Pod Insights Scamfluencers John Gluck: Santa Claus is Coming to Con | 135 About this episode At the turn of the century, Manhattan social climber John Gluck stepped in to answer children' s letters to Santa. But as soon as donations started flooding into his newly formed Santa Claus Association, John went from Saint Nick to Grinch, skimming off the top and living large. He ran his Claus con for more than a decade before real-life Boy Scouts rallied to take him down.
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Sarah Hagi? Audible subscribers can listen to all our episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
0:08 Scaachi Koul? A note to our listeners. This episode contains descriptions of gun violence. Please listen with care.
0:20 Scaachi Koul? Sarah, as you know, and as our listeners have probably clued in by now, neither of us really grew up celebrating Christmas that much.
0:27 Sarah Hagi? Um, no, I did not celebrate Christmas at all.
0:30 Scaachi Koul? OK, well, that said, did you ever have to write a letter to Santa? Or like, did any of your friends come to school saying that they got a response from him?
0:38 Sarah Hagi? I wasn't into Santa, but my mom was a seasonal worker at Canada Post. And I remember letters kids would send to Santa and the postal code would be H-O-H-O-H-O. And I remember my mom was like, what is this postal code? Like, who lives there? And then realizing, no, it's a fake one for Santa. But she was very, very confused.
0:59 Scaachi Koul? Well, that's actually the perfect story for today's episode, because there's one man who's responsible for making letters to Santa so popular. And because we're talking about him, you better believe that he was making his own wishes come true, too.
1:23 Scaachi Koul? It's right around Thanksgiving in 1922, and Mary Pickford is getting ready for a photo op at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City. This is nothing new for her. Mary is Hollywood's biggest silent film star and possibly the most recognizable woman in the world. She's a 30-year-old brunette beauty known for her ringlet curls. And at this point, Mary is at the height of her acting career and recently co-founded a production company called United Artists. And today, she's posing for a photo next to her husband, fellow A-list actor Douglas Fairbanks.
1:55 Sarah Hagi? Well, Sashi, you and I both know who Mary Pickford is, because we were not allowed to forget she was Canadian.
2:01 Scaachi Koul? They literally will never let you live in town.
2:06 Scaachi Koul? Well, Mary and Douglas are Hollywood's OG it couple. But today's photo shoot isn't promotion for a film. It's a publicity campaign for the Santa Claus Association. Mary is a dedicated philanthropist, and she's especially fond of Christmas charities. Last year, reporters even dubbed her "the partner of Santa Claus", and she loves the mission of the Santa Claus Association. They answer poor children's letters to the big man in red. Mary walks into the Ritz-Carlton's lobby and is greeted by the charity's founder, John Gluck. John is in his 40s, and he's wearing a fancy suit to complement his bald spot and meticulously curled mustache. He leads Mary and Douglas up to their suite for the photo shoot. A state-of-the-art telegraph machine is set up in the corner of the room.
2:52 Scaachi Koul? The couple picks up the telegraph's handle, and photographers capture Mary and Douglas telegraphing 25 cities across North America to announce the big news. It's time to start sending letters to Santa. Mary is delighted to have done her part to help children around the holidays. But little does she know, John has had his name on the naughty list for years. He's been using poor kids to gain sympathy and clout while skimming off the top of the donations. But there are some people who truly believe in the magic of Christmas, and they won't stop until John gets a serving of some cold, hard coal.
3:33 Speaker 02 This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Ah, fall, that cozy season where we swap the swimwear for sweaters and sunnies for scarves. But before the Halloween decorations are put away, or Thanksgiving table has been set, there's already holly jolly music playing in the grocery store, reminding you that the year is coming to a close. Time to kick end of year into high gear. When you use Apple Card with Apple Pay, you earn 2% daily cash back on all purchases, including food, decorations, gifts, and more. Get a head start on your end-of-year purchases. Apply for your Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone today, and start using it right away with Apple Pay. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at applecard.com.
4:19 Speaker 03 Alice, have you ever wondered why the mini is so small? The skirt or the...
4:24 Scaachi Koul? The Magnum.
4:25 Speaker 03 Well, I meant the iconic British car because in 1956, Britain's oil supply was suddenly cut off. Petrol rationing was brought in and the car industry was scrambling around for a vehicle that hardly used any fuel. Enter the Mini.
4:39 Scaachi Koul? Interesting, but actually not technically British scandal series material.
4:44 Speaker 03 Well, the reason they had to save petrol is because the Prime Minister started a war and lied about why.
4:50 Scaachi Koul? Okay, scandal siren going off.
4:52 Speaker 03 I'm Matt Ford.
4:53 Scaachi Koul? And I'm Alice Levine.
4:54 Speaker 03 And our latest British scandal series involves a secret meeting in a French villa, a Prime Minister running on amphetamines.
5:00 Scaachi Koul? An Egyptian president that everyone fancied, the end of the British Empire, and at the heart of it, a canal.
5:07 Speaker 03 This is the story of the Suez Plot.
5:10 Scaachi Koul? Follow British Scandal wherever you get your podcasts or listen early and ad-free on Audible.
5:22 Scaachi Koul? From Wondery, I'm Sachi Cole.
5:24 Sarah Hagi? And I'm Sarah Haggie.
5:25 Scaachi Koul? And this is Scamfluencers.
