A visit to see Santa at Switzers means spending some time in space.
'Anything Goes' takes a look behind the scenes at a space age Santa grotto in Grafton Street. The grotto will be located in the basement of Switzer’s department store. Construction work is already underway in September. The store's sales promotion manager Ray Jenkinson explains that visitors to Santa in a few months’ time will be able to see the,
Command module, and robots and everything happening inside.
A long lead-in time is required for a project like this. Plans were drawn up in February, and an order placed for custom made models with a manufacturer in Germany.
It keeps us going for the twelve months of the year.
Switzers staff work to a tight deadline to ensure that everything is in place by 12 November, when Santa is due to arrive.
Santa travels through Dublin city centre on a horse-drawn carriage and accompanied by showjumpers Paul Darragh and Harvey Smith, before arriving at Switzers to open the department store’s Christmas window display.
‘Anything Goes’ broadcast on 13 December 1980. The reporter is Aonghus McAnally.
‘Anything Goes’ was a young people’s programme on RTÉ Television which went out on Saturday mornings. Presented by Aonghus McAnally, Kathy Parke, Dave Heffernan, Mary FitzGerald and Mary Frances Calayco, it was first broadcast on 4 October 1980 and continued for 6 years.
