In tough times, even Santas suffer

Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

Craig McTavish — a.k.a. Santa — has the beard. He has the belly. He even has a few tricks up his sleeve, such as pulling up to parties on his Harley-Davidson in full Kris Kringle garb.

But there’s one thing he doesn’t have: work.

For freelance Santas, this holiday season has been more “no, no, no,” than “ho, ho, ho.” Bookings have declined as paying $125 an hour for Santa to visit a holiday party has become an unaffordable luxury.

“This year has been a bust as far as making any money,” said McTavish, a retired firefighter who co-owns a landscaping business with his son. “I’ve booked nothing. Usually there’s always something for Christmas Eve, but I don’t even have that.”

In addition to knowing which children have been bad or good, the modern-day Santa also hears which families don’t have enough money for presents.

“You can see the downturn from the chair,” said Nicholas Trolli, the president of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas — a 1,700-member social group.

Trolli lives in Sarasota, Fla., but travels around the country as a hired Santa. Recently, he worked a mall in Kansas City that had to lower photo prices by 20 percent.

“People are telling us they just can’t afford a photo with Santa,” Trolli said.