photo source

Brockton, Massachusetts is back in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most people in Santa hats gathered in one place.  872 Santa hat wearers gathered in the town square on November 23, 2010, to wrest the title back from the town of Mulingar in Ireland-- which had unseated Brockton  for the honor in 2009.  Take that, Mulingar. Don’t mess with Brockton :-)

Why, you might well ask, would Brockton care?  Well, it seems that Brockton department store owner, abnd distinguished town father, James Edgar, invented  Department store Santas by dressing up in a Santa suit himself and walking through his store to spread Yuletide cheer in 1890. Of course the Santa suit also encouraged sales, pleased the townfolk and spread around the country llike wildfire. 

No wonder Brockton remembers and honors the memory of James Edgar and revels in its status as the town where the Department Store Santa originated and the place that is in the Guiness Book of Wolrd Records for most Santa hats in one place at one time —ever.  Go on Mullingar— I dare you!

Oh yes—and a special Christmas tip of the hat to  HatsRCool.com , which was the source for this post. It’s a neat hat blog I recommend highly.