Even Santa needs a holiday! Actually, he probably needs a holiday more than most – his Christmas Eve duties must be exhausting. Here he is, relaxing on a Florida beach with several reindeer (below) and some surprised locals (above).

These pictures make me think of Raymond Briggs’ classic ‘Father Christmas’ story (“Bloomin’ Christmas!”), which features the wonderful image of Santa on the beach in a rather fetching old-fashioned Bathing Costume, enjoying an ice cream cone.

In this set of pictures from 1956, Santa has obviously left his bathing costume at home – although he seems to have remembered sunglasses for the reindeer! Only in Florida…

Over on the other side of the world, you can find Santa enjoying himself on the beaches of Queensland, Australia too. This jolly magazine cover (below) from 1934 shows him having a whale of a time surfing into shore on an inflatable reindeer, a festive sprig of holly adorning his jaunty sailor’s hat. I wonder if he’ll be heading down the coast for the Boxing Day test match too?

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