“Because of the climate, we don't have that much snow here, so I have this truck to get around the country with,” said Per Jørgensen.
He’s a “Julemanden” for hire—Julemanden being the Danish word for Santa Claus. Right now he’s on tour across 39 towns and cities across Denmark.
“Many years ago, Santa Claus, he was green suit. His suit was green,” Jørgensen observed. “But in the 1930s around Coca Cola, they needed a figure, a new figure that matches the color of their Coca Cola. And so they find they need a person that is look nice and and they find the Santa and make him red, as you know him today, so it is. That's why he's traveling around with the Coca Cola, they made him red.”
I’ve met Per this evening in a town called Skanderborg. Per’s Coca-Cola truck is pulled up in front of a local grocery store. Locals wait in line to get a free can of Coke with their name printed on it. Per is part of the yuletide show as well. He walks around, sometimes taking a photo with an excited kid.
“Yes, yes, it's for the people who want a Coca Cola can with with their name on, so they can type their name on on the display, and a Coca Cola comes out with a name on,” he said. “Oh, if you don't have the time to wait, you can go straight over here and have a free Coca Cola. And also, if you like, it's up to you.”
The best part? Everything here is done for a charitable cause.
.
“You can buy a small toy truck, Coca Cola truck or cookie jar. Okay, for 30 Kroners, everything goes straight to Red Cross. Okay, Coca Cola. Don't get any cut of it. Also, we have this sweater for 300 Kroners So, but it's for free to people to decide if they want to buy the Coca Cola is free,” said Jørgensen.
If anyone could be Santa, it would be Per. His father and grandfather were both magicians, and it’s what Per still does outside the Christmas season.
“They were working on theater, okay, and in that way, I became a magician. And still are for adults and kids, but in the winter time, I have this opportunity to travel around this year, we have 39 cities all over the country, and we also going for Fun Home. But so it's a lot of colleagues are looking for this job. So I'm very thrilled to be the one who have this job,” he recalled.
Meanwhile, Per’s Santa suit is a real marvel. Quite simply, it’s gorgeous. While at first glance it looks like an American Santa outfit, the suit’s details really make it stand out. Unlike American Santa, Per wears a waistcoat, and his coat sleeves are ruffled with gold trimmings.
“Yes, it's tailored especially, yeah, I pay for my own custom. Yes, because it's my it's not there. This suit here is not for Coca Cola. This is made. I paid for myself. It's tailor made from England,” he noted.
Per says the suit cost 13,000 kroner—or two thousand dollars in the U.S.—and it was made just for him.
“So with also the shirt is special made for me,” said Jørgensen. “You see, you cannot go buying like this. Also the inside pockets. So I have made here if people come, some of the kids make drawings for me, so I can collect them here. So, but, but all the suit is custom made for me.”
The same goes for Per’s beard. It’s not natural, but looks incredibly lifelike—and that’s by design.
“It's also custom made from a special effect from Sweden, a person, yeah, he also make special effect for right now you can find a Swedish how to say crime. Movie on Netflix. And him, yeah, but it's, it's about a circular and you can see part of body parts. He made the body parts he was banded on on Facebook because they thought it was real pictures. So he made the beard because he make also a lot of but the beard here is from him,” he said.
Besides the more elaborate suit, there are few more important differences between Danish Julemanden and American Santa. For example, Julemanden doesn’t deliver presents on the night of December 24th—instead, he arrives earlier in the day, and families open their gifts in the evening.
Another difference is that the Julemanden enters a house a little…differently than American Santa. Most Danish houses don’t have fireplaces, so there’s no chimney where Saint Nicholas can come with a bound. So, how does Santa get in?
“He uses magic, so he create a fake chimney,” said Jørgensen.
Whether in Denmark or the U.S. whether he drives a sleigh or a Coca-Cola truck, children (and adults too) love Santa Claus. Per is just one of the many Santas and Julemænden that all do their part to make our Christmases a little brighter.
