Willamette Week The need for strong, independent local journalism is more urgent than ever. Please support the city we love by joining Friends of Willamette Week. Here Comes Santa Claus: A Dispatch From Meier & Frank’s Santa Land in 1987 Think it’s easy to play Santa? Think again. De. 22, 1987. (WW archives) To Bob Travis, playing Santa is serious business. Really. This year, Travis, a U.S. Bank employee, is moonlighting as Santa Clans at department stores and shopping centers in the Portland area. He fills in when the real Kriss Kringle can't make it to town because of production problems at the North Pole. Now, the role of Santa may not require the steady hands of a surgeon, the analytical abilities of a trial lawyer or even the rhetorical skills of a politician, but, according to Travis, there is an awesome responsibility that goes with the territory of white beards, red suits and ho-ho-hoes. "This job takes nerves of steel," Travis says.