5:36 Scaachi Koul? In the early 20th century, two modern industries were taking shape in America: charities and Christmas. John Gluck may have started answering children's letters to Santa out of the goodness of his heart, but greed soon took over. People were so enthusiastic about his cause that no one thought to check where their money was actually going. John played a huge part in establishing the Christmas myths and traditions we know today, and he set a template for so many scammers to come. I'm calling this episode, John Gluck: Santa Claus is Coming to Con.
6:14 Scaachi Koul? John Gluck is born on Christmas Day, 1878, in Brooklyn. He's the oldest of five boys in a well-to-do family, and Christmas time is especially festive in John's home. His parents fill the house with decorations, feasts, and presents, and they mark the holiday with a spirit of generosity. To spread the wealth and the Christmas joy, John's parents encouraged him and his brothers to help the less fortunate around the holidays. As a child, John is a charismatic prankster who believes he's destined to live a noteworthy and luxurious life. But his parents have other plans. They want him to take over the family's customs brokerage firm, which handles the paperwork and taxes of imports and exports. So when he's old enough, John goes to work for his father.
6:58 Scaachi Koul? He gets married to a nice girl and tries to live up to his family's expectations. When his father dies suddenly in 1907, 29-year-old John takes over the family business. But within a year, he realizes that, for him, a steady, stable life is boring as hell. So John divorces his wife and moves into a bachelor pad near New York City's newly opened Penn Station. And it truly is a bachelor pad. He lives directly above a steakhouse that serves Manhattan's elite. And here, John gets his first taste of the high society life he's always wanted. He often hangs out at the steakhouse, rubbing elbows with New York's biggest power players. He's always been a short man, and by now, he's balding. So he compensates by having
7:42 Scaachi Koul? a lush and meticulously groomed mustache.
7:45 Sarah Hagi? You know, he kind of looks like Stanley Tucci. Good mustache, but he looks cool.
7:50 Scaachi Koul? All right. I'm learning a lot about your type today. So John is still running his father's brokerage, but he's also dabbling in an industry that's just taking off in America: publicity. John longs for the spotlight. So he starts sending tips to the papers to boost coverage of his business and himself. And it works. John's hype man skills are so impressive that he's able to start a side hustle doing publicity for some of his friends. In 1913, at 35 years old, John gets his first big PR job, promoting a series of bullfights at a festival in Coney Island. These are the first bullfights to ever happen in New York. Animal rights activists are up in arms about bullfighting, but John promises that no animals will be injured.
8:36 Scaachi Koul? Finally, after months of promotion, it's time for the big event. It's a cool September evening, and John enters the stadium, surrounded by other thrill seekers. A famous Spanish matador steps into the arena, but the bull he's facing down doesn't seem scary at all. In fact, it's downright chill. John can only look on as the exhibition he spent weeks hyping up turns out to be his worst nightmare: a total snooze fest. He isn't the only one concerned. The matador senses that the audience is losing interest and hits the bull on the nose. And that's when the show goes from dull to dangerous. The bull charges the matador. He dodges it, but the bull keeps running, straight ahead, right towards the screaming crowd. Before he can reach them,
9:21 Scaachi Koul? the bull rams into a wooden barrier and knocks itself out. As it slumps to the ground, blood streams from its nose. The bull is clearly injured, so John and his fellow organizers are arrested and taken away in handcuffs. John is charged with baiting an animal and animal cruelty, but he gets off with just a fine. After this fiasco, John is in the newspaper for all the wrong reasons. And now, he needs to save his reputation and his fledgling career in publicity. And he's about to find the perfect new client: a literal saint.
10:00 Scaachi Koul? Three months after the bullfighting incident, John responds to a notice from the US Post Office. They recently changed their official policy on how to handle letters addressed to Santa. Previously, that mail was forwarded to the Dead Letter Office, and it was destroyed. But now, the Post Office is calling for groups to volunteer to answer them. For the last two Christmases, no group has stepped forward. And John's always felt an affinity for Christmas, since it's his birthday. And he senses a good publicity angle. So John asks the USPS if he can step in to play Santa. But he isn't going to just answer letters. John wants to match poor kids with generous philanthropists who can make their Christmas dreams come true. So the USPS agrees.
10:43 Scaachi Koul? Let's talk for a second about the history of kids writing letters to Santa. Saint Nicholas has been the patron saint of children for centuries, but he started becoming more popular in the US towards the end of the 18th century. And then he was immortalized by the 1823 poem, "A Visit From Saint Nicholas." Sarah, do you know this poem?
11:02 Sarah Hagi? Yes, it is that one. Everyone knows it's riffed upon all the time. And it goes, "Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there." You know what? This changed the course of history.
11:24 Scaachi Koul? But it's not for us.
11:26 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, all of the imagery is from this poem.
11:30 Scaachi Koul? Well, back then, Saint Nick wasn't an advocate for kids. His role was actually to keep children in line. And letters would come from Saint Nick telling children to behave. But during the Civil War, the postal service became cheaper and more efficient. And around this time, popular magazines started depicting Santa Claus as the figure we know today, a guy in a big red suit. By the 1870s, kids across the US were putting letters to Santa in the mail. By the turn of the century, commercialism had taken hold of New York and its Christmas celebrations. The year before John volunteered to answer letters, the city hosted its first tree lighting celebration. This annual event still lives on today at Rockefeller Center.
