This post really brings back memories.
I actually was a mall Santa in Ottawa in 1971. It was at Lincoln Fields Mall (now gone) on Richmond rd. The Manager of the Mall was a Carleton University Grad and contacted the student association that ran a job bank for part time work for students and was looking for someone to be the mall Santa for 6 weeks. He also wanted a a female to be Santa's elf helper.
I happened to be in the office the day he called looking for a job over Xmas and the guy answering the phone said "Hey, you wanna be a Mall Santa."
It was decent pay but no days off, worked from 10 am to 8 pm so I said Ho Ho Ho sign me up!!
Amazing gig...No idea how may kids I saw but probably 100-150 a day, it was a fun and had a great Xmas with the extra cash. The big bonus was the girl that they got to be my elf was hot and after 2 weeks we decided to get it on until the job was over as both her boyfriend and my girlfriend had gone back home for Xmas.