December 13, 2023 • 19 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1968, the 19-year-old Frank Olivo was dressed as Santa Claus at an Eagles’ football game where he was booed and pelted with snowballs. Here to tell the story is Frank’s first-cousin and best friend, Richard Monastra. Here’s Rich starting with a little background on both him and “Snowball Santa,” Frank Olivo.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is our American stories, and we continue with our
special Christmas season storytelling and we do this every Christmas
season well because it's fun to do and we know
we love it, and we hope you do too. Philadelphia
has a reputation across professional sports for having the toughest
and roughest fans. Nobody knows that better than Frank Olivo.
(00:34):
In nineteen sixty eight, the nineteen year old Oliva was
dressed as Santa Claus at an Eagles football game, where
he was booed and pelted with snowballs. It's such a
famous moment that ESPN even made a spoof thirty for
thirty about it. Here to tell the story is Frank's
first cousin and best friend, Richard Monastra. Here's Rich starting
(00:56):
with a little background on both him and snow oh
Ball Santa Frank Oliva.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
We were born in the post war era to of
US baby boomers.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I was born in forty six.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Frank was born in nineteen forty eight in South Philadelphia.
Born to typical Italian immigrant families. Our parents hailed from Naples, Italy.
For the most part, we were born and raised in
South Philadelphia. Went to Catholic elementary schools Catholic High School.
(01:29):
I graduated nineteen sixty four. Frank graduated nineteen sixty six
from the same high school, Bishop Newman. I went on
to college. Frank decided that he wanted to be of
barbor so he went to bunch of barbering school. His
father was a veteran of World War Two. He had
landed at Omaha Beach in the Deep d day he
(01:50):
was wounded, wound up with a plate in his head.
His mother, Rose, worked their whole life in the tailor shops,
which was pretty typical for South Philaepia guy women. Frank
went to by a barber school in Center City, Philadelphia,
in the area now they call Chinatown. Got his by
(02:11):
barber's license. Frank really really liked that. He liked being
a barber. He was very social the time he was
a kid. He was very very social. He got he
got along with, with, you know, with everybody. He had
a talent. Early on, we started to start to seat
in him of being a bit of a showman too.
(02:31):
He would do impersonations of actors, movie stars, whatever. Family
really loved that. Kids in the neighborhood really loved when
he would imitate our our our teachers, especially when we're
in high school, and.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
He and he sort of liked all that attention.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Uh, he was sort of deprived of that attention as
a as a kid. You know, his family, his own
personal I was mother and father. I guess you might
call him today what we might say is a dysfunctional family.
You know, Rose and Bruno were always working. Frankie was
on the street a lot at the time. Fortunately, he
would come over to our house and you know, my
(03:14):
mother kind of took him in and he.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Was like our like our brother.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
That part of South Philadelphia sometimes, you know, has a
bad rep A little bit of the so called mob
guys hung out there.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
There's a place called Poo Cheese and Nicks Roast Beef Shop.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I think both of those places were kind of fronts
for the organized, the mob guys. But somehow Frank got
friendly with those people as well.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Every once in a while they would.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Ask us to carry these little brown bags to go
from point A to point B. Little did we know
we were carrying number.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Plays or horse beats.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And Frank spoke up about it one time, he said,
what's what's what's in these bags?
Speaker 3 (04:08):
You're asking mister carry.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So one of the guys at this place called Pooci
showed him and Frankie started to laugh, and so and
the other the you know, the quasi mob guy started
to laugh too, and he said, I like you kids.
You guys are really cool. You got a real hootspa here,
so to speak. And he gave us a free roast
beef sandwich and the half a buck apiece.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
But as time time went on, you know, I went
on to college.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And we were always fans of uh. The filled up
the sports scene. We used to go up the old
Shy Park to watch the Phillies play. The cops there
who guarded the stadium, we're very friendly. They let you
hang outside the stadium, and once the first inning was over,
(04:56):
they opened up the gates and we all got in
for free. All the kids hanging outside the the stadium
got in for free.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
We sat up in the bleachers and watched the ball game.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Once we were a bit older, I guess in our teams,
our uncles they had eight season tickets, four in one
row and four seats right behind the first four. And
as we grew up, they would take us to the
Eagles games as a sort of a right of passage,
and that ultimately led up to the infamous snowball event.
