At 95 years old, Shirley Todd of Welsh loves Christmas and really loves Santa Claus.

Every year, Todd displays her collection of over 100 Santa figurines, statues, bells, salt and pepper shakers, mugs, cookie jars and other collectibles in the living room of her home.

While the collection is comprised pretty much solely of Santas, an occasional snowman, angel or Nativity scene works its way into the display.

A plastic lighted outdoor Santa standing near the front door offers a peek of what’s inside.

Todd started collecting the Santa memorabilia in 1976 after her then-daughter-in-law, Terri, gave her a ceramic Santa and Mrs. Claus for Christmas.

Not only has she held on to the pair, she has added to the collection.

“I used to just have a few, but in the last 10 years I’ve gotten more and have collected quite a few,” Todd said, eying her collection.

The collection includes everything from Old World Santas from around the world to more modern Santas.

They are made of ceramic, wood, plastic, glass and more. Some are serious, others whimsical.

Some carry bags of toys, others ring bells or drive cars.

They fill the table tops and shelves in her living room.

It takes her half a day to put them out when she has help. She admits when she does it by herself it takes her longer.

“We usually have an assembly line going,” Todd said of setting up the display. “We put the boxes on the couch, I unwrap them and hand them to someone to set them out. It’s a job to put them all up.”

Todd is unsure why she started the collection or what attracted her to the Santas.

“It was just something I started and I don’t know why I did,” she said. “They just appeal to me, I guess. And to know there are so many different kinds is amazing to me.”

Her favorite in the collection is a cowboy Santa she got in Branson, Mo., about four or five years ago.

“I had been looking for a cowboy Santa because I didn’t have one, so when I saw him I had to get him,” she said.

She considers a wooden 1909 Poland Santa as the most unusual in the collection

She gets her Santas from places she visits and from friends and family. Many are bargain finds from local thrift stores.

“When I would travel and go somewhere, I’d always find them,” she said. “I have some from Branson, Beaumont … just different places and then people give them to me for Christmas and my birthday.”

She has already added three new Santas to her collection this year.

“I wanted to quit doing so much Christmas decorating and here I am adding more all the time,” she said. “Every time somebody brings me a new one, I can’t say, ‘Oh no I don’t need it or don’t want it.’ ”

The Santas make her and others happy, Todd said.

“I enjoy them and I like to have children come look at them,” she said. “The children are fascinated with them. I have three little girls next door and they come over here and sit on the couch and just look at them.”

She recently had an appliance repairman and his son take videos of the collection while working at her house.

“Usually it’s people that have little children or grandchildren that like to come,” she said.

Everyone likes the kissing Santa and Mrs. Claus, which she has two sets of.

“It’s strange to me that of all these Santas that people give to her and there’s only three sets that are alike out of all of them,” friend Ramona Peoples said.

Big or small, old or new, if it’s Santa Claus Todd probably has one of them.

Todd said she always believed in Santa growing up and laughs that she still does.

“I found out if I didn’t believe I wouldn’t get anything so I always believed in Santa,” she said.

Todd said Christmas has always been special in her family.

“I just love Christmas,” she said. “It makes me think back to when I was young and my parents and grandparents were alive, it was always a special time at our house. We’d always go out in the woods and get a live tree. We didn’t have much, but we always had a Christmas tree. I guess that’s why I love Christmas so much.”

Todd continued many of her family’s Christmas traditions with her own family, including placing emphasis on the Nativity scene.

“When my kids were little I’d always put the Nativity scene up first and I’d tell the kids we couldn’t put the tree or any decorations up until we did the Nativity scene because that is the real Christmas,” she said. “I wanted my children to know the real meaning of Christmas, that it wasn’t just about Santa Claus.”

It’s still that way today.

Last Christmas a friend gave her a music box with a Nativity scene.

Todd takes the collection down after Christmas and begins the task of packing them away again.

She stores them in boxes in three closets in her home.

“They pretty much take over,” she laughed.