Stunning'60 Vtg SANTA CLAUS Ivory Suit RARE Display Arts NYC Display Figure 15

  

Vintage Beautiful Condition IVORY VELVET SUITED Santa Claus Display Figure. Sample Figure made by Display Arts NYC - Very rare to find one of these American vintage brand Santas at all, and especially rare outfitted in a color other than red! Hand Painted Face & Blue Eyes - Gorgeous Face Paint and Coloring! Standing, approximately 15" to top of his head, 18" long to top of his hat. Dreamy blue eyes, gorgeous face paint, wonderful curly wool beard.....

Just the best ever face! A beautiful vintage blue-eyed Santa Claus in an ivory velvet suit. These style Santas' with the painted celluloid faces are most often referred to as Harold Gale Santa Claus' that hail from the mid to later Mid-Century era and were manufactured fairly prolifically for the retail gift and display market. This particular Santa is a rare Display Arts NYC Santa, and he is marked on the bottom of his boots. Harold Gale Santas are generally not marked (I have several of them). Display Arts Santas are quite rare as they were not produced heavily..... They were more expensive, and I'm pretty sure Gale pushed them out of the market on price point. They were beautifully made, however, and imo superb to the Gales that just didn't have nice coloring or face paint details. I only acquired this one because I was in the Christmas business, and I talked a rep out of him for my collection since he was a dead stock sample item they'd received and had laying around in their stockroom for several years. Lucky me to have enjoyed him for many years!

Time to get serious about down-sizing my Christmas collections, though, and pass some of my treasures along, so if you are a serious Santa collector you can rest pretty assured you probably will never find another! Description: Gorgeous hand painted face featuring twinkling blue eyes and a wonderful curly wool beard! Santa's suit is accessorized with a vinyl belt and hard solid composite boots. These Santas' were often also referred to as "go-go" boot Santas.

He stands independently, but not as solidly as I like to display around my antique Christmas glass, so I always put him in a doll stand for safety and sturdiness. His clothing is glued on....

There is no dressing or undressing him. These types of Santa Claus' were meant to be display figures, not dolls or toys. His suit isn't stark white, but ivory. It was originally a bit lighter 60 some years ago, but his age has turned it a little more ivory than off-white. His beard is a non-dyed natural wool color. Condition: Very good / excellent. I took all photos in regular household room lighting without the aid of a flash. There are no tears, holes, repairs, cracks, etc. His suit is without stains, and he's never been exposed to smoking. The integrity of the fabric remains good. I do find one scant pinkish smudge on the back of his boots that I've not tried to clean off as it is on the back and barely noticeable..... Probably laid next to something red in storage at some point.

His suit is ivory on visual impression, but because of aging has turned a little darker from the original color..... See the photos where I pulled down his belt to see the difference the years have caused. I have never cleaned him beyond simple feather dusting or altered him in any way.