Santa suits in style of Charles W. Howard are back in production
Christopher Parada will make the suits, matching standards of Santa School founder
New York Santa Claus Suits & Equipment Co. – Christopher Parada models some of the Santa suits he makes with his new company, New York Santa Claus Suits & Equipment Co. Parada has portrayed Santa in Lockport since 2010, greeting about 10,000 children every year. He was inducted into the Santa Claus Hall of Fame in December 2024.
LOCKPORT – Christopher Parada has made a mission of keeping the legacy of Charles W. Howard alive and he has a new venture to honor Howard’s legacy: creating Santa suits in the exact design made famous by Howard, the founder of a Santa School in Albion from 1937 to 1966.
Parada built a Christmas cottage in Lockport and he has portrayed Santa there since 2010, welcoming about 10,000 children every Christmas season.
The Santa Claus Christmas Cottage at Day Road Park includes a display about Howard and one of his Santa suits. Although died in 1966, the Santa School still continues in Howard’s name, now in Midland, Mich.
“Many people have tried to copy the suit,” Parada said. “They have done a version of the suit. But I was able to replicate to a T the exact same suit. The original is being created. It’s not dying off. My goal and mission is to replicate it exactly as it was.”
Parada, 41, said Howard had a simplified design, without a lot of “bling.”
Howard was perhaps the world’s most prominent Santa, especially from 1948 to 1965, when he was the Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
“I want you to feel proud that you’re wearing history,” Parada said. “You have an iconic replica of that design that was in the Macy’s parade.”
These vintage photos show Charles W. Howard at Christmas Park in Albion with a Santa wearing a suit designed by Howard. Elizabeth Babcock is shown with some of the Santa suits she made in Howard’s designs. Babcock made the suits for more than 30 years. She passed away in 2006. Parada reached out to both Howard and Babcock’s families and received their blessing in his new suit company.
The New York Santa Claus Suits & Equipment Co. will operate out of Parada’s basement at his Lockport home.
“I cut out every piece of fabric,” he said.
He assembles the fabric and delivers to seamstress and they sew the suits, with Parada offering a painstaking inspection. He started taking orders in January and will be delivering in the spring.
He will run the business and make the suits while also serving as the executive director of the Historic Palace Theatre. In his 21-year tenure at the Palace Theatre, he has led the site in doing a multi-million-dollar renovation and producing many Broadway-style theater shows.
“I have a full-time job that I love,” Parada said. “But this has been a passion project to get it right.”
By “right,” Parada means to recreate suits exactly like Howard, and later by Elizabeth Babcock, who made Santa suits for more than 30 years in Albion with her business, the Santa Claus Suit & Equipment Company. She passed away at age 92 in 2006. Howard and Babcock both preferred a simple, classic design.
“I have a love for the nostalgic,” Parada said. “I wanted the older look. I wanted it to feel like JC Penney’s in the 1950s.”
Many other suit makers have add-ons that can make Santa look “clownish,” Parada said.
“Santa worked in workshop, he made toys,” Parada said. “He was simple.”
Parada, a Medina native, is well regarded in the Santa community. He was inducted into the group’s International Santa Claus Hall of Fame last December. This past weekend he was in Gaitlinburg, Tenn. for a Santa convention with about 700 others.
It was a chance to connect with other Santa portrayers, and also to get feedback on his Santa suits in the exact style and design of Howard. There is one change: faux fur instead of rabbit fur, which is hard to maintain with the fur sometimes falling out if the hides dry out.
Parada showed his Santa suits to the Santa pros and received a strong endorsement and blessing.
“At Gaitlinburg, it was a chance to go public in the Santa community,” Parada said. “I wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly.”
Parada sees the business as a continuation of the standards of excellence set by Howard and Babcock. His website, HistoricSantaSuits.com, details the suits and offerings.
Parada offers suits in several classic styles, either with belt and buckles, or in the Coca Cola style with brass buttons.
The suits are “expertly crafted” and made of the best wool and soft satin lining, with realistic faux fur trim.
“Charlie and Elizabeth were both pioneers in this historic venture,” Parada said about the Santa suits. “I want to celebrate the legacy that they created and see to it that it lives on.”
He said the suits shouldn’t be considered “costumes.” They are high-quality and hand sewn to ensure a perfect fit and made to last many Christmas seasons.
Parada will do the bulk of the work making the suits in his basement. With low overheard he is selling them for $1,180. Other Santa suit-makers charge $3,000 to $4,000, Parada said.
The fabric tag also is in the style of the Santa suits made by Howard and Babcock.
He didn’t want to go nearly that high. He wants them to be affordable, especially to the many retirees who portray Santa and are on fixed incomes.
“I don’t want to price gouge people,” Parada said. “That’s not the mission. I want people to be able to wear the suit and wear it proudly.”
The suits are made of red wool or velvet, satin red and ivory lining, ivory satin hat lining, faux fur for trim material, round collar style and red satin coat cuffs with elastic, creating a historic department store look. That includes jacket, hat, pants, belt and buckle.
For another $300, a Santa can acquire a toy bag with Howard’s distinctive “SC” – and gloves and wrist bells.
Parada isn’t selling beards as part of the suits right now. Many of the Santas have their own facial hair, or others already have beards that they put on and are comfortable with when they are Santa.
The fabric tag also is in the style of Howard and Babcock, but Parada added “New York” to the name to honor the home of the original suit makers.
“I love the history about it,” Parada said about the Howard suits that originated in 1937. “I don’t want the history to die in Western New York.”
In two years the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School will mark its 90th anniversary. Parada is talking with some of the leaders in the Santa community to have a Santa convention in Lockport, with Albion a destination to show how his hometown celebrates the founder of the school.