12:11 Scaachi Koul? But in the early 1900s, Christmas becomes more of a season than just a day. And that means gifts, decorations, and parties, which also means big business and big money.
12:23 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, it's crazy that it is pretty recent how Christmas became this holiday associated with spending a lot of money and a huge push for the economy and all this kind of stuff. And why it is so commercial and basically a secular holiday now.
12:40 Scaachi Koul? Well, Sarah, as ever, all roads lead back to capitalism. And meanwhile, John can't wait to get a piece of this Christmas goodwill, so he gets to work. His friend, who also owns the steakhouse below his apartment, graciously loans him the restaurant's roomy back office for the month. John turns it into the headquarters of his brand-new charity, the Santa Claus Association. The room is decorated with framed photos, large oval windows, and the lingering smell of cigars, whiskey, and steak. On December 8th, the postman enters the office with a huge sack. He dumps its contents onto the room's large wooden table. 500 letters to Santa Claus. There's no time to waste, and John has an idea on how to tackle this overwhelming task modeled after how he ran
13:25 Scaachi Koul? his customs business. He gathers a small team of about a dozen volunteers, mostly retirees and young secretaries eager to help poor kids. Their job is to sort through the letters and make sure that only those truly in need get help from Santa. First, the volunteers open the letters and read them. Kids ask for toys, complain about sick and unemployed parents, and even though it's traditionally more of a punishment than a gift, they actually do ask for coal so that they can be warm through the harsh winter. Sarah, will you read one of these letters?
13:57 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I'll read it. And also, it's not going to make total sense to read out loud because it is written by a child. And it goes, "My dear Santa, I am seven-year, have two sitter and brother. Mother said you will not call to our house as we have no money but try and come and give me skates and a cowboy suit and Margie a doll. Edward." It's sad because kids still send letters like this, you know?
14:22 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, they still want a doll for Margie.
14:25 Sarah Hagi? Yeah.
14:27 Scaachi Koul? Well, John and the volunteers make sure that the kids' addresses are legible. And then, they separate the letters into piles. One is for the letters where a child describes starvation, homelessness, or abuse. That stack will be forwarded to the Public Charities Commission for further investigation. Another pile is for letters where kids ask for lavish gifts, have high society addresses, or give some other indication that they don't really need Santa's help. John's volunteers are even willing to go to a kid's house to see for themselves if they qualify as needy. If the letter writer passes all of these tests, the next step is to pair them with a rich philanthropist. That's the real genius to John's plan. He won't buy the gifts himself. The Santa Claus Association will not take direct donations.
15:11 Scaachi Koul? Instead, they'll pair a child in need with wealthy people looking to spread holiday cheer. Donors can even drop off the gifts to the kids themselves to see the benefits of their charity firsthand. You know John is looking for a publicity angle. So shortly after setting up shop, he invites reporters to stop by his very own Santa's workshop. And as he suspects, they love this feel-good story. Soon, multiple newspapers are publishing stories about John and his mission. He's finally getting the positive recognition he craves. But with more publicity comes more letters. In the first week, they start receiving 500 new letters a day. Without a lot more volunteers, John runs the risk of falling behind and letting New York's neediest kids down.
15:56 Scaachi Koul? And maybe even worse, staining his reputation for good.
16:06 Scaachi Koul? Only four days into the Santa Claus Association's existence, General Edwin McAlpin picks up the phone and calls John with a proposition. Edwin is 65 years old with light hair and a stern brow. He's a retired general, businessman, and the heir to a tobacco fortune. And just like John, he has a spectacular mustache. Edwin wants to know if the Santa Claus Association needs volunteers. He's currently the head of the United States Boy Scout Organization, and he offers his scouts help free of charge. I'd like to pause to note that I said "the United States Boy Scout" and not "the Boy Scouts of America", because in the early 1910s, there are actually two scout organizations. They're pretty much the same, except for one major difference.
16:51 Scaachi Koul? The US Boy Scouts, run by General Edwin, emphasizes the importance of military training, and their members are armed with fully functional rifles.
17:01 Sarah Hagi? Um, I had no idea this existed. This is so nuts!
17:06 Scaachi Koul? Well, it doesn't sound good in theory, and in practice, it's even worse. About a year before Edwin calls John, a 12-year-old US Boy Scout shot and killed a nine-year-old in a vacant lot in the Bronx. And since then, their membership has plummeted.
17:21 Sarah Hagi? No shit, membership plummeted after one child shot and killed another one?
17:27 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, but Edwin isn't willing to ditch the military training. Just like John after the bullfight fiasco, Edwin is looking to give the US Boy Scouts a major PR boost. And he thinks that helping Santa is the perfect stunt. So with John's approval, Edwin sends a few hundred scouts, in military dress, of course, to help open letters and deliver gifts to children in need. They do make one concession, however. They agree to leave their guns at home. This army of volunteer elves are the massive manpower boost that the Santa Claus Association desperately needs. And with their invaluable help, more than 13,000 gifts are delivered to children by Christmas Eve.
18:07 Sarah Hagi? This is so crazy. They got these child soldiers to help them?
