Skip to main content

May Your Visit From Santa Be Without Incendiary Reindeer

Support Provided By

| Los Angeles Examiner photo, courtesy of USC Digital Archive

Christmas at Lakewood Center almost went up in flames on December 22, 1951 -- at least according to Don Rochlen, the public relations manager of the Lakewood Park Corporation, developer of the Lakewood mall and the 17,500 houses soon to surround it on all sides.

The Los Angeles Examiner captioned the obviously staged photo (taken after the flames had subsided):

"Help! Santa Claus, bring the first aid kit and a fire extinguisher. Rudolph is in trouble." Yes, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was really red hot. In fact, the rosy proboscis, which has made Rudolph the most famous of all reindeer, was on fire. You see, it all happened while Rudolph was making a pre-Christmas appearance atop Butler Brother's department store in Lakewood Park (California). Rudolph was the victim of sabotage when a short circuit started a fire in his sniffer, which in this case as a large red light bulb. Passers by, including a few worried youngsters, were startled when Rudolph gave out a miniature explosion amid a shower of sparks and smoke. No serious damage resulted, except possibly to Rudolph's dignity. And Santa Claus, who left his post in the toy department to help extinguish the blaze that was confined to Rudolph, said the animal, red nose and all, would be back in shape in time to help him make his Christmas deliveries.

| Los Angeles Examiner photo, courtesy of Los Angeles Examinerat the USC Digital Archive

Is it me, or does the 1951 version of Santa seem lean and kind of unkempt, not like the well-padded department store Santa of today? That beard wouldn't fool a baby.

Maybe Santa was still recovering from the fire emergency.

Defenders of reindeer still exist, as I noted in this item from December 2011: The Few. The Proud. The Reindeer Guardians.

Among the milling throngs of Santas at SantaCon 2011 were puzzled tourists, laughing children, and many forms of post-modern irony.

For the Los Angeles Times (in words and pictures), the irony seemed uppermost: boozing Santas, bummed Santas, Santa vixens, and Santas straight from Tim Burton's imagination. (Photos of the 2013 SantaCon are here.)

When my friends Mary Alice and Liam McLoughlin unexpectedly encountered Santas at Union Station as they poured out across Alameda Street, they found far more sweetness than snark. They also found one of Santa's unsung helpers.

His mission, he said solemnly, was to ensure the safety of Santa's reindeer. He gave Mary Alice and Liam a smart salute: To Protect and Serve Carrots.

This holiday season, may all your reindeer be fire-proof and the guardians of your happiness always on duty. And may we all have a safe 2014.

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.