Santa Claus made his first state visit to Toronto in 1905 when he arrived at the old Union Station at the south end of the city. To the clamorous cries of the children out to greet him, he rode through downtown streets to Eaton’s on a checkered red and black packing case on top of a lorry pulled by a team of horses.

He has never missed a Christmas visit since.

His second visit was from the West Toronto Railway Station indicating he had come from the North. This time he rode in a Tally-ho drawn by four white horses. Two footmen escorted him and two trumpeters heralded his coming.

The pictures to the right and below show Santa as he arrived in 1907 astride a white horse, escorted by costumed riders.

The parades from 1910 to 1912 were the longest both in distance travelled and duration. Starting in Newmarket north of Toronto on Friday afternoon, it stopped overnight at York Mills and proceeded down Yonge Street on Saturday afternoon. It was a long ride for Santa, sitting on candy canes… and squeezed into the chimney of a log cabin with only an oil stove to keep him from freezing.

Long time Eaton's employee, Waring Tooze, rode in 35 parades. In a 1960 interview he recalled the 1910 parade....

1913 was a fabulous year for all of Santa’s little friends. Imagine seeing him drive down Yonge from the North Toronto Station in a sled led by live reindeer. They were brought from Labrador specially for the occasion.

Their own kind of moss for food had been brought along too: And there was a veterinarian to look after them. Men dressed in lion, bear and tiger skins walked beside the timid animals and they shied at the close contact with these make believe beasts.

One year all the children on the streets participated. Copies of a song about Santa Claus were distributed along the route together with colourful pennants. Periodically, the parade would stop and, accompanied by a band, the children would gather around and sing.

They also tossed letters for Santa into a large net basket attached to a long pole carried by a bearer. Thousands of letters were collected and, if there was an address, each one was answered.

At the end of each parade Santa held court at Massey Hall and as many as 9000 children and their parents squeezed into the 3 daily receptions.

Special guests at these events included characters from nursery tales… pages, fairies and other storybook folk… all lined up on the platform to make their land of dreams seem real.

1915 was the last year Santa held court at Massey Hall. After that it was moved to a Toyland that had been created at the Eaton's store.

Also on hand that day were Cinderella in her Pumpkin Coach, the Old Woman in the Shoe, Miss Muffet in her Tuffet, Little Boy Blue, Little Bo Peep, Mother Goose and Little Red Riding Hood, each telling a tale of fantasy.

The photo to the right shows Santa's first ever arrival at the store. The detail of the photo below shows him readying his ladder to climb up onto the building.