(05:29):
In December of nineteen sixty eight, the Eagles were scheduled
to play the Minnesota Vikings, which were a fairly new
team at that time. I think they had come into
the league about nineteen sixty one or sixty two. They
weren't very good, but the Eagles were worse. The Eagles
were having a very very bad year. There were something
like two and ten or two and eleven. The schedule
(05:52):
was much shorter than they played. I think the NFL
played a twelve or fourteen game schedule then. Anyway, this game,
all the sports writers had UH pay it picked up
on it, and they were calling at the OJ Bowl
and in reference to O J. Simpson, if the Eagles
lost this game, they would get the number one draft
(06:14):
choice in the NFL draft. And of course everybody was
touting O. J. Simpson at that moment. He was m
probably the best player in the UH country playing for
University of Southern California. The Eagles were in a down,
really a down period. Their coach, Joekihirick, former coach at
(06:36):
Notre Dame, had signed a fifteen year contract. Can you
imagine back in those days. And I think Joekiharrick was
a great example of the Peter principle. You know, you
rise one level above your confidence. He was great as
a college coach, but he was lousy as a pro coach.
People would boo him routinely every.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Game, win or loose.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
On this day, there was an airplane circling over Franklin
Field trailing a banner saying Joe must go. And every
time the plane went over, fans would you know, would
would would would sheer. The fans were in a sour
mood that day. Trust me, it had snowed the day
before Saturday, nothing much, but the game started late because
they had to clear the field. The game starts, the
(07:20):
game goes on and the Eagles are winning, and the
fans are booing. So you can imagine because everybody wanted
them to lose so that they could draft Simpson. Anyway, Historically,
the Eagles at the last home game used to have
Santa Claus, you know, come out on a on a
(07:41):
sleigh and he would you know, throw these miniature footballs
ended the stands and one of which was a was
a gold colored one and if you caught the gold one,
you got a season ticket for the next year's games. Well,
that year, December of sixty eight, for whatever reason, they
(08:03):
decided not to throw out the footballs, so people were
booing that. Somewhere in a second quarter, this man from
the Eagles, he's looking throughout the stands and he spots
Frankie with a Santa Claus suit. Now the obvious question
is why is Frankie wearing a Santa.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Claus suit through the Eagles game.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, our grandmother each Christmas would host a Christmas party
for all the grandchildren and she would give them our gifts.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
There.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
It was getting up in years and rather than going
visit each one of our households, even though we were
fairly close, it was a bit of a chore for her.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
So it was a big.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Party, all the relatives, all the cousins and uncles. It
had to be sixty seventy people in the house. Well,
one of my uncles usually played Santa Claus. Charlie Simkiss
had been doing it, but Charlie had lost a lot
a weight he wouldn't fill out the suit. So he
drafted Frankie Olivo to do the Senate So he gave
(09:09):
him the Santa suit, and Frankie decided on a whim
to wear the Santa suit at the Eagles game because
we were going to go right from the Eagles game
back to my grandmother's house for the Christmas party.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And you're listening to Richmond Astra and he's the first
cousin of Frank Olivo and Frank Well, you're going to
hear more about this remarkable episode in Philadelphia sports history
and American sports history for that matter, when we come back.
More of the story of the Snowball Santa here on
(09:43):
our special Christmas edition of Our American Story. And we
(10:11):
continue here with our special Christmas edition of our American Stories.
You've been listening to Richmond Astra tell the story of
Frank Olivo the Snowball Santa. Let's continue with the story.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So we're in the stands, Frank's got the Santa suit
on the place, is in a sour mood.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
The Eagles are winning. Planes are flying over saying Joe
must go. I mean it was really nasty.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Anyway, This guy from the Eagles staff spots Frankie, goes
up into the stands and asks him if he'd be
interested in subbing for the man they had hired to
play Santa Claus. Apparently the guy they had hired the
Eagles had hired was stranded up in North Jersey somewhere
and couldn't get down there to Philadelphia because of the snow. Okay,
(11:00):
pr guy for the Eagles told them what to do,
where to be, and so forth, and they took him
into the one of the you know.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
The bowels of the stadium. There.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Halftime came. The PA announcer gets on the PA and says,
Santa Claus is coming to town. Would everybody welcome Santa Claus?
