There are so many stories of Christmas and Santa. The beginning of the Christian form of Christmas was known as the day Jesus was born. So how did it go from the Son of God’s Birthday to a national holiday?
In the beginning, it was a cold winter chill outside. The night came sooner than expected, and they had to get shelter quickly to rest. Her child is to be born soon. The Virgin Mary’s child is said to be the sun of the heavens. The only place to seek refuge in the battle against time, they found a barn to stay the night. That’s where Jesus was born soon after. Embracing the joy a beautiful bundle of joy 3 kings came to shower the baby with gifts. They followed the Stars to the East to gift him gold to symbolize kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) a symbol of death. Their baby lay on December 25, the day Christians will adopt as a holiday. The rest of the nation soon adapted to it as a national holiday.
Of course, this is just one of the stories that stars today. In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule, they do this from winter solstice (Dec 1) through January. The men of the house load up the fire. While the women cook an extraordinary feast the men come home and start the fire to make it warm and tosty. They all begin to feast until the drawing fire turns to cole which can take days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.
In Europe, this is when many animals are put to slaughter due to harsh winter storms approaching. This is the only time they have fresh meat and wines for they are also made best at this time.
Germany honors the pagan god Oden. They worship in fear thinking he’s near above in the sky. Flying around deciding who he seems fit to live or die. This is the first figure to resemble Santa According to https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.
They are all connected to Christmas in some way to celebrate the winter solstice. Starting with the Romans then the Germans took the party and turned it into Yule and later to Christmas by the English. Various languages have their terms for Christmas, often linked to the concept of nativity. Since the early 20th century, it has also transformed into a secular holiday enjoyed by both Christians and non-Christians, characterized by gift exchanges and the figure of Santa Claus.
Alicia Darlington believes that Santa became him from his faith saying “he loved Christmas so much, his faith helped him, or it was like Cinderella and a fairy godmother came and gave him reindeer and everything.”
Good old Saint Nicholas you say? Yes, you can’t talk about Christmas without talking about Santa and his evil other campus. He started as a symbol of the happy spirits in the season. Then grew to be this extraordinary giver to all. Then soon after in the streets of York, there was a festival called the ‘Yule Ridings’ on Dec 1. A man disguised as Yule took cakes and meat through the streets and threw nuts into the crowd. In 1572 the procession was banned after complaints of many inappropriate rude eragant behaviour.
Christmas by the Puritans escalated around 1642-1651 the English Civil War, prompting strong defense from Royalists. This conflict continued in the 1645 “The Arraignment, Conviction, and Imprisonment of Christmas,” where a woman’s inquiry about ‘old father Christmas’ reveals his condemnation and imprisonment by soldiers. In 1647, Parliament banned Christmas, along with other traditional holidays such as Easter and Whitsun. Christmas returned after 1660, and Father Christmas was free to entertain the community.
The legend of Sinterklaas, which was long before the English Father Christmas, originates from stories about St according to nglish-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-father-christmas/#:~:text=The%20origins%20of%20Sinterklaas%20can,a%20barrel%20by%20an%20innkeeper. Nicholas, was a 4th-century Greek bishop known for performing miracles. Tales of his generosity, including the anonymous gifting of gold to save daughters from slavery, led to the tradition of leaving gifts on the eve of St. Nicholas’s Day, marked on December 6. This practice grew in medieval Europe, in the Netherlands specifically, where impersonators delighted communities. However, during the Reformation, traditions associated with St. Nicholas faced opposition, with Protestants promoting the baby Jesus as the gift-bringer, leading to the rise of figures like Kris Kringle. They said he passed through doors and could shimmy down the chimney. Despite these efforts, Sinterklaas traditions ended, as illustrated by Jan Steen’s 17th-century painting showcasing festive gift-giving. The Sinterklaas narrative also evolved to incorporate a variety of ominous figures who punished misbehaving children, contributing to its rich folklore. Yes, that’s right Krampus was born.
He was evil. He visits all the boys and girls who match that evil feeling in their hearts. His past identities may have been Pere Fouettard (Old Man Whipper), Ru-Klaus (Rough Nicholas), Pelsnickel (Furry Nicholas), and Knecht Rupert (Farmhand Rupert). Symbolizing the devil in appearance, evil, and misfortune he brings with it would be hard not to mistake him as Satan himself.
There are no real clear stories about them traveling across the Atlantic, but they talk about how it was in a Dutch community living in present-day New York. 1773 New York still reported that the anniversary of St Nicholas was marked with ‘a great number of Sons of that ancient Saint’. 1809 they told stories of stickerless who will grow to our present day Santa. The Dutch families, claimed by Washington Irvine’s history of New York, said they told stories of this “Santa Clause “ in the sky in a carriage climbing down chimneys and handing out presents. The stories stuck around in America.
The legend grew most when ‘Sancte Claus’ was published in the New York Spectator in 1810. Historians suggest that Irving and other New Yorkers were crafting new, family-friendly Christmas traditions in response to the city’s history of holiday-related violence. Old Santeclaus with Much Delight’s poem was released in 1821 and introduced some of Santa’s classics like a red coat, and reindeer, positioning his arrival on Christmas Eve rather than St Nicholas’s Day. This tradition was adopted in 1823 when the poem ‘A Visit from St Nicholas,’ depicted Santa as a jolly figure with a distinctive appearance, diverging from the traditional image of St Nicholas. Over the 19th century, Santa Claus evolved in form and representation, with cartoonist Thomas Nast eventually shaping his recognizable look by 1881.
“He had a passion for making children smile and giving them gifts, so he trained some reindeer, got a sled, ate a lot of cookies, and used magic to make Christmas morning special for all,” junior Addison Zaiger says.
Santa Claus first appeared in England in 1864, introduced by American author Susanna Warner alongside Father Christmas in a story. Originally, Santa brought gifts while Father Christmas appeared in Mummer’s plays; fairies were also implicated in Christmas gift-giving during the 1860s. This confusion of the two caused ended in a merge of the two traditions. Many Folklorists like Mr. Edwin Lees, who introduced the tradition of stockings out for Santa in 1879, couldn’t tell which from which anymore till it seemed like one.
By 1880 in New England Santa and Father Christmas became the same. Then came the rumors of seeing him. The first reports were in 1883. The French had reported it was well-known that a fat man with reindeer delivered presents, they still called him Father Christmas though.
By the end of the 19th century Punch magazine portrayed Father Christmas in contrasting modern and traditional representations. From then on the old traditions and folk tail evolved into The Santa Clause we know and love today.
