Eyes All Aglow, Tots Get Down to Business

By BOB POOL

Nov. 30, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

He wore a huge grin on his face--and clutched a huge toy catalogue in his hand.

“Hi, Santa!” little Jimmy Stewart exclaimed. “This is what I want for Christmas!”

The 5-year-old flipped one well-fingered page after another, holding the catalogue up to my gold-framed Santa eyeglasses so I could see over my beard. “And this one! And this!”

It was Wednesday night at the Manhattan Village Shopping Center, and I was under siege once again from children bearing gift lists that read like a Toys R Us inventory sheet.

Recession? Economic turndown? The kids in the mall aren’t buying it.

Most of the youngsters who board my knee have memorized their favorites by brand name and model number. And they come convinced that Santa will reward them for being good little boys and girls 25 days from now. Their parents stand to one side, smiling bravely as the recitation begins.

“I want a Ninja Turtles hockey game. And Mario Bros. 3 and 4!” 4-year-old Brian Moynihan announced enthusiastically as he sat on my right knee. Brian was wearing a pint-sized gray pin-striped suit and a blue Mickey Mouse necktie that matched his sparkling eyes.

His 6-year-old sister, Brenda, wore a prim purple velvet dress as she sat demurely on my left knee. She grinned shyly and explained that she wants Santa to bring two New Kids on the Block tapes and some New Kids on the Block bedroom accessories.

Listening nervously from the side was the pair’s mother, Janet Moynihan of Torrance.

“Am I worried about the economy?” Moynihan asked. “I’m worried as hell.”

Moynihan recently lost her aerospace job because of an injury. When she tried to sell her house to raise cash, she couldn’t find a buyer and the bank foreclosed last week. Over the weekend, Moynihan conducted a garage sale and moved into a small apartment.

“Every cent from the garage sale is going for the children’s gifts,” she said. “I told them I wouldn’t be getting them much. But Santa will. Santa Claus makes things. He doesn’t buy them.”

Moynihan assured her children that Santa will visit their new apartment. Turning toward me, she explained: “We always leave wine and cheese out for Santa because he gets tired of milk and cookies.”

When 5-year-old Daniella Calderon whispered her Christmas wish list Wednesday evening into Santa’s ear, it was a mouthful. On Thursday, I visited a West Los Angeles toy store to see how it added up.

“I’d like Little Miss Makeup ($22.99),” Daniella explained. “And a P.J. Sparkles doll ($28.99); Magic Nursery Dolls ($24.99 each) and a Trap Mouse Game ($12.99). And another mermaid shirt (about $15).”

Lisa Calderon of El Segundo said her daughter will be her top gift-buying priority this Christmas.

“We watch our budget,” she said. “We look for sales.”

Sandra and Jim Matic of Redondo Beach are looking for the same thing.

“We’re changing our habits. We’re using absolutely no credit cards this Christmas,” Sandra Matic said.

“The key to surviving ’91 is staying out of debt,” her husband confided.

Still, the pair managed smiles as they listened in while sons Alan and Jeff talked with Santa.

“The only thing on my list is a remote-controlled car (up to $129.99),” said Jeff, 7. Added 3-year-old Alan: “I want a remote-controlled car, too. And a Big Bird ($24.99 standard, $44.99 for the talking version), a new bed (up to $150) and a new bedspread ($25).”

Christopher Spates, who is 5 1/2, was wearing a jaunty red-and-white stocking cap like mine when he came to sit on Santa’s knee. He asked for a Nintendo game set ($89.99 and up).

His mother, Lesley Spates of El Segundo, confided afterward that Christopher is more likely to receive a new bicycle from Santa than an electronic game.

“He doesn’t understand the prices,” she said.

Wisely, Santa made no promises to any of the 60 or so youngsters who visited him Wednesday evening. Happily, none of the kids let on if they were disappointed with what St. Nick brought them last Christmas.

“Once we had a boy come up to Santa and complain he’d asked for GI Joe and Santa had brought him a Tonka truck,” said Patty Barbour, an executive for Walnut Creek-based Western Temporary Services, which has hired me as a Christmas Santa this year.

With that off his chest, the boy hauled back with the truck and conked Santa on the head, drawing blood.