What a big Philadelphia welcome. Well, uh, that's when the
fun began. Frankie enters the field. He's walking around carying
(11:31):
a big Sanda bag and he's got some of the
Eagles cheerleaders are dressed up his elves, and they're walking
around the you know, the base of the stadium, and
all the booing started. People started booing Santa Claus. And
then the snowballs came. People are picking up and they're
making snowballs and throwing them at Santa Claus.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
And the elves.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, a couple of the elves ran for covers and
here's Frankie became the target of all of this. Not
only did they start throwing snowballs, but they start throwing
anything they can get their hands on. People are throwing
beer cans, beer bottles, sandwiches, anything they get their hands on.
They were heaving at Santa Claus. They're taking out their
(12:14):
vengeance about the Eagles poor season and winning this game
thereby losing the OJ ball. They were taking their frustrations
down on poor Santa Claus. So Frankie and what was
left of the Elves crew made a circle around the
field and then they went back in. Frankie worked his
(12:37):
way back to the to our seats. Of course, when
we all got back to the Christmas party, we all
were telling, you know, the others who were at the
party what had happened. You know, frank had got hit
with snowballs and beer cans and stale sandwiches and hogis
and god knows waddle, and people were half laughing and
(12:57):
you know.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Half shocked by it all.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
It wasn't until that night somebody had had the television
on in one of the other rooms at my grandmother's
house and they noticed that Frankie's on TV. So we
all ran over to the TV set, you know, and
you see him coming out of the tunnel of the stadium.
(13:22):
They're playing some music on the PA system and people
started throwing snowballs and you.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Hear them booing and all that.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
So, of course, Phillippa fans have had this reputation for
eons being rowdy fans and you know all that stuff.
We're the only city that had a a judge on
site and a sort of a jail in this in
the battles of the stadium for.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
People who got too rowdy.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
So, I mean, it was really crazy. Philidelpi is a
great sports sound, don't get me wrong, but people can
get really crazy sometimes. So this story made national news
and at least one aspect of international news. The London
Times picked up on it.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
He told us he did not expect you know that
that booing, he said, booing bothered more than anything. He said,
you know, he couldn't understand people throwing snow and all that,
but he said the booing, He said, who the.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Hell boo Santa Claus.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
And of course that's the line that got tagged at
Philadelphia From that point on, this is the city that
you know, Boots, Santa Claus and everyonece in a blue moon.
You hear some sportscaster on some station, local or national
throw that line out there. You know, when something happens
negatively in the city of Philadelphia, they'll say, well, you
got to remember this is the city did boot Santa Claus?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Of course, when he went back to work at the barbershop.
He was working in the in a barbershop in the
Suburban station, which is the main train station in the
center city Filledladelphia, and people would come in there, they
would spot him there. Of course that his picture was
cut out of the newspapers. It was the people hanging
up in their windows.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Of the barbershop.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
He got a lot of customers from local celebrities, business people,
television stars. He had one of his customers with the
Archbishop of Philadelphia at the time was a man by
name of John Kroll.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
He's now deceased, but he.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Was asking Frankie for his autograph. Imagine this, the Cardinal
of Philadelphia asking Frankie for his autograph. So he had
all the all the local you know, politicians would stop
in there. Mayor Tate, James James Tate was the mayor
of Philadelphia, had his picture taken down in Frank's boy
at Barbershop, so he became a local celebrity. Frank never
(15:54):
got any pay from the Eagles. They gave him a
pair of cufflings. If you can believe that. Frank was
not much of a cuff shirt kind of guy.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know. In fact, one of.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
My uncles, Tony, he was a bit of a loudmouth
to say the least, wrote to the Eagles and he
called a bunch of cheap s obs. So anyway, Frank
got his own shop, didn't farewell. It was a bad
time by this time, it's the early eighties.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Had to close the shop down. He went. He went
to work at one.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Of the casinos that had just opened up in Atlantic City.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
As a dealer.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
He got his license as a dealer, and he ultimately
worked his way up to become a pit boss. He
got the rub elbows with some of the acts that
were appearing there. One of his favorite buddies was Don Records.
