"Is the audio on?" said Mrs. Claus, leaning closer to the webcam and tapping at the iPad screen. Mr. Claus, seated to her left in front of a backdrop of a fireplace with stockings they purchased off the internet for $10, added: "Hello! Is that Jesse or James who's speaking? I can't tell because your video isn't on."
This is Santa season 2020. The Clauses, or rather Don White 79, and Mary Rogers, 73, are two of many actors who've traded in-person Santa visits this year for Zoom calls, offering families a safer alternative to the annual tradition as the United States grapples with a surge in Covid cases.
Although some Santas are suiting up behind plexiglass or waving to children from snow globe setups, virtual calls from the North Pole's famous pair are entertaining families with personalization and intimacy in spite of some technical difficulties, like the ones on the call with brothers Jesse and James. It's also a way for Santas to still earn a paycheck."We're expecting to triple or quadruple our income this season," said White from the couple's dining room "studio". "We went from not thinking we'd be busy at all this year to being busier than ever; we started earlier, before Thanksgiving, too. Parents are desperate to find entertainment and something for their kids to do."
Each year, White and Rogers, who met on Match.com 13 years ago, emerge dressed as the Clauses in Kansas City, Missouri, frequenting restaurants, museums, fundraisers and events, including the Kansas City Royals baseball team's holiday festival. Now, they're logging about four to six video calls an hour to kids and their families across the country, up to nine hours a day, on their website VisitFromtheClauses.com through Zoom. The price for a private chat ranges from $49 for 5 minutes to $69 for 10 minutes.
"We're busier because we're not spending time going to different places, getting dressed or setting up," Rogers said. "We just run back and forth from the bedroom to the dining room."
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