Almost before retailers in North America pack away their Halloween merchandising displays, they will begin setting up for Christmas. Whether or not you observe Christmas and whether or not you feel the whole event has become too commercialised, the countdown will begin, as it does every year about this time.

Part of the annual run up to Christmas are the hundreds of Christmas parades held in towns and cities all over North America and increasingly in other countries as well. If you get a chance, check your local TV listings in Late November or December, you might get a chance to see what is arguably the biggest and most entertaining Christmas parade of them all, the Toronto Santa Claus Parade. 

Through two World Wars, the Great Depression and the vast expansion of the city of Toronto, the Santa Claus Parade has brought smiles to the faces of millions of children for 101 years.  It’s the longest running parade of its type in the world. This year’s parade takes place on November 19th, but in the weeks that follow, the parade will be rebroadcast in more than 20 countries around the world, in North America alone more than 30 million people tune in to watch the Santa Claus Parade.

It all goes back to 1905 with the Eaton’s department store.  Given the massive size of Canada, and the relatively sparse population, most people were dependant on Eaton’s for their shopping, in the form of catalogue mail orders. 

In a brilliant branding exercise, and to get people to start Christmas shopping a little earlier, the company established what has become a Canadian tradition, the Santa Claus Parade. By the 1950s the Toronto parade had become the largest in North America.

It’s so large that planning for next year’s parade will actually begin the day after this year’s event. Several hundred full time staff members work year round in a secluded warehouse sewing costumes and building floats. Large companies which design their own floats, consistent with the parade’s theme, closely guard their designs and plans. 

Eaton’s was forced to get out of the parade business in 1982, but the parade lives on thanks to thousands of volunteers and countless corporate sponsors. The event features close to a hundred fanciful floats, marching bands and about 1,700 participants wearing colourful costumes.

Children apply to march in the parade and sometimes have to wait three years to get their turn. Organisers leave nothing to chance, following Santa’s sleigh is a car carrying a doctor, a nurse and a spare Santa - just in case.

Parade Trivia

• It takes three months to wash all the costumes after a Parade - that works out to 25 years of washing costumes since 1905.
• The five kilometre Parade route takes about 75 minutes to walk.
• The average weight of one of the main floats is 1.5 tons.
• Maximum height of a float is 15 feet due to overhead wires, and the floats are approximately 40 feet long.
• Most floats take a few weeks to complete, but the major floats take up to three months.
• Floats were originally made of plywood, wallboard and papier maché wrapped on a framework of metal and wood. Now floats are made of foam because of its versatility.
• In 1913, Santa was pulled by eight real reindeer from Labrador. The reindeer had their own veterinarian who looked after their health and provided their special diet of moss. The reindeer retired to the estate of a Parade executive outside Toronto following the Parade.
• In 1929, Santa’s float was carried by a giant silver fish, in keeping with the art deco style of the time.
• The first time it rained on Parade day was in 1959, after 55 years of good weather.
• During World War Two, when materials were scarce, most of the costumes were made of paper.
• In the 1950s, it took 40 people to fasten the hooks and zip up all the costumes for just the female Parade volunteers.
• Mother Goose has been in more Parades than any other character, except Santa.
• In 1919 with World War I just over, Santa arrived for the first and only time by air, piloted by world war one flying ace Billy Bishop.