During the time the parade was organized by Eaton's, it was supervised by Toronto’s Public Relations and Special Events Department which oversaw virtually every phase of the annual Christmas spectacle. Parade head-quarters was located in Eaton’s 25-acre service building near Weston in the north end of Toronto.

Although by parade time each year the number of assistants rose sharply, The Special Events Manager had only five or six people employed full-time year round on the parade.

But, by the time the parade was over, approximately 1400 people would have contributed in some way - from office staff to designers and builders to those who are actually in the parade.

Unlike other Christmas spectacles, particularly in the United States, the Santa Claus Parade was composed almost entirely of non-professional talent. The hundreds of marchers and float personnel were volunteers, recruited from Metro Toronto’s secondary schools.

Annually, more students than could be accommodated offered their services. In addition, some 30 teachers from these schools came forward to act as parade marshals.

On parade day, dressing room facilities for the vast group were made available by churches and schools in the assembly area.

When the parade was held on Saturday morning, the students changed into costumes around 7 a.m. depositing their outer garments with Eaton checkers. The top clothing was taken to the end of the 6 mile parade route where the boys and girls turned in their disguises and reverted to street wear after the parade was over.

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Costumed People
Eaton's Santa Claus Parade, Toronto, 1977
Colour print
Reference Code: F 229-308-0-894
Archives of Ontario, I0020359

When the parade was run on Saturday morning, the long flotilla would roll out of the service area just before dawn. It inched it's way down to the marshalling area in north-west Toronto. A few hours later, bands, marchers and float personnel converged on the scene, took their allotted positions and the great event was underway.

Although the parade must flow as one single unit it was divided into approximately 15 sections for marshalling purposes. Each of the 15 sections was usually comprised of a major float, several smaller units, a band and 40 or so costumed students. Bands were drawn from a number of militia groups, drum and bugle corps as well as local high schools.

Hundreds of policemen were needed to supervise the crowds of eager spectators every year. The tremendous assistance received from the police and the Toronto Transit Commission was fundamental to the success of every parade. After agreement with Eaton’s on the parade route, steps were taken by the police to ensure that all thoroughfares were kept clear of traffic and other obstructions throughout the parade. Police escorts were arranged for the floats moving from the Service Building to the marshalling area, and also for cars of Eaton’s Parade Officials who, immediately after the parade started, needed to get downtown to the dispersal area in order to handle the young people when they finished.

Paraders, float attendants, bandsmen and police officers all got into the spirit of the Santa Claus Parade and particular attention was paid to children from orphanages and other institutions who were provided with special viewing accommodation on the sidelines.

For the very first parade Santa Claus emerged from the Old Union Station near the lakeshore in Toronto and wound up at Massey Hall, The second year he came from the West Toronto Railway Station and for a number of years the Parade started in Newmarket.

Eventually, however, it settled into a more or less standard route that began in the Dovercourt and Dupont area, north and west of the downtown core, and wended it's way down to the Eaton's Store at Queen and Yonge Streets in the heart of the city. It was forced to change at one point due to construction of the expansion of the University Subway line, and more recently. the first leg of the route was shortened and moved from Dupont Street to Bloor street.

Cards were printed up displaying a map of the route and three of those cards are reproduced below.