The toy rat with glowing red eyes and mean plastic fangs reminds Thomas Ready of the year Christmas came early.

Ready, who’s played Santa for more than two decades, once went dressed for the part, clad in red sweatshirt and pants, to a Halloween party. The revelers, lacking a proper award for his costume as St. Nick’s surrogate, awarded him the rat as a trophy.

“It kind of surprised me,” Ready laughs at the memory. “But I still have the rat.”

Since the 1980s, Ready’s been essaying Kris Kringle. In some respects, the 61-year-old’s grown into the role.
When he won the rat, he needed to powder his beard to whiten it, something time’s now taken care of for him.

“I used to need a pillow” to make a belly like a bowl full of jelly, he notes, laughing. “I don’t anymore.” Ready still needs makeup and rouge to summon the rosy red cheeks, and adds “I tell the grown-ups, just because the cheeks are red, it doesn’t mean Santa’s soused. It’s makeup.”

Even on Independence Day, Ready, a Sullivan-based property manager who doubles as a musician, DJ and concert organizer, looks like a vacationing Santa, undercover on summer break, when he walks down the street.

Most importantly, he says, he’s got the bushy white beard on his chin that, some suggest, signifies the real thing for children who are connoisseurs of Clauses. A glued-on cotton beard just won’t make the cut for doubting Thomases and Teresas as they sit on his lap.

“Yeah, the real beard really makes you. Kids will pull on it and tell you ‘Oh, you’re the real Santa‘,” he smiles. “I’m growing my beard out right now. I’m going to try to keep it shorter this year, though. When I’m not in the Santa outfit, I feel like a bum.”

Ready’s not the only one playing Santa this season. Others abound. Yes, Virginia, there are Santa Clauses, a fraternity formed by white beards real and false, and an abiding joy in making children smile.

A white beard also brought Walt Mattox the call to become Santa 11 years ago. He was walking through Bloomington’s College Mall when he was spotted by a fellow Kris Kringle seated in the shopping center’s atrium awaiting the wish lists of kids.

Liking his look, the shopping mall Santa dispatched assistants to recruit Mattox into the fold. He’s been a Santa ever since.

“I’ve just signed my contract for this year,” Mattox observed in September, gearing up for another season as the jolly elf.

The second key to his success, a lengthy career as a high school principal, may have been less obvious to the mall Santa who recruited Mattox than the beard was, but it was equally important.

“You have to like kids a lot,” the retired Bloomfield High School principal notes. “If you don’t like kids, you’re going to have problems.”

Children who tug on his beard have never been a problem, the former school administrator says.

“I’ve never had my beard pulled, except by babies who are used to pulling on their mother’s hair,” Mattox said. “The children respect me and don’t do that.”

Becoming Santa means assuming great responsibilities, even in unexpected situations, Ready says. He’s played the role everywhere from private parties and nursing homes to essaying a wailing blues harmonica solo during area Christmas pageants, dressed all in fur from his head to his boot.

The toughest shows, however, come when least expected. He recalls, a sense of wonder creeping into his voice, one of the first times he played Santa, and was traveling to a party when he stopped at a gas station.
At the next pump, a young boy sat, wide-eyed with wonder, then asked Ready “Santa, will I get that truck for Christmas.” He stood there in the moment, wondering what to say.

The right answer wasn’t certain. The wrong one could fill a kid with hopes which would be dashed Christmas morning.

His voice filling with emotion, Ready recalls he was grateful the child’s father stepped up and said yes, the truck was a given Christmas morning. But he also remembers kids who couldn’t be promised what they wanted.

“It’s a major responsibility,” he insists. “You’ve got to answer questions in an affirmative way, asking them ‘Have you been good this year?’ Well, let me check my list and see what we can surprise you with.”

He pauses, all too aware of the rough economy this season that means some parents may not be able to provide every Christmas wish, as much as they’d like to. “That way I’m not setting them up for a letdown.”

For most Santas, long lines of eager kids – the kind Hammond-based “Christmas Story” novelist Jean Shepherd once suggested “stretched all the way to Terre Haute” are a given. Mattox typically works on the weekends, when shoppers are out and things are busy. He prefers it that way. “I’ve always hated sitting and watching the clock. I’d rather be busy.”

It’s also important for the aspiring Santa to recall some kids, especially younger ones, are afraid of Santa.
“A lot of times, parents want pictures with Santa, but that child might be afraid of sitting on my lap. Some of them look at me like ‘Who are you?’ So, during picture taking, if the child is scared, I just have their parents pick them up, face the camera person, and I step in behind them,” Ready opines. “That way, they have their picture, and the child doesn’t even realize I’m there.”

Ready’s also prone to making neighborhood appearances on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, suggesting that parents who want to surprise their kids by having Santa bring gifts leave a “Santa sack” near the back door so he can walk in, furthering the Claus of realism.

Chimneys aren’t a problem for Santa. However, for Ready, the flu may be another matter. After suffering a bout of ill-health last summer, Ready’s carefully considering whether he will make the usual appearances at area schools, concerned about viruses and colds. He can’t afford to have the red nose Rudolph the reindeer sports, he explains with a laugh, until he makes a full recovery.

Still, the joys of playing a beloved holiday icon bring those who don the red-and-white costume energy. Both Ready and Mattox say they’re ready to be Santa for many, many more holiday seasons.
“I plan on doing this as long as I can,” Mattox said. “I enjoy it.”

It’s also not just about the milk and cookies for some. While Mattox is happily married, Ready, a self-described “single guy” without a Mrs. Claus at home, also notes an unexpected surprise he found when playing Kris Kringle.

“It surprises me. Every woman I meet seems to want to come up and give Santa a hug, no matter their age,” he laughs, a twinkle worthy of St. Nick glimmering in his eyes. “Every party I’ve gone to, every lady there has had to come up and hug Santa.” He laughs again. “I’m single, so you know, that’s all right with me,” he grins. “Go on ahead and hug me. Santa doesn’t mind.”

Other articles by Mark Stalcup

• Smoke n' Peace - March 1st, 2010
• Pop life - March 1st, 2010
• Cuba Libre - March 1st, 2010
• Blustery Sound - January 1st, 2010
• You and What Army? - January 1st, 2010