18:12 Scaachi Koul? Well, despite the child army element of this, all in all, the Santa Claus Association's first year is a success. But that night, after delivering gifts, a group of US Boy Scouts celebrate around a campfire outside New York City. And a 13-year-old picks up another scout's rifle and fatally shoots another scout in the back of the head by mistake. It's a horrible tragedy, and the two deaths within two years could sink the US Boy Scouts and eliminate John's source of free labor, which could spell the end of John's Christmas charity for good.
18:50 Scaachi Koul? Two weeks after the Santa Claus Association's first Christmas, New York Times Magazine runs a full-page spread about John with the headline, "Played Santa Claus and Solved an Economic Problem." Playing Santa totally turned his reputation around, and it's also making him a surprising amount of money. Because even though the organization wasn't supposed to solicit donations, just before their first Christmas, John made a public plea for money to cover the cost of two cent stamps, and donations flooded in. In one case, a member of the Vanderbilt family sent him $10, which doesn't sound like much, but it's worth over $300 today. John's receiving more money than the charity needs, and he's the only one tracking donations. He probably figures he's working hard and doing good,
19:35 Scaachi Koul? and deserves a little treat. So John starts skimming off the top.
19:39 Sarah Hagi? It's so freaking hilarious to me that he just started this and he's already like, "I'm gonna start stealing money from it." Like, there was no buildup. It's the second he was He did it.
19:52 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, he did not waste time. And now that he's got fame and a little bit of fortune, John can't sit by and let the US Boy Scouts collapse. He needs these volunteers in order to keep up with the volume of letters they're receiving. So John steps in as an official solicitor for the US Boy Scouts. Basically, he helps them raise money. And he strikes a unique deal with the organization. He gets to keep 40% of every donation he brings in. And at the time, there are no laws against this. In fact, there were very few regulations on charities in general in the early 1900s.
20:27 Sarah Hagi? OK, so he's basically being the mafia for this army of child soldiers?
20:33 Scaachi Koul? Yes, he sure is.
20:34 Sarah Hagi? What the hell is happening? This all started because he wanted poor kids to have a good Christmas, and now look.
20:42 Scaachi Koul? And now look, yeah. Well, the US Boy Scouts agree to John's terms. So he gets to work raising money for them and for the Santa Claus Association. His strategy is to ask prominent individuals to sign on to either organization as an honorary vice president. In reality, an honorary VP doesn't do anything except lend their name to the letterhead to entice donors. And it works. The donations start rolling in. In fact, the tactic is so effective that, before long, John starts adding famous people's names to his solicitations without their knowledge. From the outside, John's got it all. The money and the status he always wanted, and the charitable reputation that keeps it all going.
21:26 Scaachi Koul? He uses the runoff from donations to hobnob with wealthy New Yorkers at dinners and theater openings. With a new affluent circle of friends, John starts getting more access and more opportunities. One of his new friends offers him a bigger, rent-free office space for the Santa Claus Association, the Hotel Astor's opulent wine cellar. With its vaulted ceilings, wood paneling, and Gothic chandeliers, the huge space is A major upgrade, and John dubs it the Santa Claus cave.
21:57 Sarah Hagi? This is escalating in such a wild way. And it's so crazy to me that none of these people were like, hmm, John got really rich looking as soon as this charity popped off. I wonder if he's maybe taking money from it.
22:14 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, but in the summer of 1914, as John is preparing for his second Christmas as Santa Claus, the unthinkable happens. The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne is assassinated and war breaks out in Europe. The US won't officially join World War I for another three years, but at this moment, all eyes and charity dollars are focused on Europe. John needs to find a way to keep his organization in the public eye without seeming like he doesn't care about a massive global conflict. So John invokes the one force that might be even more powerful than the Christmas spirit: peace.
22:57 Speaker 04 Imagine you're reading Pride and Prejudice, except you're not reading it. Harris Dickinson and Marissa Abella are reading it to you on Audible. Her barbs sting you. His coldness sends a shiver up your spine. Your heart aches. Your ears burn. You yearn for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to profess their undying love for one another. You can't bear it any longer. Well, maybe a chapter longer. Performance is so good, you'll give love a second chance. Audible: Stories That Speak to You.
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24:37 Scaachi Koul? Six months after the start of World War I, John takes a cue from the children and pens his own letter. He fills it with his hopes and dreams and addresses it to President Woodrow Wilson. He calls on him to ask the fighting nations to put down their weapons for a Christmas armistice. John also tells the president that more children are writing in with dire needs because of the war's impact on the economy. But three days later, the State Department writes back, saying, "Thanks, but no thanks," to John's thoughts on foreign policy. Undeterred, John writes letters saying that he's organized 1 million children across North America to pray together for peace on Christmas. Of course, he doesn't actually have an army of 1 million praying children, but the newspapers still eat it up.
25:21 Scaachi Koul? Leave it to John to try and make World War I all about himself.
25:26 Sarah Hagi? Damn, I really feel like if he actually had a million children, we wouldn't be where we are now, you know?
