Our Story

In 1988, a wood carver by the name of *DeLancy Smith approached Jack Taylor, owner of Great American Taylor Corporation, and asked if he’d be interested in reproducing her carvings in the form of resin. His company was already making resin teddy bears, fan-pulls, switchplates and collectible lamps so he thought this would be a good addition to his company’s offerings. The Great American® Old World Santa was born.

From the very first year, it was apparent that these charming little Santa collectibles would find a place in the hearts of many Americans. They convey a sense of holiday tradition that sadly stands in stark contrast to the ever increasing world of holiday commercialization. They just bring a certain warmth and tradition to the holidays.

During the Christmas of 1996, my wife Allison and I were introduced to the Great American Old World Santas for the first time. Allison’s mother purchased one for us (as well as other family members) as a gift. Everyone loved them so much that they soon started flying around the family in the form of gifts all year ‘round and all of us became official collectors.

In the summer of 2000, fate was about to have a hand in Allison’s and my future. Mr. Taylor asked if I could do some marketing as well as establish a presence on the Internet for his company. I agreed. Our efforts were so effective that his company’s production ability became over-taxed during that holiday season. After a series of unrelated set-backs as well as his inability to keep up with demand, things started to unravel for Great American Taylor Corporation. By January of 2001 it was apparent that they would be ending their 25+ years of successful operation.

One thing led to another and at the end of January 2001, we had the opportunity to purchase the "Great American" trademark as it applies to collectibles as well as all trademarks and copyrights associated with all collectibles manufactured by Great American Taylor Corporation. In essence, we were able to save this wonderful line of collectibles that we were so fond of. We were thrilled.

I quit my job on February 1st to start work on making Santas. We rented an abandoned barn in the middle of a field in Sherwood OR and I went there every day, sometimes 18 hours a day, trying to figure out how to make a Santa. Before quitting my job I was in the world of corporate sales. I had no idea how to make a Santa.

Meanwhile, we had over 900 Santas on backorder left over from the previous company. Many of those backorders had already been paid (for which we didn't receive the funds.) We had decided from day one that we'd honor those backorders and fulfill them without being paid. It was just the right thing to do.

May 2001 came and went but I still hadn't made an actual Santa. Frustration was running REALLY high. But I was bound and determined to figure it out.

After a LOT of research, talking on the phone and reading online, I made our first production quality Santa in June. Now the challenge was to make a LOT of them in a very short period of time. By July 2001 we had close to 2000 Santas on backorder because we were starting to get orders for the 2001 Christmas season on top of the orders that were left over from the previous Christmas. Talk about pressure.

On July 1, 2001, I moved our operations to a 1200 square foot industrial bay located in the Old Town section of Wilsonville, OR. I hired a total of 5 people to start making Santas as quick as they could. At times, we had two shifts casting 24 hours a day.

Then there was the absolutely incredible task of finding painters to paint them once they were cast and ready to be painted. We advertised in the Oregonian and had about 10 painter orientation meetings where we would have anywhere from 25 to 80 people show up wanting to be a painter. We held try-outs by giving them a character, with instructions and the correct paint colors and instructing them to take it home, paint it and bring it back the next day. On average, only about 1 in 4 people are good enough (and patient enough) to actually become a Great American painter. Over 250 painters have painted for use at any given time and many of those were at the same time during that fall of 2001.

On August 18, 2001, we shipped our first order of Santas. If you know me, you know that I am fairly emotional and can cry at the drop of a hat. Well, that day I came really close to it. But it was a week later, when our retail stores started getting their orders that I finally broke. I got call after call from retail stores (and collectors) thanking me from the bottom of their heart for taking the task of continuing the Old World Santa tradition. The comments that sent me over the edge, however, was when they said they were amazed at the level of quality over the previous company's work and they loved everything about them.

I cried like a baby. (Even writing this I'm tearing up.) The reason for my emotional release was because they had no idea what kind of ordeal Allison and I had gone through to get to that moment. It was the culmination of 7 months of amazingly difficult and tedious work. Their comments gave what we had gone through some sort of validation and it was the most incredible feeling of euphoria.

By November 1st we had fulfilled all the backorders and on December 24, 2001, the last of the 2001 Christmas orders were delivered. It was close, but we had gone from not knowing one thing about making resin Santas in February 2001 to delivering close to 5000 Santas between August 18th to December 24th.

Of course, our "story" is continuing. I'll add more to this space as time goes on. Thanks for reading about us. I hope to see your name in our collector list soon (if it's not already there of course.)