{"product_id":"aucklands-iconic-santa","title":"Auckland's 'Iconic' Santa","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor 30 years, North Shore Scaffolding had the enjoyable task of getting Auckland’s iconic Santa set up for the Christmas season. Santa was first attached \u003c\/span\u003eon the front of the Farmers building on the corner of Hobson Street and Wyndham Street in Auckland back in 1960.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe fibreglass and steel tubing structure weighed almost five tons and stood at a height of about 18 metres. It featured a winking eye and beckoning finger, which were intended to tempt customers into the store below, but with time gave him the nickname \"creepy Santa\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe giant Santa was erected on the Farmers' Hobson Street store each Christmas for 30 years. When the building was sold in 1990, h\u003c\/span\u003ee was moved to Manakau, where he graced the Farmers building for a few years before he was retired in 1996 because of his tatty appearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter years of neglect, Santa was in need of a serious refit. In 1998, following two years of negotiations, Santa was purchased from Farmers and favours were called in from friends, companies, and business associates to have Santa restored and returned to the people of Auckland.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSanta took his new stage on the Queen Streets Whitcoulls building at the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets. The building then changed to Farmers in a poetic symmetry of history. In \u003c\/span\u003e2009 Santa underwent a restoration and unveiled a more friendly appearance - with his ‘creepy' beckoning finger replaced with a static one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter nearly six decades, the giant Santa was finally retired in January 2020. \u003c\/span\u003eNorth Shore Scaffolding is proud to have worked on this project for many years and Santa will surely be missed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRead more about Santa in \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nzhistory.govt.nz\/media\/photo\/aucklands-giant-santa\" title=\"NZ History: Aucklands Giant Santa\"\u003ethis\u003c\/a\u003e article on NZ History.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNorth Shore Scaffolding used the following resources for this project:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/northshorescaffolding.nz\/collections\/your-solution-systems\/products\/layher-allround-scaffolding\" title=\"Layher Allround Scaffolding System, used by North Shore Scaffolding on Auckland's Iconic Santa\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLayher Allround Scaffolding System\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/northshorescaffolding.nz\/collections\/your-solution-systems\/products\/layher-allround-propping\" title=\"Allround Propping, used by North Shore Scaffolding on Auckland's Iconic Santa\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAllround Propping\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHealth \u0026amp; Safety Systems\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"North Shore Scaffolding","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31957445902382,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0253\/2022\/6862\/products\/NorthShoreScaffolding-Project-AucklandSanta-HobsonStreetSantaParadeArchive-161701.jpg?v=1605930820","url":"https:\/\/north-shore-scaffolding.myshopify.com\/products\/aucklands-iconic-santa","provider":"North Shore Scaffolding","version":"1.0","type":"link"}