Santa & Son : 2 Generations Don Red Suits for Christmas

Like father, like son, the saying goes. The adage has special meaning during the holiday season for the Travis Parry family. Some sons have fond memories of ballgames and fishing trips together, but Travis Parry, 68, and his son Tom, 40, share something extra. Both climb into custom-made Santa suits to play Kris Kringle to an eager audience of Southern California children.

Travis Parry is probably one of Southern California’s most well-known Santa Clauses. His twinkling blue eyes and rosy-cheeked face appear in numerous advertisements. He appears in this year’s Builder’s Emporium Christmas pamphlet and has visited children at local malls and charity events since 1975.

But two years ago, the Costa Mesa resident found himself unable to fulfill his holiday obligations. Santa’s sleigh was temporarily parked outside the hospital while Travis was hospitalized to undergo a tracheotomy.

“I was rushed to the hospital because I couldn’t breathe,” Parry said, describing a severe bout with chronic bronchitis. “I was there until just before Christmas. I was worried about all the little kids waiting to see Kris Kringle.”

Assignments Taken Over

Son Tom went to see him. “He was worrying about all his Santa Claus appointments. He’s like the real Santa Claus. He likes to keep his promises. I decided that was one thing that maybe I could help him with. So I told him that if he wanted, I would be glad to take over some of his assignments.”

Last year, Travis had Tom again help him in filling Santa’s boots. “Now, whenever his book fills, he calls me,” said Tom, a Santa Ana resident whose everyday job is driving a bus. Tom also gets requests to play the merry old soul. “After all, I’m the son of Kris Kringle.”

A retired plumber, Travis spends the off-season portraying a plethora of other characters at Southern California events, from benefits to art festivals. He plays a Viking, an English bobby, a swami, a monk and a bandit.

Santa, however, is his passion. His home is filled with pictures and books of Kris Kringle.

Even in street clothes, Travis Parry is a dead-ringer for him--from his snow-white beard and sparkling eyes to ample girth. “I became Kris Kringle in 1975,” Parry said. “I was talked into playing the part for a year, but I wouldn’t do it until I grew a beard. I wanted to have a real beard, not any fake. My wife, Evelyn, really didn’t want me to grow a beard. So I promised that right after Christmas I would shave my beard and become John Doe again.”

Parry as Kringle was a natural, however, and the beard stayed. Soon, Evelyn Parry got into the act. “Now she’s Mrs. Kris Kringle,” he said. “Once in a while she goes with me. She even has a Mrs. Kris Kringle outfit that she wears. She first surprised me with it when she walked in when I was working at South Coast Village. She had made the costume and never told me.”

Parry strives to keep the magic of Christmas alive, even amid the palm trees of Southern California. His four distinctive black-trimmed costumes all were sewn by Mrs. Kringle. “Those other Santas are soda-pop Santas,” he said, explaining that the familiar white-trimmed red suits began with a extremely popular series of Coca-Cola ads. “But the original Kris Kringle came from the Black Forest (in Germany) and his suit had black trim.”

When Tom Parry joined the family act, he had to make some adjustments to family tradition. First, he substituted a fake beard because he didn’t have a flowing white beard of his own to match his dad’s. Second, one of Travis’ costumes was stuffed to give him the proper rotund look.

Although he had played Santa on request several times before, Tom got his real pointers from the pro, he said. “When Dad started playing Kris Kringle, I went and watched to see what he was doing.”

Although these Santa lessons learned at his father’s knee proved to be valuable when he offered to fill in for ailing Dad, Tom Parry found that filling Santa’s shoes is a big order, with its own share of occupational hazards.

‘Mobbed by Kids’

“I (previously) played Santa Claus for the Santa Ana tree-lighting ceremony. I rode up on the fire truck with sirens going. All the kids were waving. That was great. But after I climbed off and opened the bag full of candy, I was mobbed. The kids were dragging on my clothes and pulling my beard off.

“When they asked me to return for the next year, I said it was fine if I could have someone to help me,” Tom said. “Now my elves hand out the candy for me.”

Travis Parry can offer special insights into the surprises that Santa encounters. “It’s usually the girls who fool me,” he said with a chuckle. “One little girl came up to me who was really cute with big curls. I thought for sure she would ask for some fancy doll. But when I asked her what she wanted she said ‘a bullfrog.’

“I said, ‘Ho! Ho! A nice stuffed green frog?’

“ ‘No,’ she said. ‘A real, live bullfrog. . . .’

“Another little girl wanted a live octopus to put in a fish bowl to keep her fish company. I convinced her that the octopus would be happier in the ocean.”

Tom said he admires his dad’s stamina. “I really don’t know how he does it. It’s exhausting sitting for hours in those suits, which are very hot. Yet, he always takes time to really talk with every child.”

Sore Throat

It’s not easy playing Santa Claus, Travis admitted. “People think you just sit in a nice chair and ‘ho-ho’ all day, but it’s not that relaxing. I used to do the role five hours a day, seven days a week. That really got to me. My throat really got sore.”

Travis takes his role seriously. He refuses to do any Kris Kringle appearances where a chat with Santa means purchase of a photo of the child’s visit.

“I’ve passed up a lot of mall jobs because of that. Some people can’t afford the pictures, and it’s not right to have them tell a child that they can’t take a photo of them with Santa. The places where I work, they’re welcome to bring their own cameras and take as many pictures as they want.”

He also makes appearances at charity events and visits hospitals, donating his time. “You can’t be prejudiced about anything if you’re playing this part,” he said. “Kris Kringle cares about everyone. That’s the true Christmas spirit.”

Parry gets his jobs through word-of-mouth, or as in the case of an appearance at the Antique Guild in Santa Ana, by letting the right people know that Santa’s coming to town. “I was in the antique store,” he said, “and I saw a sign for part-time Christmas work. I was 65 at that time.

“I went up to the desk and said that I was looking for work. They said, ‘What are your qualifications?’ I said, ‘Ho! Ho! Ho! Don’t you know?’

“ ‘Oh my, goodness,’ they said. ‘You’re Santa Claus!’ ”

‘I Love You, Santa’

In the beginning, Parry wondered if he should continue his role. “I was tired and sitting, thinking, ‘Why in the world did I get talked into this? I could be home having a warm toddy and watching TV.’ But then a little girl came hopping up on the bench, put her arm through mine and said, ‘I love you, Santa.’ I realized that’s why I do this.

“Being a Christmas spirit isn’t all fun and a lot of ‘ho-ho-hos’ and mistletoe. It’s talking with people. It’s up and it’s down. There’s some kids who want the whole world. I’ve had kids bring me whole pages from a catalogue and say, ‘We want them all.’ I say, ‘Are you here for the whole neighborhood or are you going to be going far away for a couple years?’

“Then there are others like that boy who just make your heart break,” Parry said, referring to a boy he visited who was dying of cancer. “Two days before Christmas I heard about the boy. I called up his mother and told her that Santa was coming to town. She thought it was a joke.

“She said, ‘I just promised my boy that Santa would come five mintes ago. But I didn’t think I could get a Santa this late in the year.’

“It was the best performance I ever gave,” Parry said. “It was also the hardest.”

Summer Santa

This year, Travis made two summer Santa appearances. Now, with Christmas Eve just around the corner, he finds himself busier and busier. “It’s wonderful to have Tom to help me out,” he said.

“That Christmas--when Dad was so sick--me filling in for Santa was the best Christmas present I could have ever given him,” Tom said.