Manliness community,
00:01:13.360 and he does work as works and appearances as Santa Claus.
00:01:16.900 He lives in Ohio, and he's a member of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas.
00:01:22.440 So none of that fake beard Santa stuff.
00:01:24.540 Dave, welcome to the show.
00:01:25.640 Well, thank you.
00:01:27.660 Ho, ho, ho. 0.99
00:01:28.900 Merry Christmas.
00:01:31.260 Well, fantastic.
00:01:32.120 Well, Santa Dave, thank you for taking the time out of, I'm sure, your busy schedule to come talk to us.
00:01:37.960 We really appreciate it.
00:01:39.480 So are you ready to get started with the questions?
00:01:42.640 I'm ready.
00:01:43.780 Excellent.
00:01:44.240 Well, Santa Dave, how and why did you become a Santa Claus?
00:01:48.260 Well, it's kind of interesting.
00:01:51.680 I've actually been doing Santa work since I was in high school on different things with the fake beard.
00:01:56.920 Excuse me.
00:01:57.860 We don't use the term fake beard anymore.
00:02:00.140 We use designer beard is a better term.
00:02:04.080 But I was doing that in high school for some different things and some different areas over the years, some church and that.
00:02:10.880 And then a few years ago, I want to say about 2004, I actually had a couple weeks vacation for the first time in a long time.
00:02:19.900 And I just kind of let my beard grow and didn't shave.
00:02:22.140 And it started coming in in a grayish.
00:02:24.660 It felt pretty good.
00:02:25.700 And I said, I just wonder what will happen with it.
00:02:27.880 And so I sort of let it grow for a while.
00:02:29.840 And at the same time, there's actually a very personal reason why I do the Santa now.
00:02:35.420 I had a younger sister named Judy who was going through a bout with breast cancer.
00:02:40.720 And when I went to pick her up right before Christmas at Zion Hospital outside of Chicago, she made a comment about how I was a good-looking Santa.
00:02:51.320 And they actually put a little Santa hat on me.
00:02:53.500 And the nurses came in and took my picture with my sister and et cetera. 1.00
00:02:56.320 And so I kind of took my sister home.
00:02:59.740 She actually passed away two days after Christmas.
00:03:02.800 And so I just decided to keep it and keep going on as being Santa, kind of a little bit of tribute to her.
00:03:09.080 And it's just been a blast.
00:03:11.060 I mean, it's just been a lot of fun.
00:03:12.740 So I wonder why I didn't do it earlier.
00:03:15.200 That's how and why I became Santa.
00:03:17.340 Wow.
00:03:17.520 So you've been doing it since 2004.
00:03:19.180 So that's almost, what, five years?
00:03:21.740 Yeah, with the real beard.
00:03:23.220 With the real beard.
00:03:24.340 Okay.
00:03:24.740 And so your work's kind of unique, Santa Dave, that you don't usually do the typical department store Santa work.
00:03:31.340 Can you tell our readers a little bit about what sort of Santa work you do?
00:03:35.420 Oh, absolutely.
00:03:37.440 I do mainly charities.
00:03:40.160 I also do some private parties.
00:03:43.180 And not to sound selfish, but the reason why I do some private parties is Santa isn't free.
00:03:48.120 I go through a dry cleaning bill of about $250 in the month of December.
00:03:52.540 So, because especially with the H1N1, I have to be conscious of that.
00:03:57.720 I watch the suit after every day.
00:03:59.060 But I do some private parties, but mainly, like I said, charity.
00:04:03.420 I've done work for boys' clubs and girls' clubs, for cancer wards in the local hospitals, for hospice.
00:04:10.420 I just did one fairly recently that was very moving.
00:04:15.820 That was for the Autism Society of Dayton.
00:04:18.680 And there were 34 autistic children that I met with that night.
00:04:23.400 There were one or two that did have a little problem with it, but the majority, like 30 of them, were able to spend some time with Santa.
00:04:30.380 And that was very fulfilling and rewarding.
00:04:33.540 And I've also done a lot of assisted living facilities and other things like that over the course of years.
00:04:39.320 So, during the Christmas season, you will mainly see me at social events, public events for charities and different things.
00:04:49.180 I do deliver for mobile meals.
00:04:51.140 I've also did some mobile meal deliveries with Santa.
00:04:54.320 And that was a trip.
00:04:56.080 I think one lady almost had a heart attack when she opened the door, and there was Santa with a bag of food for her.