25:32 Scaachi Koul? I don't think that's true, but it is nice to imagine, isn't it? Well, while he hasn't been able to stop the fighting, John has been able to grow his organization. A sister chapter opened earlier that year in Toronto, so John renames the two groups the International Santa Claus Association. He's emboldened by his own letter-writing campaign and inspired to find more unique ways to fundraise and put money in his pocket. In December 1914, he meets a Broadway producer and, in faux distress, John lies to him, saying his organization is in massive debt. The producer offers to help raise money. He says he'll donate the profits from one evening's ticket sales to the Santa Claus Association. So John immediately gets to work doing
26:15 Scaachi Koul? what he does best: promoting the hell out of the fundraiser. On the evening of the play, the association takes home about $2,000, the equivalent of over 60 grand today. With the second Christmas under his belt, John has proven that his charity isn't a fluke. It gives generous people the chance to give back, puts gifts in the hands of needy kids, and generates heaps of great publicity for everyone involved. The International Santa Claus Association expands even more, opening branches in Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, and Boston. No one knows that John is secretly enriching himself and becoming less of a jolly Santa and more of a greedy Grinch. The next December in 1915,
26:58 Scaachi Koul? John repeats his lie about the organization being in debt. He tells the New York Tribune that the charity owes $3,000, over 90 grand in today's money. And John is still claiming he only needs this money for stamps. This is a flat-out lie, but the bigger the publicized debt, the bigger the donations. Regardless of all John's deceptions, the association is still coming through on its promises. In 1915, they deliver 50,000 gifts to the underprivileged children of New York City. The only problem with the cash cow that John has stumbled on is that it's centered on just one day a year. And John wants more. So he's about to reveal his next big plan, which will turn the Santa Claus Association
27:41 Scaachi Koul? from an annual tradition into a year-round institution.
27:50 Scaachi Koul? It's Christmas Day 1915, John's 37th birthday and the Santa Claus Association's third successful year in operation. Now that all the presents have been delivered, the action is dying down at the association's headquarters. John's volunteers are packing up to go be with their families. But he asks everyone to stay a little longer because he has a big announcement. John's had this in the works for a while. He's even invited journalists to document what he's about to say. And that's when he breaks the exciting news. He's planning the first-ever Santa Claus building in Manhattan. And it'll be more than just a building. He wants to create a white marble monument to the spirit of Christmas. It'll have a massive arched entrance with a huge Christmas tree decorated year-round.
28:34 Scaachi Koul? The marble facade will depict images-- Of Santa Claus from every country, made by artists native to each place. Of course, there'll be a huge stained glass window depicting Santa himself. And that is just the exterior. Inside, they'll build offices for the Santa Claus Association, but also an auditorium, a library, a huge toy market, a fancy restaurant, a rooftop garden, and a kitchen that can feed 1,000 people at a time.
29:02 Sarah Hagi? OK, Christmas happens once a year.
29:05 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I know. This whole thing kind of does seem insane and unnecessary, but John has already put together an all-star team to make it happen. He's hired a sculptor named Gudson Borglum, who will later go on to create a little-known project called Mount Rushmore.
29:22 Sarah Hagi? I mean, maybe that got him the job to make Mount Rushmore, was this, was this thing. This is what put him on the map. We just weren't there.
29:30 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, you're right. We just weren't around for it. Well, John says that he needs $300,000 to make it happen, and that is over $9 million today. He lets the press know that fundraising will start immediately. He's already arranged for the building sketches and a call for donations to be shown in movie theaters across the country later that month. After three years of building goodwill in the public eye, everyone gathered loves John's vision. Among the crowd of volunteers and journalists that day is John's new love interest, Simona Bonyface. Simona has deep brown eyes and dark hair. She's a 21-year-old aspiring actress who met John over the holidays. And even though she's 16 years younger than him, they both have big, boisterous personalities,
30:15 Scaachi Koul? and they hit it off immediately. Just a few months later, they get married. John showers Simona with clothes and jewels, likely paid for with the extra donations from the Santa Claus building. John's always been a big spender, but with a new partner in decadence, he starts racking up debts across town and living way above his means. But it's all worth it when Simona smiles at him and calls him "my Santa Claus." To keep up with the spending, John needs the Santa Claus Association and the US Boy Scouts to bring in more money than ever before. But John is living large on other people's donations, and he's about to go up against a literal Boy Scout who won't stand for his grifting ways.
30:59 Scaachi Koul? It's July 1917, about a year after John marries his Mrs. Claus, and James E. West is ready to put a stop to the US Boy Scouts and their trigger-happy antics. West is in his early 40s with well-groomed gray hair and perfectly round glasses. Philip Seymour Hoffman could have played him really well.
31:18 Sarah Hagi? Whoa, yeah, this is crazy how much they look alike to me.
31:21 Scaachi Koul? Well, West is an orphan who put himself through law school and became a legal advocate for children. He took over as the head of the Boy Scouts of America six years ago, and the competing US Boy Scouts have been a thorn in his side the entire time. He's ready to become the one true scout organization. And like any Eagle Scout, he won't give up. But tensions with the US Boy Scouts have only gotten worse since John Gluck was named as their commissioner-at-large a few months ago. Since then, John and his team have taken advantage of people's confusion about the two groups to pocket donations meant for the Boy Scouts of America. And not only does John take 40% of all donations, he now pays himself a salary on top of that.
32:02 Scaachi Koul? John has been using the US Boy Scouts and the Santa Claus Association to masquerade as a philanthropist. And recently, he started telling wild, self-aggrandizing lies. John tells people that he's a member of the Secret Service, and no, you didn't miss anything, he definitely isn't. But his most egregious offense to a lawyer like West is that John puts Esquire in his signature even though he never went to law school.
32:28 Sarah Hagi? I mean, of course, he's going to turn into this massive liar. He got away with so much already.