Franking had he was on a first name basis with
with with Don Don Rickles. You know, they exchanged cards
(17:04):
at Christmas time. I think when Frankie's daughter got married,
or maybe was his son. I forget, which Don Rickles
said of a gift. Throughout his life, however, Frank was
plagued by cart issues. Even as a kid. We would have,
you know, sometimes he'd have to stop playing ball.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
For a bit or whatever we were doing.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
That became too much of an exertion for him. Frank
died on the thirtieth of April twenty fifteen. He was
let's see, he was about sixty five or sixty six
at the time. I did the formal eulogy at Frank's funeral,
(17:46):
and while I was preparing to do that, I was
getting phone calls. When I tell you, literally from all
over the country. The story didn't die. It just wouldn't
leave him. Even to this day. The fact that you
contacted me evidence is the fact that people are still
talking about it. The day of his funeral, the priest
(18:08):
asked me what music they should have for Frankie, and
half jokingly, I said, play here comes Santa Claus. The
priest looked at me rather a puzzle. I said, I'm
just kidding, Padre, but I thought that would would have
been appropriate because I think he would.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Have loved that. So the legend lives on. He's the
gift that keeps on giving.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes Santa Claus, right down
Santa Claus Lane, And you've been listening to Frankie Olivo's
first cousin, rich Monastra, tell the story of the Snowball Santa.
But all of the story, the neighborhood, the context, the
neighborhood stores, and the psychological profile of a Philadelphia Eagle
(18:58):
fan at least a whole bunch. And I was a
New York Giants fan growing up in Northern New Jersey.
And I will never forget my first away game at Philadelphia.
And I had the temerity to wear a New York
Giants hat that lasted about a second. The story of
Frankie Olivo, the story of the Snowball Santa. Here on
(19:19):
our American stories. And he doesn't care if you're rich Charpoor.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
He loves you just the same.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Santa clausmo
This is our American stories, and we continue with our
special Christmas season storytelling and we do this every Christmas
season well because it's fun to do and we know
we love it, and we hope you do too. Philadelphia
has a reputation across professional sports for having the toughest
and roughest fans. Nobody knows that better than Frank Olivo.
(00:34):
In nineteen sixty eight, the nineteen year old Oliva was
dressed as Santa Claus at an Eagles football game, where
he was booed and pelted with snowballs. It's such a
famous moment that ESPN even made a spoof thirty for
thirty about it. Here to tell the story is Frank's
first cousin and best friend, Richard Monastra. Here's Rich starting
(00:56):
with a little background on both him and snow oh
Ball Santa Frank Oliva.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
We were born in the post war era to of
US baby boomers.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I was born in forty six.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Frank was born in nineteen forty eight in South Philadelphia.
Born to typical Italian immigrant families. Our parents hailed from Naples, Italy.
For the most part, we were born and raised in
South Philadelphia. Went to Catholic elementary schools Catholic High School.
(01:29):
I graduated nineteen sixty four. Frank graduated nineteen sixty six
from the same high school, Bishop Newman. I went on
to college. Frank decided that he wanted to be of
barbor so he went to bunch of barbering school. His
father was a veteran of World War Two. He had
landed at Omaha Beach in the Deep d day he
(01:50):
was wounded, wound up with a plate in his head.
His mother, Rose, worked their whole life in the tailor shops,
which was pretty typical for South Philaepia guy women. Frank
went to by a barber school in Center City, Philadelphia,
in the area now they call Chinatown. Got his by
(02:11):
barber's license. Frank really really liked that. He liked being
a barber. He was very social the time he was
a kid. He was very very social. He got he
got along with, with, you know, with everybody. He had
a talent. Early on, we started to start to seat
in him of being a bit of a showman too.