00:05:01.560 So, those are the sites of Santa work I do.
00:05:04.860 Well, fantastic.
00:05:05.660 And I'm also a storyteller.
00:05:08.220 So, I actually have a relationship with a local coffee shop here that's kind of neat.
00:05:13.100 I'll do, mainly on Sunday evenings, I'll do a couple hours of very low pressure.
00:05:20.260 I mean, we don't have any photographers or anything.
00:05:22.000 And the kids can come in at their pace and kind of get familiar with Santa.
00:05:26.160 And I tell a story for a while.
00:05:27.960 And it's a very fun festive.
00:05:30.280 There's probably been a dozen kids over the course of the last couple years that, when they walked in the door, were terrified.
00:05:35.600 And by the end of the night, they were sitting on my lap.
00:05:38.540 Because, like I said, one of the reasons I don't like doing the malls is at the meat market.
00:05:42.740 You know, they rush the kids in, grab them, throw them on Santa's lap, and say,
00:05:45.960 You love Santa.
00:05:46.820 And here's this big bearded guy going, Oh, ho, ho.
00:05:48.880 And the kid starts crying his head off.
00:05:50.500 It's not really good for anybody.
00:05:53.140 So, Santa Dave, what's the best part of the job of being Santa Claus?
00:05:59.000 All can I say, I'm Santa.
00:06:00.660 I mean, Santa is big.
00:06:02.680 Just being Santa, it speaks for itself.
00:06:06.420 I don't know if there's really a way to describe it better than that.
00:06:08.940 And I do get a chance to share Christmas with a lot of people and be a part of their Christmas.
00:06:15.740 In some families, I've been a part of their Christmas for several years now and build a nice relationship.
00:06:21.140 And it's just great.
00:06:23.360 And also, being a Christian, et cetera, it's good to be able to spread the birth of Jesus, et cetera, at that time frame.
00:06:31.780 Well, fantastic.
00:06:32.340 Again, are there any downsides to the job?
00:06:36.080 Well, I guess if I wanted to nitpick, there'd probably be a few of them.
00:06:39.980 Sometimes there's some weird hours, and sometimes I overbook myself a little bit.
00:06:45.640 But no, there's really no bad parts.
00:06:48.320 I've not had any problems with any of my, I'll say clients, for lack of a better term, yet.
00:06:54.900 And again, it's being Santa.
00:06:57.420 Yeah.
00:06:58.280 Fantastic.
00:06:58.820 It's great.
00:06:59.480 So I'm sure right now...
00:07:00.360 Now, I do say, and it's not a bad part, but it's kind of interesting.
00:07:03.440 Teenage kids love to tell me I'm Santa.
00:07:06.180 They go look at me, they're Santa.
00:07:07.720 Like, oh, okay.
00:07:08.960 Yeah.
00:07:11.040 Well, I'm sure right now that your schedule's just booked here from now until Christmas.
00:07:17.700 What do you do the rest of the year?
00:07:20.860 Well, actually, I am a project manager with AT&T, and I've been in project management for many years.
00:07:28.180 I'm actually...
00:07:29.660 There's an organization called the Project Management Institute.
00:07:32.980 I don't know if you're familiar with them or not, but it's a global certification standard for project managers.
00:07:38.400 And I've been involved in their executive offices and do a lot of public speaking,
00:07:43.780 professional development days and things like that in the project management arena.
00:07:48.960 Also, I do curriculum work for the University of British Columbia on their program, project management curriculums.
00:07:56.940 And then, like I said, I'm also a project manager for AT&T, a large-scale international customer,
00:08:02.980 where we actually tie our applications together.
00:08:07.000 And just to give you an idea, I'll say American Express has a circuit go down,
00:08:12.280 and they're not able to get transactions from a city to another city that's real money for them.
00:08:17.700 So we actually build interfaces where we're able to notify them that something's down
00:08:23.020 and what we're doing to fix it, and then it comes back up, and et cetera, et cetera.
00:08:27.120 Well, cool.
00:08:27.500 And does this job give you kind of flexibility this time of year to do your Santa work?
00:08:32.100 Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:34.560 Yeah, it's a global job.
00:08:36.720 So there's a lot of mornings at 2 a.m.
00:08:38.800 I'm on conference calls with folks in Cyber Jaya or India or those places.
00:08:43.540 But, like I said, it does give me some flexibility,
00:08:45.460 because sometimes I'm able to slip out at 3 o'clock and do a nursing home or something like that.
