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Local TV's Santa Clauses, Elves and Santa's Helpers

T

Tim L

I'm surprised that no one has come up with this topic over the years..A lot of Local stations have had various "Santa Claus" programs during the Holiday Season..Either a station "Santa", or a "Santa's Helper" Character that had a show usually 10-30 minutes long between Thanksgiving and Christmas..The ones I remember:

Mr. Jingeling-"Keeper of the Keys" Sponsored by Halles and later Higbees Department Stores in Cleveland-Aired on WEWS-Channel 5 during Captain Penny's Show from 1956-1970's at least..After which he appeared on Channels 3, 8, 19 and 43 through the mid 1980's..Played at first by Max Ellis of the Cleveland Playhouse (Ellis also played Santa on WXEL-9 in the early 1950's)
After Ellis passed on in 1964, Channel 5 employee Earl Keyes played Mr. Jingeling, still making personal appearances even after the series ended..After Keyes died, another young man kept the Jingeling character going, as far as I know, he still is..

WTRF-7 Wheeling, W. Va.-Santa Claus, usually on Saturday Mornings sponsored by Boury Inc.
 
WKJG/33 in Fort Wayne aired "Santa In Wonderland", a daily half hour of kids talking to Santa at the old Wolf & Dessauer department store.
 
WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, on their Adventuretime with Paul Shannon show, would have a segment
over the holidays where Santa would read letters sent to him, care of the station.

You would send your letter to Santa care of WTAE. Paul Shannon would read out names
of the kids who sent the letters as he loaded them into a rocket ship. Then he'd launch
the Rocket Ship to the North Pole, and they'd cut to stock footage of an old Mercury missle
test. Then they'd go to a "live remote from the North Pole" where Santa would read letters
he'd just received.

As a little tyke, I remember thinking that was really cool. Always looked forward to it
each Christmas.
 
...there was even a "Santa Claus" on WHA-TV/21 Madison (the educational station there, pre-NET) in 1954...
 
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