We know him as a right jolly old elf. To some he's been a virtuous archbishop, to others a stern, switch-carrying avenger. Over the course of time, Santa Claus has been a saint, a salesman, a symbol of ourselves and now, to design professor Dolph Gotelli, a subject of his teaching and research. Gotelli has one of the world's largest collections of holiday antiques, including hundreds of Santas. A collector since the early 1970s of ornaments, toys, books, candy containers and other items from the 1860s through 1920, Gotelli has since narrowed his focus to Christmas ephemera--paper items--including greeting cards, magazine illustrations, advertisements, trade cards, scrapbook die cuts and vintage photographs. Gotelli uses these ephemera to document holiday rituals, then puts the bits of Christmas past to use today. His research field is exhibition--or the telling of stories through the placement of objects--and over the years he has used his holiday collection to create museum exhibits throughout the country and window displays for such retail giants as Neiman-Marcus in Dallas and Macy's in San Francisco. Along the way, he has become quite an expert on Santa, lecturing nationally on all aspects of holiday rituals. Evolved from a fourth-century arch-bishop, St. Nicholas of Myra, today's Santa Claus is a merging of many Old World traditions, including the Dutch Sinterklaas and the German Christkindlein or Kris Kringle. Further defined by Clement Moore's famous poem and Thomas Nast's popular Harper's Weekly illustrations in the 19th century, Santa has today become a ubiquitous secular and commercial icon, a symbol of good cheer and generosity that continues to spread throughout the world. Gotelli's fascination with Santas, with toys and with holidays reflects his interest in fantasy and imagination and in his belief in the power of childhood. "To be a child is to be free, to be creative," says Gotelli, who uses fairy tales and children's games like Ring Around the Rosy to spur creativity in his design classes. "Childhood and fantasy are problem-solving devices, ways to loosen up and use your imagination." -- Teri Bachman