Ken Orich has amassed a staggering number of Santas in his Lethbridge, Alta., home.
There are singing Santas, perfume bottles of St. Nick and even Lego versions of Kris Kringle, all on full display throughout his house.
“Right now, it’s between 600-700. Maybe even 750,” says Orich.
Orich’s love of everything Santa began in 1988 in High Level, Alta., after he was looking through craft magazines and noticed a candy cane holder and thought he would try his hand at carving something similar.
“I quite enjoyed the results. So, I decided, well, I could probably do a few more. I came across a few other patterns I saw so I made them up and they turned out quite well. And then I got thinking about it and I said, you know, maybe I should just do this every year and make it a tradition.”
He says one of his favourite creations is a Santa sitting in an old outhouse and he even asks people to sign it when they visit his home.
“It’s kind of maybe a list of the people who have come to visit and whether they’ve been naughty or nice, I don’t know, but they’re on the outhouse walls.”
Orich has also collected some vintage Santas and he says one of his most prized possessions is a 100-year-old figure that was given to him by his father-in-law.
“It’s got what I call a bisque face and the hands and the feet are kind of paper mâché and the body is sort of stuffed with that shredded wood. It’s got the old-style Santa robes on it, too, so probably more like Father Christmas,” adds Orich.
Recently, Orich has become a little more picky about which Santas he takes in due to a shortage on space but he’s still picking up older vintage items to add to his collection.
“To me it makes the Christmas season a lot more fun,” says Orich.
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