00:08:50.900 Very cool.
00:08:51.900 Now, Santa Dave, if a man is interested in becoming a Santa Claus, because it is, I mean, it's a really manly job.
00:08:59.260 Right.
00:08:59.520 What advice would you give them?
00:09:02.060 Well, first of all, they do have to have the passion.
00:09:05.220 If they think, you know, I can make a few bucks around December by being a Santa Claus,
00:09:09.660 if they don't have the passion, it won't work.
00:09:13.060 So, first of all, they have to have the passion for the job.
00:09:15.580 The other thing, the advice is start out small.
00:09:17.780 Maybe be Santa at a local Cub Scout or Girl Scouts or something like that.
00:09:21.620 You can get a fairly reasonably priced designer suit, you know, one from a Walmart or something like that with the fake beard.
00:09:33.620 And just do the little ones.
00:09:35.340 You may or may not want to charge.
00:09:37.600 A lot of them I don't do for charge.
00:09:40.220 I do charge sometimes.
00:09:41.180 As I said, I have pretty significant dry cleaning and other costs of doing business.
00:09:45.040 But I'd start small with that.
00:09:47.140 There's a couple different websites out there.
00:09:50.000 There's a fraternal order of Santas, of which we welcome people with or without bearded Santa that are portrayed apart.
00:09:59.720 And there's a couple other clause nets and et cetera that are out there to get some ideas and hints.
00:10:05.720 I'd say if you're willing to start out with the smaller things, and there's a lot of opportunities, you know,
00:10:12.800 to do some private parties and et cetera, especially around Christmas Eve and that, be involved in your choir, things like that.
00:10:20.440 Just sort of, you know, let people know.
00:10:22.460 Start on the grassroots area.
00:10:24.300 And if you like it and you want to go with the beard, then do the beard.
00:10:27.940 It can take you a good six to nine months to grow the beard, so it's an acceptable level.
00:10:33.400 But that's starting in March.
00:10:35.580 I started mine actually in June the first year I was at Santa.
00:10:39.880 But I think I have a little overdose of testosterone in my body.
00:10:44.160 That helps.
00:10:45.260 But, no, definitely start local in some little things.
00:10:48.680 Like I said, the Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, nursing homes are always looking for people to come and play Santa.
00:10:54.340 And what's neat about with the assisted living facilities and that is those folks know some of the old carols
00:11:01.900 and some of the older things that perhaps aren't as well-known today.
00:11:05.880 Children today, I would say, are a little bit more up to speed with songs like Frosty the Snowman,
00:11:12.300 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Jingle Bells.
00:11:14.860 Why, if you try to pull something like an Up on the Housetop or Winter Wonderland or things like that,
00:11:19.660 they look at you kind of strange.
00:11:21.360 Why, the older people tend to know those songs.
00:11:23.860 Do you need the holly jolly belly that shakes when you laugh like a bowl full of jelly,
00:11:28.220 or is that not necessary?
00:11:30.300 It's really not necessary.
00:11:31.740 Well, there's some places out there that are into the skinny Santa or the fit Santa.
00:11:36.740 Actually, I've been fortunate that since I started Santa, I've actually lost in the neighborhood of 50 pounds
00:11:42.020 and hadn't hurt my work at all.
00:11:45.780 Well, if I'm correct, wasn't like the Victorian Santa skinny and like the, I don't know,
00:11:51.680 somehow the American Santa Claus kind of became the holly jolly guy that we all know.
00:11:57.060 Right.
00:11:57.520 Well, actually, the line in The Night Before Christmas was a ripe jolly old elf,
00:12:02.420 and that's kind of where it came from.
00:12:04.280 But yes, the Victorian Father Christmas and Sinterklaas and that in the Dutch area,
00:12:10.580 they were all thin, scraggly woodsmen.
00:12:13.720 I mean, they're almost wizard-like in their appearance.
00:12:18.060 I noticed on your website that you actually make appearances as different types of Santa Claus.
00:12:22.960 Yes, I do.
00:12:23.800 What are some of these Santa Clauses you appear as?
00:12:26.820 Well, I do one, as I call it, the Middle Earth, Father Christmas.
00:12:32.500 J.R.R. Tolkien, who everybody knows as the writer of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and et cetera,
00:12:37.480 actually published a series of letters that he wrote to his children as Father Christmas through the 20s
00:12:44.820 and up into the war.
