Jean-Guy Laquerre, Canadian teacher’s passion of legacy collecting has helped him to attain his name in the Guinness World Records.Laquerre expressed that That gift, an early on twentieth Century Santa figurine, "awakened the child in me," with a twinkle in his eye awaiting around at his collection, describing his unusual yuletide fixation equally "Santaphilia," a term he coined himself.
He with pride told, with a chuckle that I began my collection in 1988. Across the last 22 yrs, I have accumulated 25,139 Santa baubles.
Each year as yuletide approaches he methodically unpacks his figurines and collections from their boxes to deck his modest home in east Ontario province in Canada.
Laquerre confessed, "I can not finish myself totally, but I do restrain my urges. I surprise myself while I go into a store and I do not buy any fresh ones", who bears more than just a passing resemblance to his number 1 hero, with his white moustache, round cheeks and red Xmas hat.
"It is for I just do not have any more room for more figurines", he added with a regretful air.
Santa Claus figures whirl from the ceiling, others poke out red-cheeked and jolly-faced from the back of sofas; there are Santa tablecloths, cushions and blankets; dancing Santas, and Santa albums and from an before era, 1940s posters advert Santa smoke cigarettes.
All room, all nook and cranny is plastered with the decorations, even the bath, which is resplendent with a Father Xmas toilet-seat cover, and boxes of Santa tissues.
"It is only a small obsession," Laquerre told coyly, earlier breaking into a deep belly laugh as he surveyed his treasures.
Yet, he accepts big pleasure in meticulously classifying them, admitting old Xmas albums and Xmas cards. Chocolate Santa Claus and additional holiday treats -- most too old to eat -- are showed individually on shelves in the living room.
Additional items in the collection are staggering: more than 1,300 table napkins bearing pictures of Santa Claus, all cautiously catalogued and stored in plastic sleeves to keep them in pristine condition.
As a child, Laquerre collected stamps, and so labels from wine bottles earlier turning to Santa memorabilia.
He broke the world record for owning the most Santa keepsakes in 2004, but it wasn't until 2009 that his name was enrolled in the Guinness Book of World Records.
He said, "A Texas woman held the record for thirty yrs. She had 1,039 items. It was time that I came along and broke the record."
As his reputation has grown so has his collection. Laquerre now boasts Xmas bric-a-brac from about the world, such as a hand-made reproduction of Santa's workshop that took a French-Moroccan friend a few 600 hrs to build.
Laquerre says he hopes the full collection will some day be exhibited in a museum.
But some might argue that his home is already a shrine devoted to Old Saint Nick and ablaze with the spirit of Xmas.
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