December 20, 2007- Vol. 36 Issue 7
History of Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
By Randi Barnett, jr.
Sports Editor
Throughout several countries there are different versions of how the character Santa Claus came about. However, in all of these countries, Santa relays the same message and that is presents for all the good children, coal for the bad. There is one Dutch-American version of Santa Claus, called St. A. Claus, who appeared in the American press as early as 1773. Washington Irving gave the Americans the first detailed information about the Dutch-American Santa Claus in his History of New York, written under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. In this piece of writing Irving described the arrival of Santa Claus on horseback each Eve of Saint Nicholas.
Thomas Nast, who drew Santa Claus as a round man for Christmas
issues of Harper’s magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s, further elaborated
the American image of Santa Claus. It was Nast who added the details like
Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole and Santa’s good and bad list
for all the children.
The Christian-Era Santa Claus is known as Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna, in present-day
Turkey. Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna lived in the Fourth Century A.D., he was
a very rich, generous, and loving of children. He gave toys to the poor children
by throwing them through their windows.
The Orthodox Church raised Saint Nicholas to a position of great esteem. Russia’s
oldest church was built in honor of Saint Nicholas; his name day is December
6.
Santa has many different names such as, Sankt Nikolaus in Germany, Sanct Herr Nicholaas or Sinter Klaas in Holland, and Santa Claus in America. In Germany and Holland Nicholas was said to ride through the sky on a horse, accompanied by Black Peter, wearing a bishop’s robes. Peter was an elf whose job was to whip the naughty children. After the Reformation in Germany, the Protestants encouraged the veneration of the Christ child as a gift giver with his own day, Dec. 25.
The modern-day version of Santa Claus is a fat, jolly old man with a white
beard and white hair wearing a red jacket and a pompom-topped cap. He is said
to fly through the sky in a horse-drawn sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, the
sleigh full of gifts.
“When I was younger I had always believed that Santa brought my presents on the night of Christmas Eve,” said Tiffany Zimmerman, so. “My favorite present from him was my puppy.”
When Santa arrives at each house he goes down the chimney and puts the Christmas
gifts under the tree and eats the cookies that all the children leave out
for him.
“I look forward to Christmas every year; I love to write Santa a letter and leave out yummie cookies for him too,” said Paige Murrell, jr.
This Santa is seen everywhere around Christmas time each year. We are reminded of Santa Claus through advertising, decorations, greeting cards, and in malls where Santa comes to visit for a few hours and talk to all the little kids.
Information gathered from:www.the_north_pole.com
history/index.htm
Christmas
Traditions and Cultures Around the World
Information complied from WWW.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm
Norway
Children leave a bowl of porridge for a little gnome named Nisse and decorate
the tree with apples, red hearts, and candy.
Germany
Germans make
ginger bread houses and bake their Christmas tree decorations from a white
dough called Christbaumgeback.
France
Children leave their shoes by the fire place to be filled with gifts by Pere
Noel. Instead of putting up a tree they burn a Yule log.
Santa' s name around the world |
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| Hawaii - Kanakaloka | Hungary - Mikulas |
| Italy - Babbo Natale | Brazil - Papai Noel |
| Russia- Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) | Netherlands - Kerstman |
| Sweden - Jultomten (Christmas Brownie) | United Kingdom - Father Christmas |
Info. from factmonster.com/ipka/A0877748.hotmail |
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