To put into perspective just how much Callie Cooke loves Santa Claus, consider this: Even if every Santa Claus item he had was only worth $1, he'd still have $3,300 worth of Santa stuff.

"I've just always loved Santa," he said. "Santa is just so magical and is so pure. He represents the good in the world."

The collection sprawls across the basement of his house, with everything from Santa-shaped salt and pepper shakers to glowing Santa lawn ornaments and even a gourd that was painted to look like the face of jolly old St. Nick.

"Christmas was always just such a special occasion in my family's household when I was a child," he said. "Every year, we made a habit of going and cutting down an eastern cedar tree early, and for all December, that's all we had (for decorations).

"But on Christmas morning, we'd get up and it would be decorated beautifully with all sorts of presents under it."

Cooke, a West Laurel resident, began his collection 50 years ago when he celebrated his first Christmas with his wife, Carol.

At the time, they started out with only 15 or 20 of the figurines adorning their home for the Christmas season.

But over the years, that number steadily grew as Cooke found new shops, thrift stores and flea markets to check out, and grew even more with the advent of eBay.

"I started out in Ellicott City at little thrift shops and antique stores," he said. "Before long, I'd go to Frederick or Fredericksburg and literally buy every single Santa they had in the entire store."

One of the largest parts of his collection is a series of figurines called "Memories of Santa." The series, by the late artist Don Warning, features figurines that show various depictions of Santa from newspapers and magazines dating as far back as 1800, and even a figure showing someone with a hat and sack of gifts from as far back as 1425.

Cooke said his collection of Santas has been a joy for his grandchildren and has given him another bond with them.

"I think it's a crime when someone tells a child that's 7 years old that there's no Santa," he said. "You're depriving them of their imagination and of the joy and purity that Santa represents."

But the winter wonderland in Cooke's basement extends beyond his affinity for Santa Claus. He also fit in his childhood love of trains, with an O-scale model train set that travels around a snow village.

The trains are replicas of the old Norfolk and Western that used to run by Cooke's childhood home in southwestern Virginia.

"Every day, during World War II, I'd see the train go by with troops or tanks or jeeps," he said. "I was fascinated by it then, but I wish I'd been able to appreciate it more."

Fortunately, to re-live those childhood days, he was able to construct the village, which takes up about a quarter of the room in his basement and spills into a neighboring room.

In the middle of the train set sits a winter village comprised of ceramic buildings from Department 56. In all, the layout took him about four years to construct and 15 years to collect all the trains, tracks, buildings and miniature vehicles that sit in the village.

To put a more personal touch on the village, most of the cars seen in it represent some element of his life.

For instance, one street has a Ford "Woodie" station wagon -- the same car his father drove -- while another has a red Volkswagen Bug -- the same car driven by one of his sons.

While Cooke has already collected so much, he said he plans to continue seeking Santa collectibles and more additions to his snow village.

"A couple years ago one of the kids in the neighborhood asked how old I was," said Cooke, who is 70. "I told them and they said, 'You act like a teenager.' I just looked at him and said, 'And I hope I always do.'

"To me, there's nothing more fun than riding a sled down a snowy hill, and nothing more special than Christmas."

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