Manitowoc man has been Santa's helper for 75 years

MANITOWOC - Santa Claus and his reindeer don't have much spare time come Christmas, so the Jolly One recruits very special helpers to deliver toys and gifts to all the good little girls and boys.

That job fell to Raymond Lippert back in 1941 — a few weeks after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, launching the U.S.'s involvement into World War II. The Manitowoc man, now 92, has been donning a red suit and white whiskers every holiday season since.

OTHER NEWS: Roncalli remembers superfan Aerts

SUBSCRIBE NOW: Follow us today on YouTube

"I just enjoy seeing the joy on the children's faces," said Lippert, who lives in a quiet neighborhood on the city's south side with partner Vera Liermann. "And the questions they ask. It's great fun."

Lippert began his duties at the ripe age of 17, when a teacher at Webster School, a one-room schoolhouse in town of Liberty, asked if he'd fill in for the annual Christmas program.

He handed out bags of candy and said "ho-ho-ho," before making a quick getaway.

"Every year they would figure out who Santa was, so the teacher asked me to have a driver ready and to leave right away so no one would see me," Lippert recalled. "We left the school in a car and went to a nearby tavern, and I changed right away. Someone ran in and said 'Did Santa Claus come in?' We said 'no, we're just here eating supper.'"

He chuckles at the memory, saying he would have been discovered had they checked the bathroom and found the one-of-kind suit.

The stint had Lippert hooked, and he had a local seamstress make him a suit so the fun could continue.

"I had the fever right away," he said. "I wanted to keep doing it. The kids ask so many questions. They want to know how the reindeer are doing. I'd say 'real well.' They have questions about the cold or about the sleigh."

He first began serving as Santa's liaison for his large family and neighbors around his country home.

Word got around, and families began making appointments with Lippert to make special deliveries to their homes on Christmas Eve, sometimes as many as 22 in a night. 

The rest of the year, Lippert worked as a bartender and manager at the Colonial Inn. He stored gifts from Santa there in his wagon, and on Christmas, drivers took him to families' homes, where he would ring sleigh bells to let children know Santa's helper had arrived. 

He'd stay long enough for children to receive their gifts and ask questions, or perhaps sit on his lap or pose for photos. Some children will come right up, but others are shy and will hide, he said. One toddler became so fascinated with his sleigh bells she didn't want to give them up. 

As can be expected, Lippert had many experiences that went beyond eating homemade cookies left just for him.

Decades ago, a young boy steered his new remote car into Lippert's leg, causing the startled gift-giver to back into the Christmas tree, but luckily he did not topple it.

Another time, a parent decided to put him on the spot by suggesting a boy ask Santa's helper to name all of his famous reindeer.

"I started to name them, then said 'Oh! Look at the time, I've got to get the next house,'" Lippert said. "That one almost got me."

Another time, he was given the wrong address and the revelers who answered the door had no idea who he was. They asked him his true identity, and when he said "Santa," they chased him to try to remove his jolly red outfit. Lippert, however, was quick on his feet, and he ran, leaping into his car and asking the driver to make a quick getaway.

He never delivered the wrong packages to the wrong house, though.

"I was real, real careful about that," Lippert said. "Everything was well marked."

He also learned that drinking and delivering don't go hand in hand.

The first year he was on his own, he left his shift at the hotel before heading to the family home with his load of goodies. 

"I decided to stop for one drink when someone asked," Lippert recalled. "I'm not a big drinker. And when I got home, I had the buggy outside, I got the front wheels into the house, but I got stuck trying to get the rest in. My brother said, 'Why don't I take over?' I never did that again."

Lippert's favorite memory, though, is of a boy of about 12 who was hurt, using a cane or crutches, and unable to go hunting.

A year or two later, when his health improved, the boy was eager to talk to Santa's helper.

"He told me he had shot a deer," Lippert said. "And then suddenly I could see by the look on his face he was thinking, 'Was it one of your deer?' I said, 'Don't worry. It was one of the extra deer.' I have to laugh about that."

Lippert worked with families or special events from Manitowoc, to Two Rivers and Valders. Sometimes he was too busy to book, but not usually. He even filled the role for three generations of families, as children grew up and continued the tradition. Once older siblings new it was Lippert hiding behind the whiskers, they enjoyed encouraging their younger siblings to greet Santa's sidekick.

You might think friends, family and those who know Lippert would be able to recognize him, but the long process of putting on the suit transforms the gentle, thin grandpa into his alter ego.

He's only had two suits in the decades he's played the role. The second, which he still used, was sown by a granddaughter. He needs Liermann to get into the suit, but she has no problem helping. 

"I think it's the greatest thing," she said. "It's so wonderful. All the people he's made happy."

He starts with rouge on the face to give him a wind-burned look, and dusts his eyebrows with petroleum jelly and baking powder to make them extra white. Liermann helps him put on his fat-padding, which weighs around 30 pounds. The velvety overall pants and red jacket with white fur trim, hair, whiskers, hat and wide black belt complete the look. With the transformation complete, a new man comes forward, and it's easier to see how he keeps the secret.

And he enjoys that secret.

At an event at Manitowoc's Lincoln Park years ago, Lippert thanked the owner of a team of horses by name.

"I knew the people, they didn't know who I was," he said. "They couldn't figure it out. That was fun."

Those good times have slowed as families grow up and Lippert grows older.

"It's harder to do at my age," he said. "You worry about falling and hurting yourself in this weather."

He took a pause, and continued: "But it was a good ride. It was quite an experience. I really enjoyed every minute of it."

Patti Zarling: pzarling@gannett.com; Phone: (920) 686-2152; Twitter: @PGPattiZarling