32:33 Scaachi Koul? Well, West can't stand John's deceptions. Unlike John, West genuinely believes in the Boy Scouts' mission. It's why he's so passionate about putting John in his place. So West files a lawsuit aiming to stop the US Boy Scouts from using the words "Boy Scout" or any version of the phrase in its name. John tries to wage a war in the press, but his attempts are pathetic. At first, John tells reporters that the lawsuit is a misunderstanding. When that fails, he publicly asks if the two Boy Scout organizations can merge, but West gives the same reply each time. Let the courts decide. He can tell John is getting desperate. John is determined to save his two charities. So he tries to keep them separate by making his wife, Simona,
33:17 Scaachi Koul? a 22-year-old actress with no business experience, the president of the Santa Claus Association. This decision infuriates his non-scout volunteer staff, and several of them quit. West watches with glee as John continues to unravel. Out of options, John resorts to the most basic defense: projection. He writes to the Justice Department accusing West of pulling the same financial trickery that John himself is doing. It's basically a 13-page rant calling West a con artist.
33:47 Sarah Hagi? It is extremely bold of John to think that tactic works. I mean, it's very risky because it can expose him completely.
33:55 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, it seems foolish. And a year later, the court releases its official decision. The US Boy Scouts can't use any version of scout or scouting in their name. Without that, they can't recruit as effectively. So they're basically forced to shut down. West has won the battle of the Boy Scouts, and the cherry on top is that John's credibility is wrecked. The long and public legal battle has left him broke, and support for the Santa Claus Association all but evaporates.
34:27 Scaachi Koul? Now that John's been publicly outed as a fraudster, his powerful friends and former supporters start deserting him, including his wife. A few months after he loses the US Boy Scouts, he and Simona get divorced. A year and a half later, it's Christmas 1920, John's 42nd birthday. And he's sitting at home alone with hundreds of children's letters to Santa Claus. It's the Santa Claus Association's 8th Christmas, but without its volunteers, the organization basically exists in name only. About a year earlier, John tried to get the Salvation Army to take over the operation, but they declined. So this Christmas, the letters are being sent to John's personal address. It's too much for him to handle alone. But without any help,
35:11 Scaachi Koul? it looks like the Santa Claus Association is as cooked as a Christmas ham. But that's when John is saved by the power of the charity's vision. A former volunteer, Samuel Brill, comes out of the woodwork and offers to handle the letters. And John agrees to turn things over to him. John removes his name from the masthead and lays low. And slowly but surely, the charity picks up steam again and finds a new group of volunteers. John supports himself working as an editor for a New Jersey newspaper and watches as the association regains its clout over the next few years. By 1922, John is glad-handing again with celebrities like Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. And by 1923, President Coolidge even telegraphs the Santa Claus Association to formally wish
35:56 Scaachi Koul? the children of America a Merry Christmas. On New Year's Eve, 1923, John helps throw an insane, star-studded fundraiser at the Waldorf Astoria. In classic roaring 20s fashion, the party goes on until the early hours of the morning. Jazz musicians keep the crowd dancing and confetti pours from the ceiling. And a few years later, in 1926, New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker awards the Santa Claus Association with the key to the city.
36:25 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, as much as he scammed, this charity does work for children. Like, the kids do get gifts, and, you know, this, an event like this fully legitimizes him.
36:36 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, well, after all of his ups and downs, John has learned one thing: scamming through charities is easy. So he sets out to make a lot more money by setting up new organizations. He draws upon the insane rolodex he created at the Santa Claus Association, which has over 75,000 names, and sends solicitation letters far and wide. But while the Santa Claus Association really does give children presents, John's new charities are completely fake. He straight-up pockets nearly 100% of the money they raise. These charities have names like The Crusade Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, The Serum Control of Cancer, The Anti-Prohibition Group, and The Window Crib Society.
37:19 Scaachi Koul? That charity promoted the idea of infants getting fresh air and sunshine by suspending them out of apartment windows in wire chicken cages. It's like a catio, but for human babies.
37:29 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, it looks like the back of an air conditioning unit, but it's a cage with a child in a bassinet inside. And honestly, I wish there was a way this could be safe, because it seems awesome.
37:42 Scaachi Koul? Okay, weird.
37:45 Scaachi Koul? Well, we don't know how much money John made from these fake charities, but it's enough for him to become a bit of a jazz-age celebrity. He even finds himself another wife named Gertrude. She adores John, especially his larger-than-life personality, and she always laughs at his bad jokes. John is a total crook, and it seems like no one's the wiser. But what John doesn't know is that New York City Public Welfare Commissioner Bird Kohler has had John on his radar for years. And this bird is about to get his worm.
38:21 Speaker 03 Alice, have you ever wondered why the Mini is so small?
38:24 Scaachi Koul? The Skir or the Magnum?
38:27 Speaker 03 Well, I meant the iconic British car. Because in 1956, Britain's oil supply was suddenly cut off. Petrol rationing was brought in, and the car industry was scrambling around for a vehicle that hardly used any fuel. Enter the Mini.
38:41 Scaachi Koul? Interesting, but actually not technically British Scandal series material.
38:45 Speaker 03 Well, the reason they had to save petrol is because the Prime Minister started a war and lied about why.
38:51 Scaachi Koul? OK, scandal siren going off.
