What are Jolly Old Saint Nicholas and his helpers supposed to do when they can’t find a cobbler shop at the North Pole?

Apparently, they contact a clown shoe maker in rural Massachusetts.

Gary Amiro has been hand-crafting footwear for professional clowns since the 1990s, but he added Christmas to his repertoire about six months ago as a result of a customer request. His first attempt, though, was met with anything but holiday spirit.

“Somebody wanted a clown-shoe Santa boot,” he recalled, adding that a woman criticized it and told him to stick to clown shoes. “So I got pissed off, and I made a real pair of Santa boots. Then they saw it online and they went, ‘Holy [expletive], those are awesome.’ So now I’m selling real Santa boots.”

It’s the latest offering from Jolly Walkers Clown Shoes, which Amiro has operated out of his Wendell home since a couple of years after the deaths of his wife’s aunt and uncle, who founded the business as Bigfoot Clown Shoes. Amiro’s arsenal also includes leather elf shoes, pirate boots and theatrical shoes in addition to the bread-and-butter clown shoes.

“The Santa boots are going to start [picking up] any time now. I’ve already got a couple I’ve got to start,” he said, holding a pair that retails for $1,200. “I don’t like doing one at a time. I like to do three, four at the same time.”

Customers can visit Amiro’s website, www.shoesforclowns.com, to send in the five crucial foot measurements – the ball, the arch, the heel, the top of the ankle, and the front to the back – so he can make a pattern and get to work. The boots’ collars are attached by Velcro and can be removed and washed. Amiro said it takes him five to six weeks to make a pair. Orders will likely start pouring in soon in time for Santa Clauses to be ready for shopping mall and Christmas village appearances.

“They’re all high-quality leather,” Amiro said. “The reason why they’re so expensive is because there’s a lot of work that goes into these and I use nothing but the best.”

His wife’s aunt and uncle, Grace and Anthony Evans, started in the shoe business circa 1940 and operated Evans Shoe in downtown Athol, eventually starting Bigfoot Clown Shoes after a man approached them in need of a pair of clown shoes. A few years after they died one month apart from each other in 1995, Amiro got a call from a Florida woman who needed a new pair. Amiro, who at the time designed and built custom homes for a living, was out of work with a back injury and explained he didn’t know how to use the Evans’ equipment. But this woman would not take “no” for an answer.

“I’m pretty good with my hands and I said, ‘You know what, I’ll try to make you a pair. If they come out halfway decent I’ll send them to you,’” he recalled. “So I sent them to her. She loved them, called me back, says, ‘Listen, my friend wants a couple of pairs.’ I was off and running.”

Tricia Manuel, known in the clowning world as Pricilla Mooseburger, runs a clown camp in Minnesota and designs clown costumes, and — as the daughter of a shoemaker — said Amiro has earned his reputation in this niche field.

“The ones that Gary makes are great. They’re old-style, high-quality clown shoes,” she said. “Because I’ve been in this business since I was in my 20s, I know good clown shoes when I see them. I know what works and what doesn’t.”

Amiro described his products as shoes within shoes. He explained the front is sewn in and a person’s feet will still fit even if they grow. He said an entire foot is supported from the outside.

Jolly Walkers lay dormant for about 10 years after he underwent a liver transplant in 2010, but Amiro started it up again four years ago with the support of his wife, Sherrie Trahan.

“When we first opened back up we had a lot of business. But, I don’t know what happened, people don’t have enough money to buy these things right now. So we’re kind of slow right now,” she said. “Gary loves it. He sits there and has the radio blasting and [he’s] sewing his shoes and cutting them and making the patterns for them and everything. He just loves it.

“And he loves it when a new shoe [order] comes in that he hasn’t done before, because he has to use his head and all kinds of measurements, because our shoes are fit to the feet of the person,” she continued.

Amiro and Trahan said they are feeling the effects of the long-term decline of the clowning industry. Once staples of children’s birthday parties and enormously successful traveling circuses, clowns have been fading out of the cultural spotlight for at least a couple of decades. A spate of prank “evil clown” sightings in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom in 2016 stoked a degree of mass hysteria and a significant amount of blame is also placed on pop culture phenomena such as the Pennywise character from the “It” franchise. In fact, the World Clown Association president in 2017 directly blamed “It” author Stephen King for affecting legitimate clowns’ bank accounts.

“I used to be so busy,” Amiro said, adding that clients included Cirque du Soleil and The Walt Disney Company. “I even had a couple people working for me back then.”

The 70-year-old also made shoes for the 2002 comedy “Frank McKlusky, C.I.” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and he has been tasked with making the boots for the Baltimore Orioles baseball mascot. He has shipped all across the United States and as far away as Japan, China, Singapore and Greenland.

“You can buy clown shoes from Mexico — quarter of the price of mine — and they look great, but they’re only going to last you about a month,” he said. “They’re going to wear right out. You get them wet, they’re going to fall apart on you.

“So it all depends — are you a serious clown? Do you do it for business? Or are you just going to a party?” he continued. “You’re not going to buy a pair of these if you’re just doing a quick event. These are for life.”

Jolly Walkers Clown Shoes can be reached at info@ShoesForClowns.com and 978-413-3737. The business also maintains a Facebook page and offers Santa Claus suits and Christmas costumes.