In June of 2015 I purchased this Santa from a buyer on eBay; however, there was a shipping issue where I was being charged an additional $6+ for FedEx shipping than what I was originally quoted. So when I tried to resolve this with the seller, they responded by cancelling my purchased.
I reported them to eBay but to no avail.
As it turns out, there has been other issues with the FedEx calculator on eBay. But the seller would still not sell me the Santa.
So, in October of 2015, I had a friend buy it for me.
Finding anything about the artist has proven difficult, but I did find this one in Daily Press that I'd like to share:
General Store Brimming With Neat Stuff, Toys
July 22, 1992
By RODNEY L. SNELLING Correspondent
BURGESS — It's not unusual for two businesses to share the same building. Gail Griffith has gone one step further by co-owning
and co-managing two independent businesses, each with a different partner, in The General Store located on Route 200
in Burgess.
In the larger front area of the building, Griffith and her partner, Charlotte Braxton, sell antiques, collectibles and gift items under
the business name of The General Store.
``We have the new, the old and the in-between. We have a little bit of everything. We have quality pieces of older furniture,
boxes, tools, pots, dishes, kitchenware and jewelry. We also have gift items and collectibles such as glassware, crocks, afghans,
T-shirts and linens. Because we acquire merchandise each week from a variety of sources, the items available may be quite
different from week to week.
``We try to keep everything we have at a reasonable price. I think that's one of the reasons we've been successful,'' Griffith says.
Open year-around from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, The General Store draws both tourists
and local customers.
``We hope to have something to offer everybody. People just love to come in and look around or they may buy a card or a gift for
a friend,'' says Griffith.
Friends for more than 20 years, Griffith and Braxton originally ran an antique shop in Fredericksburg many years ago. After
years apart, during which time they each ran their own antique shops, they reformed their partnership and opened The General
Store in March 1990.
In the back area of the same building, Griffith manages a second business, the Sunny Bank Folk Art Company. Griffith and her
husband, Jerry, make reproductions of antique toys to sell wholesale to gift and antique shops in the United States, Canada and
Australia.
``I have always loved antiques and antique toys,'' she says.
In 1973, she began making reproductions of antique Santa Claus dolls that she sold at an antique market in Pennsylvania. As
demand for her dolls grew, she and her husband began to produce a small line of other toys, in addition to the Santas, under the
name of the Hillside Folk Art Company.
In 1988, the Griffiths moved to Northumberland County and brought their business with them. Operating out of their home for
the first two years, they continued to produce toys for a growing list of customers.
When Griffith and Braxton opened the General Store in 1990, the toy-manufacturing business moved in with it, under the new
name of the Sunny Bank Folk Art Company. Today, Jerry Griffith still manages the woodworking at their home while Gail and
her assistant, Cindy Bryant, assemble, paint and sew the Santa dolls at the General Store. Gail's father, William Garde, does all of
the hand-carved animal figures that are sold with several of their items.
Sunny Bank produces approximately 30 toy items, including wooden wagons, carriages, animal figures, wheeled horses, arks and
a dozen different Santa figures. Designed more as collectible pieces rather than children's toys, all Sunny Bank items are
handcrafted under Gail Griffith's watchful eyes.
``We're considered to be in the high end of the handmade toy market. Our Santas are all signed and numbered and will retail for
about $250 for the standard size and up to about $500 for some of the larger ones. We cast the plaster heads and feet, just like the
antique ones. The body is a wire frame, covered by costumes that can be pretty elaborate,'' says Griffith.
``The faces take a lot of time to paint on but in the end, each Santa that I make has his own personality. That's because no two are
exactly alike, even though they may have the same costume.''
None of the Sunny Bank Santas resembles the fat man in the red suit that children today think of as Santa Claus.
``The Santa Claus we know today didn't really become popular until the 1920s. Thomas Nash's illustrations of the poem `The
Night Before Christmas' gave us the short, jolly Santa Claus we have today. Before that, Santa Claus was seen as a thin, Father Time
like figure,'' says Griffith.
``Likewise, the red snowsuit is a modern concept. Santa Claus figures at the turn of the century wore navy blue pants and had a
red cloak, lined in blue, with a hood. Our Patriotic Santa figures come dressed in red and white flags and is based on a design
popular right after the Civil War and into the late 19th century.
``Many of our antique Santas are based on European Christmas traditions. For instance, we do a Saint Nicholas figure, all dressed
in white, who brought gifts to all of the good children at Christmas time. He had a servant named Black Rupert, who was dressed
all in black and delivered switches and coal to all of the bad children. We make dolls of both figures,'' she says.
Although the demand for the Santas is better around the Christmas holidays, she says Sunny Bank sells them year-round.
``Another of our mainstays is our line of wooden arks. We have five different models, which have from eight to 19 hand-carved
animals on each one.''
Griffith lines up most of her wholesale customers for Sunny Bank products when she attends the Country Heritage Market Show,
held twice each year in Pennsylvania. Reorders then come in by phone and by mail throughout the year.
``One of the fun parts of Sunny Bank for me is meeting my customers at the shows,'' she says.
``Each year we add new items and discontinue others. We sell toys year-around but we don't keep much inventory around
because it goes out as fast as we can make it. Most of my customers reorder from me year after year because they know they can
sell my merchandise.
``Sunny Bank items are now carried in the Country House, Country Loft and Gooseberry Patch mail order catalogs. They are also
carried by several antique and gift shops in Williamsburg, Fredericksburg and Virginia Beach,'' she says.
``Most of our work can be seen in the upcoming Christmas issue of Country Living magazine. Also, my work has been in a
couple of museums, such as the Museum of American Folk Art in New York.
``I like to think of my work as tomorrow's quality antiques,'' she says.
