Merry Olde
Santa

A Decade of Old World Santas from Around the World

The Merry Olde Santa series launched in 1990 as one of Hallmark’s most sustained Santa figure series — a ten-year, ten-entry commitment to depicting Santa Claus in the Old World tradition, dressed in outfits from around the world, each holding a different prop from the broad landscape of Christmas tradition. Ed Seale sculpted all ten entries. The founding 1990 Santa (#1, QX4736, 4¾" H, dated 1990) holds a mini Christmas tree — the most classic of Christmas props, establishing the series’ formal language from the first year: a finely detailed Santa figure, floor-length robes, held prop, year-dated.

Each of the ten entries shows a different Olde World Santa carrying or accompanied by a different object from the Christmas tradition: toys and stockings in the early years, holiday birds (cardinals), botanical elements (holly, wreaths), and celebratory accessories (lanterns, bells, ice skates) in the later entries. The series description is precise: “Santa comes in all different shapes and sizes. Santa Claus is dressed in various Santa outfits from throughout the world.” The premise draws on the rich pre-modern Santa Claus tradition — the European Father Christmases, the British Father Winters, the Dutch Sint Nikolaas — that preceded the standardized Coca-Cola Santa of the mid-20th century. The 1999 finale (QX6359, “Waving Goodbye”) closes the decade with Santa bidding farewell — and with a verse: “Santa’s packed and ready, as this merry season starts, to share his gifts of wonder with the child in all our hearts.”

Tips for the Complete Collection

• 01
  Display in numbered sequence — ten Old World Santas in a row is the series’ most commanding display format. The Merry Olde Santa series is a standing-figure series: these are approximately 4¾–5 inches tall, substantial Santa figures. Displayed in numerical order on a mantel, shelf, or piano top, the ten entries create a procession of Old World Santas with varied outfits, poses, and props. The series was designed for exactly this kind of organized display — the complete decade of Santas, each unique, read as a unified collection in sequence.
• 02
  These are standing ornament-scale figures — they display as beautifully on a shelf as on a tree. At 4¾–5 inches, the Merry Olde Santa entries are large enough to stand effectively on a flat surface. A dedicated shelf display of all ten in sequence is arguably more visually impressive than a tree display, where the figures’ size and detail can be fully appreciated. The series works equally well as a tree or shelf display.
• 03
  All 10 Merry Olde Santa Hallmark ornaments — the complete 1990–1999 series — are at Already Christmas. A full decade of Old World Santas from around the world, all Ed Seale, all here. The mini tree, the bags, the stocking, the bell and ice skates, the wreath and lantern, the goodies, the cardinals, the holly, and the farewell wave. All ten. All here.