A childhood belief about father christmas

When I was little I found a price tag from a store I knew on a present that Santa had left for me,since I knew that elves made all the toys I went to my mother and asked her why.She told me that sometimes Santa goes to the store to get the gifts the elves can't make,this sounded logical to a small child so whenever I saw an older man with a beard or a little person in a store I would think it was Santa or an elf getting all the gifts they couldn't make . I would walk up to them and give them a knowing look, usually they smiled and just thought I was an odd kid but I thought they were giving me a secret look like they knew I knew who they were.....