(02:31):
He would do impersonations of actors, movie stars, whatever. Family
really loved that. Kids in the neighborhood really loved when
he would imitate our our our teachers, especially when we're
in high school, and.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
He and he sort of liked all that attention.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Uh, he was sort of deprived of that attention as
a as a kid. You know, his family, his own
personal I was mother and father. I guess you might
call him today what we might say is a dysfunctional family.
You know, Rose and Bruno were always working. Frankie was
on the street a lot at the time. Fortunately, he
would come over to our house and you know, my
(03:14):
mother kind of took him in and he.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Was like our like our brother.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
That part of South Philadelphia sometimes, you know, has a
bad rep A little bit of the so called mob
guys hung out there.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
There's a place called Poo Cheese and Nicks Roast Beef Shop.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I think both of those places were kind of fronts
for the organized, the mob guys. But somehow Frank got
friendly with those people as well.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Every once in a while they would.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Ask us to carry these little brown bags to go
from point A to point B. Little did we know
we were carrying number.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Plays or horse beats.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And Frank spoke up about it one time, he said,
what's what's what's in these bags?
Speaker 3 (04:08):
You're asking mister carry.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So one of the guys at this place called Pooci
showed him and Frankie started to laugh, and so and
the other the you know, the quasi mob guy started
to laugh too, and he said, I like you kids.
You guys are really cool. You got a real hootspa here,
so to speak. And he gave us a free roast
beef sandwich and the half a buck apiece.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
But as time time went on, you know, I went
on to college.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And we were always fans of uh. The filled up
the sports scene. We used to go up the old
Shy Park to watch the Phillies play. The cops there
who guarded the stadium, we're very friendly. They let you
hang outside the stadium, and once the first inning was over,
(04:56):
they opened up the gates and we all got in
for free. All the kids hanging outside the the stadium
got in for free.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
We sat up in the bleachers and watched the ball game.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Once we were a bit older, I guess in our teams,
our uncles they had eight season tickets, four in one
row and four seats right behind the first four. And
as we grew up, they would take us to the
Eagles games as a sort of a right of passage,
and that ultimately led up to the infamous snowball event.
(05:29):
In December of nineteen sixty eight, the Eagles were scheduled
to play the Minnesota Vikings, which were a fairly new
team at that time. I think they had come into
the league about nineteen sixty one or sixty two. They
weren't very good, but the Eagles were worse. The Eagles
were having a very very bad year. There were something
like two and ten or two and eleven. The schedule
(05:52):
was much shorter than they played. I think the NFL
played a twelve or fourteen game schedule then. Anyway, this game,
all the sports writers had UH pay it picked up
on it, and they were calling at the OJ Bowl
and in reference to O J. Simpson, if the Eagles
lost this game, they would get the number one draft
(06:14):
choice in the NFL draft. And of course everybody was
touting O. J. Simpson at that moment. He was m
probably the best player in the UH country playing for
University of Southern California. The Eagles were in a down,
really a down period. Their coach, Joekihirick, former coach at
(06:36):
Notre Dame, had signed a fifteen year contract. Can you
imagine back in those days. And I think Joekiharrick was
a great example of the Peter principle. You know, you
rise one level above your confidence. He was great as
a college coach, but he was lousy as a pro coach.