38:53 Speaker 03 I'm Matt Ford.
38:54 Scaachi Koul? And I'm Alice Levine.
38:55 Speaker 03 And our latest British Scandal series involves a secret meeting in a French villa, a Prime Minister running on amphetamines...
39:01 Scaachi Koul? An Egyptian president that everyone fancied, the end of the British Empire, and at the heart of it, a canal.
39:08 Speaker 03 This is the story of the Suez Plot.
39:11 Scaachi Koul? Follow British Scandal wherever you get your podcasts, or listen early and ad-free on Audible.
39:21 Scaachi Koul? Ghosts aren't real. At least, that's what journalist Tristan Redmond always believed. Sure, odd things happen in his childhood bedroom, but ultimately, he shrugged them off. Until he discovered that he wasn't alone, that everyone who lived thereafter him also had bizarre experiences they couldn't explain. And it gets even weirder. It just so happens that his wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door. Is this ghost somehow connected to her murder? He decides to go where no son-in-law should, digging up a cold case and asking questions that nobody wants answered.
39:54 Speaker 06 Like, could his wife's great-grandfather have gotten away with the perfect crime? This is a podcast about family secrets, overwhelming coincidence, and the things that come back to haunt us. For the best bingeable series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can get all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
40:29 Scaachi Koul? It's three days before Christmas in 1927, and Byrd is sitting in his office in the Manhattan Municipal Building. He's 60 years old, a fit man with sad eyes and a salt-and-pepper mustache. Byrd started his political career as the chief accountant for the city, and he still dresses like it. He often wears a bowtie. Byrd had dreams of being governor, but his determination to root out fraud in the government didn't make him any friends. So when he entered the governor's race, he lost. But now, as New York's Public Welfare Commissioner, Byrd wants to double down on his mission to rid the city's charities of inefficiencies and grift. In a previous case, Byrd catalogued every single Christmas basket going out to needy families to make sure no one got more
41:12 Scaachi Koul? than one. He's a bit of a Scrooge, but if that's what it takes to stop people like John, he's fine with having a sour reputation.
41:20 Sarah Hagi? Oh my gosh, it's always a guy like this who's so insanely by the book, who takes down someone like John.
41:28 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I already love him. Well, today, Byrd's waiting for John. He asked him to come visit his office. And when John finally arrives, Byrd questions him for two hours about every aspect of the Santa Claus Association. And John evades all of his questions. John claims he's the only person handling the association's finances, but he can't explain where the money goes. He claims that he has 600 clerks and 100 district captains on the payroll, but he can't name them. Byrd knows that John is lying. His crimes have gotten sloppy and obvious. And one of the most suspicious things is that John recently started accepting direct donations for presents instead of matching kids to donors. It's a total 180 from the association's original mission.
42:14 Sarah Hagi? Wow, he couldn't even keep up that part of the facade. Like, he was just like, you know what? Let's just streamline it. Give me the money.
42:21 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, for a man who claims he's an attorney with degrees- From Columbia, Cambridge, and Oxford, John can't muster any answers for Byrd's questions. But under the current charity laws, he can basically do whatever he wants with the organization's money. As a result, Byrd can't arrest him, but he can start investigating. The next day, Byrd sends an auditor to the Santa Claus Association offices. The auditor finds only five employees sorting mail, nothing close to the hundreds of volunteers that John boasted about. Byrd tries to push the story to the papers, but with Christmas only two days away, attention is elsewhere. The Santa Claus Association survives another season. As Byrd rings in the new year,
43:04 Scaachi Koul? he decides that 1928 will be his last year as commissioner. He'll retire after next Christmas. But Byrd has one goal for his final year in office: taking John down. Nearly a year later, with the holidays approaching again, Byrd plays his ace. He figures he may not be able to get John arrested, but what would the Santa Claus Association be without Santa's letters? Nothing. So Byrd calls the head of the Postal Inspector's Service and informs them that John is using their letters to steal from generous Americans. Last year alone, the Santa Claus Association raised $106,000, the equivalent of almost $2 million today. But there are few records detailing how that money was spent. And it doesn't take long to notice
43:48 Scaachi Koul? that John's living large with fancy cars and lavish parties. Byrd lays all his evidence out and waits for the postal service to deliver John some serious karma. Outraged by Byrd's intel, the postmasters publicly and definitively withdraw USPS's support of the Santa Claus Association on December 6, 1928. Within days, John's crimes are exposed in papers across the country, and people are livid. Fraud is one thing, but when you add in Christmas and disadvantaged kids, it's a reputational apocalypse.
44:23 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, the fall would be very, very hard for someone who used disadvantaged kids to get to the top of society. Understandable.
44:33 Scaachi Koul? Well, it seems like this lifelong grifter might be about to face actual consequences. But then, the following year, the stock market crashes. It's bad news for nearly every US citizen, but great news for John. Public attention quickly shifts to the Great Depression. And in this moment, John makes a big pivot. He moves to Florida with Gertrude, who has stood by him through it all. He becomes a real estate agent, apparently putting his scamming behind him. But let's be real, he was probably a shady real estate agent, too. And he died in 1951 at the age of 73. Despite his crimes, John's only arrest was for that bullfight at Coney Island. He will forever be remembered as the man who helped bring Santa and Christmas to New York.
