photos by David Halterman

Its hard to forget that first encounter with the fat man in red. No bigger than an elf, youngsters are hoisted onto this bearded strangers knee and asked if theyve been good this year. For some, its was a dream come true; for others, a total nightmare. What is it about this colorful character who only comes around once a year that makes him so mysterious? TheTelegraphcaught up with Ol Saint Nick recently to get a behind the scenes take on the everyones favorite end-of-the-year chimney crasher, Santa Claus.