--- title: Being Father Christmas: LIFE Goes to Santa Claus School description: A visit to the world's oldest school for would-be Santas, and photos of men learning to be all the Santa they can be canonical: https://time.com/3595282/christmas-santa-claus-school-photos/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-01-20T16:08:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:46.255Z og:title: Being Father Christmas: LIFE Goes to Santa Claus School og:description: A visit to the world's oldest school for would-be Santas, and photos of men learning to be all the Santa they can be og:url: https://time.com/3595282/christmas-santa-claus-school-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb204a6a76bed5e14/69876994524fc0ff45deacf2/141119-santa-school-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Santa School, 1961 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Being Father Christmas: LIFE Goes to Santa Claus School twitter:description: A visit to the world's oldest school for would-be Santas, and photos of men learning to be all the Santa they can be twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb204a6a76bed5e14/69876994524fc0ff45deacf2/141119-santa-school-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Being Father Christmas: LIFE Goes to Santa Claus School > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jan 20, 2012 4:08 PM UTC  Santa Claus school, 1961. Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jan 20, 2012 4:08 PM UTC Some Santas are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. And then there are those happy fellows who have taken a week-long class in all things Father Christmas, and come out the other side with a coveted B.S.C. degree (Bachelor of Santa Claus). Such was the fate of those who, for years, chose to take instruction at Charles Howard’s Santa Claus School in the upstate New York town of Albion, not far from Rochester. In fact, [the school still exists today](http://www.santaclausschool.com/), 75 years after it was founded by Howard in 1937; since the mid-1960s, it has operated out of Midland, Mich., and remains the world’s oldest Santa school. In 1961, LIFE’s Alfred Eisenstaedt visited Howard’s school for would-be Santas, and made a series of photos chronicling the evidently quite fun process of learning to be all the Santa Claus one can be. (Many of the pictures here were not originally published in the article that ran in LIFE.) In its Nov. 17, 1961, issue, LIFE shared the lighthearted goings-on at the school with its readers: --- > “” --- Finally, we’ll end with one of Howard’s more memorable quotes about St. Nick, and the power of belief in an age of doubt: “To say there is no Santa Claus is the most erroneous statement in the world. Santa Claus is a thought that is passed from generation to generation. After time this thought takes on a human form. Maybe if all children and adults understand the symbolism of this thought we can actually attain Peace on Earth and good will to men everywhere.”  Caption from LIFE. On third day of school, Marine John Ray learns how to squint his eyes into a Santa twinkle. His wig and beard are of yak hair. Ray will work at the W. G. Swartz store in Norfolk, Va. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. John Ray holds the diploma naming him a Santa's helper. Next year he can work for B.S.C. degree. To get it he will have to present recommendations from customers and write 1,500-word thesis. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santas at work. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santas at work. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santas at work. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santas at work. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Feeding the deer at Charles Howard's Santa Claus School, Albion, N.Y., 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa Claus school, 1961. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Santa school portrait, 1961. 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