00:12:46.820 But one of mine, I was able to pick up a Santa suit that had half moons and stars on it, kind of wizard-ish.
00:12:54.580 So one of my personas is the Father Christmas of Middle Earth, where I talk about the J.R.R. Tolkien stuff,
00:13:02.340 and that kind of influences things.
00:13:03.980 Because he had polar bears with him at the North Pole,
00:13:06.060 and he actually had gnomes that were evil opponents to him and some other things.
00:13:13.940 I also do more of a Victorian Father Christmas.
00:13:18.180 I'm fortunate that I have a wife who loves to sew.
00:13:21.800 I'm unfortunate that I have a wife who likes to play dress-up or husband. 0.98
00:13:27.420 But the nice thing about that, my wife has made me a couple costumes or uniform, whatever term you want to use,
00:13:34.160 as both Santa Claus and the Father Christmas.
00:13:37.020 And she did a green Victorian Father Christmas, which has been very well received.
00:13:42.220 I've done several banquets and different things like that.
00:13:46.940 I did a local opera house fundraiser for their Toys for Tots, the Victorian Father Christmas.
00:13:54.080 I told a story about the little boy who walked under Scrooge's window on Christmas morning
00:14:00.400 and went and got the turkey and some of those things.
00:14:03.120 I've had a lot of fun with that persona also.
00:14:05.800 And then the traditional American Santa.
00:14:08.140 And there's a couple different flavors of him.
00:14:09.820 I'm, you know, realistically the storyteller has one approach.
00:14:13.680 And if I'm just going to be doing gift-giving or things like that, I'll have a little bit different approach.
00:14:18.980 And then there's one that kind of leads carols and some of that.
00:14:22.940 It's a little bit more of a lounge singer type, I guess.
00:14:28.160 But it's fun.
00:14:29.040 And the thing is, it's Santa, and there's usually a festive mood to start with.
00:14:33.280 I just try to build upon that festive mood that's already there.
00:14:36.660 Well, fantastic.
00:14:37.200 Well, speaking of festive mood, any last-minute tips on getting into the holiday spirit from the big man himself?
00:14:43.920 Well, first of all, I think the holiday spirit gets into you.
00:14:47.380 I think what you have to do is just relax and just go with it.
00:14:50.940 And, you know, don't stress over anything here.
00:14:53.300 You know, there's no such thing as a perfect gift, so don't worry about trying to get the perfect gift.
00:14:59.040 If the person's not appreciated with what you give them, you know, kind of brush off your shoes and go on.
00:15:05.800 Be comfortable with yourself, and I think the spirit will find you.
00:15:09.340 And enjoy it.
00:15:09.980 Get out and do things.
00:15:11.220 Go to the local light shows or drive around the neighborhood and look at the decorations or other things like that.
00:15:18.360 Go to the video store if you don't have it, rent it, it's a Charlie Brown Christmas.
00:15:22.200 Pop some popcorn, heat up some cocoa, and put it in the DVR and sit and watch that.
00:15:27.980 Those little things, the memories.
00:15:30.520 As I tell people, Christmas spirit will find you whether you want it or not.
00:15:35.140 And it's just if you want to let it in is really the issue.
00:15:38.800 And if you just relax and just kind of enjoy and don't read too much into it, don't try to make it more than it is,
00:15:46.300 I think you'll have a great time.
00:15:47.540 Well, fantastic.
00:15:48.700 Well, Santa Dave, thank you again for your time, and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
00:15:54.860 I do too, and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
00:15:57.760 And I will see you Christmas Eve, but you probably won't see me.
00:16:01.780 And thanks for all the wonderful manly tips you've given on the website to be able to do gifting and all that for the manly men out there.
00:16:10.380 You're very welcome.
00:16:11.480 Thank you, Santa Dave.
00:16:12.560 Okay.
00:16:12.940 Well, ho, ho, ho.
00:16:14.540 Merry Christmas, and we will see you Christmassy.
00:16:17.600 Our guest today was Dave Davis, also known as Santa Dave.
00:16:22.120 And Santa Dave is a professional Santa Claus.
00:16:24.420 And you can find out more about his work at christmas-lore.com.
00:16:28.600 Well, that wraps up another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
00:16:39.140 For more manly tips and advice, make sure to check out the Art of Manliness website at artofmanliness.com.
00:16:44.600 And from all of us at the Art of Manliness, we wish you a very safe and a very Merry Christmas.
00:17:14.600 And from all of us at the Art of Manliness podcast.