--- title: Christmas During War: Santa Claus, FDR and the WWII War Labor Board description: Santas were protected from having their wages cut canonical: https://time.com/3636048/fdr-santa-claus/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-25T00:00:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:54:24.298Z article:section: History og:title: Christmas During War: Santa Claus, FDR and the WWII War Labor Board og:description: The War Labor Board praised Father Christmas' 'kindly and jovial disposition' og:url: https://time.com/3636048/fdr-santa-claus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ca7a491f5749351/69877075e53aba84f94d6b53/santa.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Father Christmas riding in his sleigh, c 1940s. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Christmas During War: Santa Claus, FDR and the WWII War Labor Board twitter:description: The War Labor Board praised Father Christmas' 'kindly and jovial disposition' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ca7a491f5749351/69877075e53aba84f94d6b53/santa.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How Santa Claus Was Rewarded During World War II > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 25, 2014 12:00 AM UTC  An image of Santa Claus from the 1940s An image of Santa Claus from the 1940s Science & Society Picture Library / Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 25, 2014 12:00 AM UTC President Franklin Roosevelt must have really loved Santa Claus. On Oct. 3, 1942, in the midst of World War II and the tail-end of the greatest economic depression to hit the United States, FDR used [Executive Order 9250](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=16171) to establish an Office of Economic Stabilization and a police freezing wages and salaries around the country. The new policy was meant to formalize federal policy as regards to “civilian purchasing power, prices, rents, wages, salaries, profits, rationing, subsidies, and all related matters” with a view to keeping inflation from spiraling during the war. As a result, wages were effectively frozen and agricultural prices were settled. The Order’s reach was broad, extending to “all forms of direct or indirect remuneration to an employee or officer for work or personal services performed for an employer or corporation, including but not limited to, bonuses, additional compensation, gifts, commissions, fees, and any other remuneration in any form or medium whatsoever.” But, as TIME [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1942-12-14/page/33/) that Christmas, exemptions did exist. And, as the War Labor Board ordered on Dec. 4, 1942, one of those exemptions was for a very special someone: “Bona fide Santa Clauses” were to be excluded from the wage-freezing order. [According to the Pittsburgh _Post-Gazette_](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19421214&id=B8RRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BWoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4526,4147397), the average department-store Santa had made $20 a week in 1941, but in 1942 — if there were no pay ceiling — Santas could have bumped that up to $25\. When the WLB ruled that Santas were exempted from the wage freeze, they were careful to note that the exemption “shall not be considered as a precedent, since the role of Santa Claus in a war-torn world is unique.” And not just anybody could claim to be Santa: A “bona fide” Santa Claus, TIME reported, should “wear a red robe, white whiskers, and other well-recognized accouterments befitting their station in life.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3636048/fdr-santa-claus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3636048/fdr-santa-claus/"},"headline":"Here's How Santa Claus Was Rewarded During World War II","datePublished":"2014-12-25T00:00:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:54:24.298Z","description":"The War Labor Board praised Father Christmas' 'kindly and jovial disposition'","url":"https://time.com/3636048/fdr-santa-claus/","keywords":["White House","christmas","holiday","fdr"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ca7a491f5749351/69877075e53aba84f94d6b53/santa.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ca7a491f5749351/69877075e53aba84f94d6b53/santa.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Father Christmas riding in his sleigh, c 1940s.","caption":"Father Christmas riding in his sleigh, c 1940s.","creditText":"Science & Society Picture Library / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3636048/fdr-santa-claus/","name":"Here's How Santa Claus Was Rewarded During World War II"}}]}] ```