45:18 Scaachi Koul? In the 15 years that John ran the Santa Claus Association, he arranged for a quarter million needy kids to get presents at the holidays. There were a few smaller Santa letter projects after the Santa Claus Association folded. But finally, in 1962, the New York City Post Office formalized their process and created Operation Santa Claus. In 2006, the program even went national. If you want to play Santa yourself, you can go to USPSOperationSanta.com and answer a kid's Christmas wishes. And as long as you're not like John, you might even end up on the nice list.
45:55 Scaachi Koul? Sarah, did this story fill you with the Christmas spirit?
45:58 Sarah Hagi? You know, I like seeing the lights. I like the way things shut down. I get, I benefit from Christmas.
46:06 Scaachi Koul? Sure.
46:06 Sarah Hagi? I do think his scam is probably one that still exists in many forms for charities. To me, it's so interesting that his scam did lead to Operation Santa existing.
46:21 Scaachi Koul? Yeah. This is actually like a story about why being a scammer is good.
46:26 Sarah Hagi? I think the craziest part of all of this were the child soldiers.
46:32 Scaachi Koul? Maybe the lesson is that if you're gonna do a scam, you should make sure that you have a mercenary group full of minors involved.
46:40 Sarah Hagi? Yeah. Also, I don't really get why... He couldn't find people after them. Like, when that shut down, it was kind of like, great, now we have no one. Like, find something else.
46:52 Scaachi Koul? Probably because they weren't being paid.
46:54 Sarah Hagi? I don't know. Could have, he could have found a group of people and convinced them it was a noble cause. I think he just was kind of like, well, I got this far. May as well just take a step back and become an editor at a newspaper.
47:12 Sarah Hagi? And then he got roped right back in.
47:14 Scaachi Koul? Heart wants what it wants. You know, another thing I'm learning through this scam is that if you do fraud during massive social and political upheaval, people will forget. So, you know, the last few years have been a great time to do fraud, frankly, because things have just never felt more chaotic.
47:34 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, I feel like we've been thinking about scammers recently who kind of fly under the radar because crazier things are happening in the world and people can't focus on them. So maybe that is the key to a good scam, is having the foresight to know when there's going to be like a huge economic crash or a crazy election.
47:54 Scaachi Koul? Yeah. If you're listening to this at home and you're thinking of doing a grift, try to time it with a war.
48:01 Sarah Hagi? I say start now. Start now, by the time you get caught, something crazier is going to be happening.
48:05 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, and then say, oh, but the war. And then you'll be fine, you'll move to Florida. I do think it's really quaint that 100 and some years ago, people were still ripping off charities as they are today. It's like the oldest story in the world of capitalism. I kind of love it. We've learned nothing.
48:26 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, this was one of the more old timey stories we've done, considering, you know, silent film stars, the Great Depression. But it was a timeless tale, you know? You could have had the exact same story functioning in the exact same way, but like five years ago.
48:44 Scaachi Koul? It's amazing that none of us have internalized any suspicion around people who perform works of charity mostly for their own ego.
48:55 Sarah Hagi? Yeah.
48:56 Scaachi Koul? On that note, Sarah, would you like to donate to my charity? It is to benefit people with outie belly buttons. We don't do any surgeries or anything, it's just to like, help them because it's so embarrassing.
49:07 Sarah Hagi? Um, I'm good.
49:09 Scaachi Koul? You sure?
49:10 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I don't think I need to do that.
49:11 Scaachi Koul? Okay, I have your credit card. I'm just gonna add it to the list. Don't worry about that.
49:24 Scaachi Koul? Follow Scamfluencers on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free by joining Audible.
49:36 Scaachi Koul? This is Santa Claus is Coming to Con. I'm Sachi Cole.
49:40 Sarah Hagi? And I'm Sarah Haggy. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at [email protected] . We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were The Santa Claus Man by Alex Palmer, Mama Says That Santa Claus Does Not Need to Come to Poor People by Eve M. Kahn for The New York Times, The Strange Story of NYC's Santa Claus Building That Never Was by the staff of Curb New York, and Played Santa Claus and Solved an Economic Problem by Edward Marshall for The New York Times Magazine.
50:12 Scaachi Koul? Rachel Borders wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Haggy. Olivia Bryley and Eric Thurm are our story editors. Fact checking by our associate producer, Lexi Piri.
50:25 Scaachi Koul? Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lin. Our music supervisor is Scott Velazquez for Frazon Sing. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Callum Pluse. Janine Cornolo and Stephanie Jens are development producers. Our other associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our producer is Julie McGruder. Our senior producers are Sarah Annie and Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Louis, and Erin O'Keehan for Wondery.
51:00 Speaker 04 Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia spent her life exposing powerful people. Then, in 2017, she was killed in a car bombing. I'm Stephen Gray, and for the past nine years, I've been trying to find out who wanted her dead. That search took me to Malta through secret companies, organized crime, and eventually to one of the island's richest and most powerful men. Now, after years of waiting, his trial has finally happened. But when the verdict came in, the case took a turn that almost no one had expected. In a brand new update to the multi-award winning podcast Who Killed Daphne? I'm returning to Malta to find out how we got there and where the search for the truth goes next. Listen to the new episode of Who Killed Daphne wherever you get your podcasts and
51:45 Speaker 04 you can hear the full six-part investigation from the beginning, ad-free with Audible. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app and by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
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