Oh, the things we tell small children

or, Why I still believe in Santa Claus but I'm not so sure about Daddy!

by John B. Green III

Two vignettes from my childhood:

Scene One - Me, aged about five, standing with my father at the corner of Middle and Pollock streets after having just seen Santa Claus go by in the Christmas parade.

Me: Daddy, if that was the real Santa Claus, then where are his reindeer and sleigh?

My father (without skipping a beat): Why, parked on top of the Elks Temple building.

The Elk's Temple, Santa's home away from home.

Now up to this point, as far as I knew, my father had always been the fount of all wisdom and truth, so naturally I bought this whopper hook, line, and sinker.  There we were standing at the base of New Bern's five-story skyscraper, me craning my neck to see some sign of reindeer up above, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a cast-bronze elk's head mounted on the corner of the fifth floor.  Now this elk's head indicated the location of the lodge rooms of the Elks, but to my five-year-old imagination it could only mean that a reindeer airstrip and hangar really did exist on the roof! Case closed!

The proof!

Scene Two (a few years later) - Santa had brought me the electric train set of my dreams. I had played with it for days. Eventually it came time to put it away and clear the living room floor.  Dear Ol' Dad said to look in the hall closet where I would find the box which Santa had thoughtfully left behind for storage purposes.

Me: Why does this box say New Haven, Connecticut? Why doesn't it say The North Pole?

My father (after a longish pause): Well, Santa's so busy he sometimes has to use subcontractors.

Me: Hmmm. . .

The beloved toy

The incriminating evidence (note the penciled "Layaway" in upper right corner)

Nothing lasts forever.  With age comes clarity.

But I still believe in Santa Claus!

Christmas 1938

A slow recovery and trouble overseas. 

Sound familiar?

By John B. Green III

Christmas parade, 300 block Middle Street, 9 December 1938.

At home, the Great Depression was in its ninth year.  Abroad, military dictatorships in Germany, Italy, and Japan threatened the peace and stability of the entire world.  There wasn't much reason to be optimistic. 

And yet, Christmas was coming.  Perhaps a parade, complete with Santa Claus, would cheer people up and, for that matter, stimulate sales.  New Bern had been staging these parades for a number of years - Why stop now?

The Sun-Journal reported on Wednesday, December 7th, that Santa had accepted the invitation extended by the New Bern Merchants Association and would arrive on Friday the 9th at 4 o'clock.  Flying directly from the North Pole, he would enter the city on George Street and be escorted by North Carolina Highway Patrolmen to Broad Street where he would be officially welcomed by Mayor W.C. Chadwick.  The route of the parade would be George Street to Broad Street, then Broad Street to Middle Street, down Middle to South Front Street, along South Front Street to Craven Street, then back up Craven Street to Broad where Santa would take his leave of the city and return to the North Pole.

On the great day, Santa entered the city on a huge toy-laden sled decorated with blue stars and spangles [the sled had been constructed locally by Robert Simms of New Bern].  More than 5,000 people lined the parade route.  First came North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. George C. Bissette in a patrol car "with the siren going full blast," followed by the Greenville band.  Mayor Chadwick and Chief of Police Ed Belangia came next in the official car.  Then came Santa and his sled escorted on either side by Boy Scouts from Troop 13, B.M. Potter, Scoutmaster.  Santa was followed by another patrol car and dozens of boys on bicycles and on foot.  The parade ended back on Broad Street where "Santa dashed back to his home at the North Pole."  Afterwards, it was reported that "the local stores were thronged and merchants enjoyed a rushing business."

And that's how Old Saint Nick cheered New Bernians in the troubled year of 1938 (and gave the local merchants a Merry Christmas too!).