People would boo him routinely every.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Game, win or loose.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
On this day, there was an airplane circling over Franklin
Field trailing a banner saying Joe must go. And every
time the plane went over, fans would you know, would
would would would sheer. The fans were in a sour
mood that day. Trust me, it had snowed the day
before Saturday, nothing much, but the game started late because
they had to clear the field. The game starts, the
(07:20):
game goes on and the Eagles are winning, and the
fans are booing. So you can imagine because everybody wanted
them to lose so that they could draft Simpson. Anyway, Historically,
the Eagles at the last home game used to have
Santa Claus, you know, come out on a on a
(07:41):
sleigh and he would you know, throw these miniature footballs
ended the stands and one of which was a was
a gold colored one and if you caught the gold one,
you got a season ticket for the next year's games. Well,
that year, December of sixty eight, for whatever reason, they
(08:03):
decided not to throw out the footballs, so people were
booing that. Somewhere in a second quarter, this man from
the Eagles, he's looking throughout the stands and he spots
Frankie with a Santa Claus suit. Now the obvious question
is why is Frankie wearing a Santa.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Claus suit through the Eagles game.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, our grandmother each Christmas would host a Christmas party
for all the grandchildren and she would give them our gifts.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
There.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
It was getting up in years and rather than going
visit each one of our households, even though we were
fairly close, it was a bit of a chore for her.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
So it was a big.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Party, all the relatives, all the cousins and uncles. It
had to be sixty seventy people in the house. Well,
one of my uncles usually played Santa Claus. Charlie Simkiss
had been doing it, but Charlie had lost a lot
a weight he wouldn't fill out the suit. So he
drafted Frankie Olivo to do the Senate So he gave
(09:09):
him the Santa suit, and Frankie decided on a whim
to wear the Santa suit at the Eagles game because
we were going to go right from the Eagles game
back to my grandmother's house for the Christmas party.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And you're listening to Richmond Astra and he's the first
cousin of Frank Olivo and Frank Well, you're going to
hear more about this remarkable episode in Philadelphia sports history
and American sports history for that matter, when we come back.
More of the story of the Snowball Santa here on
(09:43):
our special Christmas edition of Our American Story. And we
(10:11):
continue here with our special Christmas edition of our American Stories.
You've been listening to Richmond Astra tell the story of
Frank Olivo the Snowball Santa. Let's continue with the story.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So we're in the stands, Frank's got the Santa suit
on the place, is in a sour mood.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
The Eagles are winning. Planes are flying over saying Joe
must go. I mean it was really nasty.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Anyway, This guy from the Eagles staff spots Frankie, goes
up into the stands and asks him if he'd be
interested in subbing for the man they had hired to
play Santa Claus. Apparently the guy they had hired the
Eagles had hired was stranded up in North Jersey somewhere
and couldn't get down there to Philadelphia because of the snow. Okay,
(11:00):
pr guy for the Eagles told them what to do,
where to be, and so forth, and they took him
into the one of the you know.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
The bowels of the stadium. There.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Halftime came. The PA announcer gets on the PA and says,
Santa Claus is coming to town. Would everybody welcome Santa Claus?
What a big Philadelphia welcome. Well, uh, that's when the
fun began. Frankie enters the field. He's walking around carying
(11:31):
a big Sanda bag and he's got some of the
Eagles cheerleaders are dressed up his elves, and they're walking
around the you know, the base of the stadium, and
all the booing started. People started booing Santa Claus. And
then the snowballs came. People are picking up and they're
making snowballs and throwing them at Santa Claus.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
And the elves.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, a couple of the elves ran for covers and
here's Frankie became the target of all of this. Not
only did they start throwing snowballs, but they start throwing
anything they can get their hands on. People are throwing
beer cans, beer bottles, sandwiches, anything they get their hands on.
They were heaving at Santa Claus. They're taking out their
(12:14):
vengeance about the Eagles poor season and winning this game
thereby losing the OJ ball. They were taking their frustrations
down on poor Santa Claus. So Frankie and what was
left of the Elves crew made a circle around the
field and then they went back in. Frankie worked his
(12:37):
way back to the to our seats. Of course, when
we all got back to the Christmas party, we all
were telling, you know, the others who were at the
party what had happened. You know, frank had got hit
with snowballs and beer cans and stale sandwiches and hogis
and god knows waddle, and people were half laughing and
(12:57):
you know.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Half shocked by it all.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
It wasn't until that night somebody had had the television
on in one of the other rooms at my grandmother's
house and they noticed that Frankie's on TV. So we
all ran over to the TV set, you know, and
you see him coming out of the tunnel of the stadium.
(13:22):
They're playing some music on the PA system and people
started throwing snowballs and you.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Hear them booing and all that.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
So, of course, Phillippa fans have had this reputation for
eons being rowdy fans and you know all that stuff.
