FOR generations, one of the highlights of the approach to Christmas in Bournemouth was a spectacular parade put on by the town’s first department store, Beales.

Beales regularly brought the town to a halt with the procession, headed by Father Christmas himself.

Beales is thought to have been the first department store in the country to have its own Santa. He arrived in 1885, four years after the business was founded, sporting a costume made by Mrs JE Beale, wife of the business’s founder. It became a Beales tradition that Santa never wore a hat, because Mrs Beale designed her first costume with a wig instead.

The tradition of a procession started in 1912, when Cyril Beale became the first Father Christmas to arrive anywhere by plane. He landed at Christchurch and was taken by stagecoach to Bournemouth.

From then until the 1960s, war was the only thing that could stop Beales putting on a parade.

Photos in the archives at Beales show how the event grew in scale, filling the streets with fairytale characters, snowmen, giant Christmas puddings and turkeys. The event featured on television many times.

Carol Butcher, PA to the current chairman of Beales, says: “It literally brought the town to a standstill. It was quite a spectacle.

“You get the impression that the heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s.”

In fact, Beales probably lost trade on the day of the parade each year, because of the road closures and the fact that the big crowds were focused on entertainment rather than shopping.

The last parade was in 1965, after which it fell victim to a combination of factors, including a controversial new employment tax.

On August 30, 1966, the Echo reported on “The tax that axed Father Christmas”. The tax in question was the selective employment tax (SET) that had been introduced that year by chancellor James Callaghan. The tax – an effort to boost manufacturing at the expense of service industries – was a flat tax on employers of 25 shillings for each man and 12 shillings and sixpence for every woman they employed. Manufacturers had the payments refunded, along with an extra 7s 6d per employee, while the service industries lost out.

“Beales of Bournemouth today told Santa Claus that his services were no longer required and partly blamed SET,” the Echo said.

“In a statement the store said that it was with regret that they had to announce the end of their Father Christmas procession but had been forced into it as a result of continual increases in expenses, aggravated by many factors including the introduction of SET.”

Norman Beale told the paper: “It is the economic climate rather than any particular thing, but the Selective Employment Tax is the biggest bugbear.

“It is not so much paying the staff, it’s what we have to pay the government for the privilege of having them.”

Beales and its sister store Bealesons employed more than 1,000 staff and SET would cost them £40,000 a year, the paper reported. Ending the procession would save around £2,000.

Santa at the time was the legendary Echo photographer Harry Ashley, 48.

“I feel very upset about the store’s decision although I can see their point of view. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever been made redundant,” he said.

But although Harry was departing, there would still be a Father Christmas in his grotto at the store, and Santa in his lovingly created grotto would remain an attraction for many years to come.

When Beales was taken back into private hands last year, new chairman Stuart Lyons was keen to build on the store’s tradition of being a focal point for the town with a touch of performance about it.

“It’s taken a year to bring the appearance of the stores and merchandise to where we want it to be,” he says.

“It’s working. The stores are looking absolutely lovely. The windows of the stores are as we want them to be. The internal layout is much improved. The next stage is to take add a bit of magic.

“Our great challenge is to compete with the internet retailers so if we don’t offer a full experience, we don’t do the job that people want us to do.”

He says the store was keen to keep alive the traditions that lay behind the Christmas parade.

“I think it’s got to come back in some way that’s 21st century and not 20th century. We’ve got to bring Beales back as a community centre that’s fun to go to,” he said.

“People want to come out into Bournemouth town centre to do things that are new and different and what’s what we have to give them.”

The tradition of the Beales Christmas event continues with Breakfast With Santa, which takes place at the Bournemouth and Poole stores. The breakfast event in the Bournemouth store’s fifth floor restaurant was sold out in October.

Meanwhile, the store has installed a bar on its second floor, offering shoppers or their spouses coffee or a cocktail specially created for the store by Oliver Stern, formerly of Bar Begonia in Toronto.

Dorset-made products are for sale among the store’s Chruistmas gifts.

“Not only are we selling them but we demonstrate things to people and tell them about them,” says Mr Lyons.

“It’s like theatre and we’ve got a strong plan so that every week people will come to the store and there will be different things to experience.”