Santa Claus

The conventional idea of Santa Claus is the symbol of the purity of the innocence and faith that children put in the Christmas season. He symbolizes hope, love, and In the present day, Jolly Old Saint Nick is portrayed as a happy, fat old elf with glasses and rosy cheeks that delivers gifts to the children on the Nice side of the Naughty/Nice list on Christmas Eve. Santa's wardrobe consists of mainly red suits with white trim, black boots, and red, white trimmed hats with a pompon on top. The modern day Santa Claus hates to shave, and his principal mode of transportation consists of a giant red sleigh and eight reindeer (one with a keenly red nose). He popped into and out of household chimneys, picking up scores of cookies and glasses of milk along the way.

However, Santa Claus has not always been portrayed like this. The present day idea of Santa and his many attributes can be traced back to a conglomeration of various tales and legends; the present-day Santa Claus is the end result of centuries of yarns starring kind old men and holy figures, all rolled into one.

One of the most popular explanations of how Santa Claus originated can be traced back to an old monk in Turkey named St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas was famed for his kindness and generous nature; according to legend the old monk gave away every material thing he owned so that he could spend his life traveling to help the poor and sick children of the world. At this point, I'm sure you have noticed that this version of Saint Nick didn't start out as part of anything having to do with the holiday season.

So how did St. Nicholas ever become associated with Christmas? Over the years as he became more and more renowned for his charitable work, St. Nicholas became known as the protector of children all over. The date of his death, December 6, was celebrated with a feast and was considered an extremely happy, lucky day. The Orthodox Catholic Church adopted Saint Nicholas as the patron saint of children and seafarers, and the 6th of December is his day.

The origin of Santa Claus can also be traced back to the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, who traveled the world on the eve of Saint Nicholas distributing toys and candy to the good children with Black Peter by his side, who carried a whip with which to punish nasty children. Author Washington Irving first brought the Dutch version of Sinter Klaas to American attention in 1809 by giving account to the saint's journey on horseback on the eve of Saint Nicholas in his book, The History of New York. In 1823 the poem, "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" (also known as " 'Twas The Night Before Christmas") by Clemente Mark Moore was published, and served as the American public's first glimpse into the conventional present day idea of Santa Claus, chimneys, reindeer, cookies and all.