Fat Fantasies : Red Velvet Suit and Black Belt Transform Working Stiffs Into Santas, Who Agree That It’s Not Easy Living Up to the St. Nicholas Image

The secret is out.

By day, the jolly old gent with the twinkling eyes, the caretaker of Christmas dreams, is a construction worker, a security guard and yes--a toy maker.

By night, he dons a red velvet suit, buckles his wide black belt, shakes his belly like a bowlful of jelly--and he is Christmas.

Kris Kringle, St. Nick, Father Christmas and Santa Claus, employees of A Dixie Doodle Entertainment Agency in Orange, gathered to share some trade secrets before the Christmas season officially starts the day after Thanksgiving.

Watching 11 ruddy-cheeked look-alikes arrange their stomachs (some real, some stuffed), and comb their whiskers (mostly real) was like being backstage at auditions for “Miracle on 34th Street.”

“Ouch!” one Santa cried. “My beard is stuck in my zipper.” But when the caps were adjusted and the white gloves were in place, suddenly it was Christmas in November.

Living up to every child’s fantasy isn’t easy, the Santas said. Even if you look like a Christmas figurine, there are other qualifications. You must be both gentle and jolly. You need to know how to quiet a squalling child and prompt a silent one to talk.

“You need to like people and have a good, strong constitution because you do have some long hours,” said Don Wood, a communications technician for Pacific Bell and a Santa with 16 years of experience. “You have to be able to walk into any situation and be Santa.”

A credible Santa can click off the names of his reindeer and offer a robust round of “Jingle Bells” even if he can’t carry a tune.

And what do you do when the 6-year-old on your lap requests Nintendo under the tree?

“Never make a promise,” Wood said, “Not unless the mother is standing there nodding her head.” Unfortunately, there is no rule to help Santa answer a tot’s questions.

Like where’s Rudolph?

“Rudolph’s only out on foggy nights, I tell them,” offered one Santa.

And if the questions are tougher, such as, “How come you’re such a skinny Santa?”

“I tell them I lost weight working with the elves all summer,” said Bob Brose, 72, a retired teacher who has played Santa for 17 years.

Dixie Hibbard, who owns the Dixie Doodle agency with her husband, Preston, a Santa at Fashion Island, has 13 Santas working at parties and malls throughout Orange County. She said she chooses Santas with a “certain sparkle in their eye.”

She found one working at a gas station and another shopping at the Price Club. “You just meet Santas all over,” she said.

Chris Williams, 26, a student at the Professional Actor’s Conservatory in Orange and the novice at the Santa gathering, said he hoped that he could fill the man’s mythic boots.

“It’s like doing Shakespeare,” Williams said. “It’s an honored tradition.”

Others, like Louis End, a security guard with 26 Santa seasons under his belt, say it’s not tradition that keeps the Santas from retiring their red suits.

“It’s the sparkle in the children’s eyes and the way they bubble when they see you,” said End, whose license plate reads “Mr. Santa.”

Christmas myth may blur with reality and some of the Santas seem to believe in themselves after so many years on the job. Communications technician Wood said that when he calls on customers, he identifies himself as “the Santa Claus who works on your phones.” They know whom he’s talking about.

Bill Daw, a sandblaster and 12-year Santa veteran, began moonlighting as Kris Kringle to make extra holiday cash. Now he admits being hooked on his holiday identity.

One Christmas Eve he stood waiting in the rain in his red velvet Santa suit. Somehow he seemed to stay dry, and a woman nearby asked him his secret.

“I told her I didn’t get wet because Santa was magic,” Daw said.