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  1. A Christmas Carol
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  29. Christmas number one
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  31. Christmas pickle
  32. Christmas pudding
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  37. Christmas stories
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  44. Cranberry sauce
  45. David Zancai
  46. Ded Moroz
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  54. Ghost of Christmas Past
  55. Ghost of Christmas Present
  56. Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
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  58. Gryla
  59. Heat Miser
  60. History of some Christmas traditions
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  63. Jack Frost
  64. Jolasveinar
  65. Joulupukki
  66. Julemanden
  67. Koleda
  68. La Befana
  69. Lebkuchen
  70. Little Christmas
  71. Marzipan
  72. Mince pie
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  74. Mr. Bingle
  75. Mrs. Claus
  76. Mulled wine
  77. Nativity Fast
  78. Nativity of Jesus
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  80. Nine Lessons and Carols
  81. North Pole, Alaska
  82. Nutcracker
  83. Olentzero
  84. Origins of Santa Claus
  85. Pandoro
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  89. Père Noël
  90. Poinsettia
  91. Regifting
  92. Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
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  94. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  95. Saint Nicholas
  96. Santa Claus
  97. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
  98. Santa Claus on film
  99. Santa Claus parade
  100. Santa Claus' reindeer
  101. Santa Claus rituals
  102. Santa's Grotto
  103. Santon
  104. Secret Santa
  105. Snap-dragon
  106. Snow baby
  107. Snow Miser
  108. Star of Bethlehem
  109. Stollen
  110. The Grinch
  111. Tiny Tim
  112. Tio de Nadal
  113. Tomte
  114. Tree topper
  115. Turron
  116. Twelfth Night
  117. Twelve days of Christmas
  118. Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper
  119. Wassail
  120. Wassailing
  121. White Christmas
  122. Winter holiday greetings
  123. Winter holiday season
  124. Xmas
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  126. Yule Goat
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  128. Yule log
  129. Zwarte Piet

 

 
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CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
This article is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_Santa_Claus

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License 

Origins of Santa Claus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. Perhaps an evolved version of the Swedish Tomte.
Enlarge
Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. Perhaps an evolved version of the Swedish Tomte.

In other countries, the figure of Saint Nicholas was also blended with local folklore. As an example of the

American origins

Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly.
Enlarge
Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly.

In the British colonies of North America and later the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York, Sinterklaas was Americanized into "Santa Claus" but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.

Modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the publication of the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known today as "The Night Before Christmas") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on December 23, 1823. The poem is ascribed to Clement Clarke Moore, although there is some question as to his authorship. In this poem Santa is established as a heavyset individual with eight reindeer (who are named for the first time). Santa Claus later appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. Still, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus's image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly (it is believed the inspiration for his image came from the Pelznickle). Another popularization was The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 biography (of sorts) from youth to old age by L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not set in stone at the time, and Baum almost completely ignored the poem, giving his "Neclaus" (Necile's Little One) a wide variety of immortal support (Fairies, Wood Nymphs (including his adoptive mother, Necile), Knooks, Ryls, Sound Imps, Light Elves, Sleep Feys, Gnomes, Water Spirits, Wind Demons, and the lioness Shiegra), a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer that were not domesticated at all (and had different names from the poem), but whom the Knooks let out of the forest one day each year (and they could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds). Most importantly, Baum revealed that Claus's immortality was earned, much like his title ("Santa"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. True to his historic origins as a bishop, Baum's Santa Claus never married. Baum also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, he strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.

Images of Santa Claus were further cemented through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was in fact invented by Coca-Cola or that Santa wears red and white because those are the Coca-Cola colors. Both claims are false.[1]

The image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.

A man dressed up as Santa Claus fundraising for Volunteers of America on the sidewalk of  street in Chicago, Illinois, in 1902. He is wearing a mask with a beard attached. DN-0001069, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.
Enlarge
A man dressed up as Santa Claus fundraising for Volunteers of America on the sidewalk of street in Chicago, Illinois, in 1902. He is wearing a mask with a beard attached. DN-0001069, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.

In 1889, the poet Katherine Lee Bates created a wife for Santa, Mrs. Claus, in the poem "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride." The 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, "Mrs. Santa Claus," helped standardize and establish the character and role in the popular imagination.

Some suspect that the depiction of Santa at the North Pole reflected popular opinion about industry at the time. In some images of the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. By the end of the century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as managers [see Nissenbaum, chap. 2; Belk, 87-100]. Many television commercials, comic strip and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, an early Bloom County story has Santa telling the story of how his elves went on strike, only to be fired by Ronald Reagan and replaced by unemployed Aircraft control personnel.

The concept of Santa Claus continues to inspire writers and artists, such as in author Seabury Quinn's 1948 novel "Roads", which draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the "mythology" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the ninth and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter.

Another theory

American psychedelicists Jonathan Ott, James Arthur, Jan Irvin and Andrew Rutajit as well as UK mycologist Dr. Patrick Harding suggest that many of the modern features attributed to Santa Claus may somehow be derived from those of the Kamchatkan or Siberian shaman. During the midwinter festival (holiday season) in Siberia (near the North Pole), the shaman would enter a yurt (home) through the shangrak (chimney), bringing with him a sack of fly agaric mushrooms (presents) to give to the inhabitants. This type of mushroom is brightly colored red and white, like Santa Claus. Although some question the relevance of this, the above factoids provide many interesting associations. The mushrooms were often hung (to dry) in front of the fireplace, much like the stockings of modern-day Christmas. Furthermore, the mushrooms were associated with reindeer who were known to eat them and become intoxicated. Reindeer are also associated with the shaman, and like Santa Claus, many people believed that the shaman could fly.[2]

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