For 50 years, when Santa Claus came to town, he ruled parades
For a solid run from the 1920s until the early 1970s, Santa Claus was bigger than Tony Bennett, Wilt Chamberlain and the mayor of San Francisco.
None of the above appeared in a more lively Market Street parade than Santa, who arrived in different years on a sleigh, a motorcycle, a horse-drawn carriage and — during one exciting and risky year — precariously balanced on top of a San Francisco cable car. For more photos of Santa Claus parades and visits in San Francisco: www.sfchronicle.com/ oursf
“He appeared over the brink of Nob Hill, sitting in a chimney atop Muni’s No. 514,” The Chronicle reported in 1952. “(The car) was filled with a throng of happy children and an engineer at the controls of the public address system to broadcast Santa’s cheery, preseason greetings.”
There have been other regular Santas over the years in San Francisco, including bearded Christmas ambassadors hosted by Macy’s, Muni and the Young Republicans.
But for decades the Emporium’s Santa Claus was king, traveling different routes, but always ending at the Fifth and Market department store, which built a wonderland on the rooftop of rides and toys. The Chronicle was a co-sponsor during much of the run, setting aside best journalism practices in the earliest years
and writing front-page stories that included attribution to St. Nick.
“If this keeps up, I’ll be tempted to move our workshop down from the North Pole to San Francisco,” The Chronicle quoted Santa saying in 1929, on the same page as real news, including a child abuse arrest. “For surely there’s no better place in the world that knows better how to put on a real festival than the lovely city by the Golden Gate.”
By the 1950s, photos show police escorts were needed, and Santa started appearing on an elevated perch so he could be viewed by children five or more rows back from the street. In 1952, he appeared sitting in a chimney that was erected on top of a cable car, a stunt that couldn’t be repeated in the 21st century for the liability risk alone.
“Tiny children and teenagers tugged at his red suit and shouted reminders of what he is to bring on December 25,” The Chronicle reported. “The requests ranged from such standard items as baby dolls to atomic-age lunar satellites.”
Santa continued to wow through the 1960s, but by the ’70s, Chronicle file photos show the crowds were getting significantly smaller. It was an era of color television sets, Evel Knievel jumps at the Cow Palace and “Star Wars” at the Coronet Theatre. A man in a suit, even one who controls the Christmas Day gift registry for every home on the planet, didn’t have quite the same drawing power.
In 1982, it was NBC weatherman Willard Scott, not Santa Claus, who got the top billing in parade advertisements for the department store, then called Emporium-Capwell. The Chronicle’s announcement for the 1985 parade focused on a younger TV star.
“Justine Bateman, better known as ‘Mallory Keaton’ from the NBC Comedy hit series ‘Family Ties,’ will be Grand Marshal of the 1985 Santa Parade sponsored by EmporiumCapwell,” the Chronicle’s After Nightfall column announced, with a photo of the actress, and no further mention of Santa.
That was the last Santa Claus parade covered in The Chronicle. The next year the newspaper wrote about the department store’s financial losses, not any celebration in the streets.
Now the biggest parades on Market Street celebrate SF Pride and trophies by the San Francisco Giants, and the city’s most recognized Santa event, SantaCon, is a pub crawl known for amateur drinking and loutish behavior.
The Emporium was sold in 1995, and the Fifth and Market space was filled by Westfield San Francisco Centre, where there are no rides on the roof, and the mall Santa commutes to work like everyone else.
But there was too much magic in a half century of parades for the vibe to completely disappear. There are photos and memories, plus new traditions and old — Union Square continues to be a holiday meeting spot, with puppies in the windows and garlands on the street lamps.
We’ll leave the last word for a few happy elves, who were also quoted in that 1929 news section, and will be quoted again today.
“Hooray!” Santa’s helpers told The Chronicle. “No wonder they call San Francisco the city that knows how!”