We're the only city that had a a judge on
site and a sort of a jail in this in
the battles of the stadium for.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
People who got too rowdy.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
So, I mean, it was really crazy. Philidelpi is a
great sports sound, don't get me wrong, but people can
get really crazy sometimes. So this story made national news
and at least one aspect of international news. The London
Times picked up on it.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
He told us he did not expect you know that
that booing, he said, booing bothered more than anything. He said,
you know, he couldn't understand people throwing snow and all that,
but he said the booing, He said, who the.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Hell boo Santa Claus.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
And of course that's the line that got tagged at
Philadelphia From that point on, this is the city that
you know, Boots, Santa Claus and everyonece in a blue moon.
You hear some sportscaster on some station, local or national
throw that line out there. You know, when something happens
negatively in the city of Philadelphia, they'll say, well, you
got to remember this is the city did boot Santa Claus?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Of course, when he went back to work at the barbershop.
He was working in the in a barbershop in the
Suburban station, which is the main train station in the
center city Filledladelphia, and people would come in there, they
would spot him there. Of course that his picture was
cut out of the newspapers. It was the people hanging
up in their windows.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Of the barbershop.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
He got a lot of customers from local celebrities, business people,
television stars. He had one of his customers with the
Archbishop of Philadelphia at the time was a man by
name of John Kroll.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
He's now deceased, but he.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Was asking Frankie for his autograph. Imagine this, the Cardinal
of Philadelphia asking Frankie for his autograph. So he had
all the all the local you know, politicians would stop
in there. Mayor Tate, James James Tate was the mayor
of Philadelphia, had his picture taken down in Frank's boy
at Barbershop, so he became a local celebrity. Frank never
(15:54):
got any pay from the Eagles. They gave him a
pair of cufflings. If you can believe that. Frank was
not much of a cuff shirt kind of guy.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know. In fact, one of.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
My uncles, Tony, he was a bit of a loudmouth
to say the least, wrote to the Eagles and he
called a bunch of cheap s obs. So anyway, Frank
got his own shop, didn't farewell. It was a bad
time by this time, it's the early eighties.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Had to close the shop down. He went. He went
to work at one.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Of the casinos that had just opened up in Atlantic City.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
As a dealer.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
He got his license as a dealer, and he ultimately
worked his way up to become a pit boss. He
got the rub elbows with some of the acts that
were appearing there. One of his favorite buddies was Don Records.
Franking had he was on a first name basis with
with with Don Don Rickles. You know, they exchanged cards
(17:04):
at Christmas time. I think when Frankie's daughter got married,
or maybe was his son. I forget, which Don Rickles
said of a gift. Throughout his life, however, Frank was
plagued by cart issues. Even as a kid. We would have,
you know, sometimes he'd have to stop playing ball.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
For a bit or whatever we were doing.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
That became too much of an exertion for him. Frank
died on the thirtieth of April twenty fifteen. He was
let's see, he was about sixty five or sixty six
at the time. I did the formal eulogy at Frank's funeral,
(17:46):
and while I was preparing to do that, I was
getting phone calls. When I tell you, literally from all
over the country. The story didn't die. It just wouldn't
leave him. Even to this day. The fact that you
contacted me evidence is the fact that people are still
talking about it. The day of his funeral, the priest
(18:08):
asked me what music they should have for Frankie, and
half jokingly, I said, play here comes Santa Claus. The
priest looked at me rather a puzzle. I said, I'm
just kidding, Padre, but I thought that would would have
been appropriate because I think he would.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Have loved that. So the legend lives on. He's the
gift that keeps on giving.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes Santa Claus, right down
Santa Claus Lane, And you've been listening to Frankie Olivo's
first cousin, rich Monastra, tell the story of the Snowball Santa.
But all of the story, the neighborhood, the context, the
neighborhood stores, and the psychological profile of a Philadelphia Eagle
(18:58):
fan at least a whole bunch. And I was a
New York Giants fan growing up in Northern New Jersey.
And I will never forget my first away game at Philadelphia.
And I had the temerity to wear a New York
Giants hat that lasted about a second. The story of
Frankie Olivo, the story of the Snowball Santa. Here on
(19:19):
our American stories. And he doesn't care if you're rich Charpoor.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
He loves you just the same.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Santa clausmo
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