How Santa Claus Became The Part Of Christmas?
What a beautiful festival Christmas is! Right? It fills hearts with high joy and zest. Decor with Santa Claus, trees, lights, balls, reindeer, and other aesthetic objects excites Christmas. But here we will specifically talk about one of the legacies of Santa Claus! who is a real mean and everyone loves him according to wikipedia.
Adults, children, and even seniors enjoy his jolly gestures and like to have a Santa on Christmas — to get a gift! His red dress, white beard, and mustache, and how we can forget the triangular red hat with a fascinating white ball, All these things make him Santa a favorite character during Christmas.
But have you ever think how Santa became a part of Christmas? Let’s know about his festive journey!
Who Was The Real Santa Claus?
Many people take Santa Claus as a fiction. But he did exist! A saint named Saint Nicholas was a real Santa Claus. He was a Greek bishop in the 4th century and lived in Myra which is now known as Demre in Turkey.
He was a man with a kind heart, a positive mind, a loving personality, and had sympathy for others. There are many stories about his piety nature. A famous event in history is when he helped three poor sisters. Their father presented them as slaves but St.Nicholas rescued them and gave dowry to them to get married. He spent all his wealth on helping poor and needy people.
He was a living legend loved by every person. When he died, Europe started celebrating the feast day of Saint Nicholas.
How Did the Name “Santa Claus” Come About?
As St. Nicholas was famous for his generosity and for helping people at different times and on different occasions, these acts left with the tradition of giving. As Christianity spread across Europe, people made giving gifts and helping others a part of their traditions and customs.
Residents of the Netherlands supposed him a Sinterklass. A fictional image that tells he arrived on horseback, in a white beard, and gave gifts to children on 5th December on the eve of the feast day. This tradition was introduced in New York by the Dutch in the 17th century.
On the other hand, another figure named Father Christmas was raised in England and was a symbol of making mary and gift-giving on Christmas.
These three characters with common elements of giving, helping, and spreading happiness came up with a single and modern name “Santa Claus”.
Entry of Santa Claus in Literature
The transformation of Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus in America was governed and increased by humorous poems that described the jolly and excited nature of Santa. This was the time when he became more popular in America.
Clark’s Moore wrote a poem in 1823 named “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” mostly known as “A Night Before Christmas”. Due to this type of poem and other writings, Santa Claus became part of the Christmas celebrations and rituals. 19th century gave him fast popularity through literature and advertisement and made him an iconic and beloved figure in America.
Let’s Know About Iconic Red Dress Of Santa
The Santa you see today in the red suit, black belt, white beard, and red hat was represented in the 19th and 20th centuries. It all started with a political cartoonist Thomas Nast who drew Santa as he looks today but in different colors.
In 1930, Coca cola company advertised their brand using the images of Santa who was enjoying Coke. As their brand color was red, they presented Santa in red too. From here Red color is given to his dress and hat.
How Santa Claus Spread Globally
Santa Claus has worldwide popularity because his characters vary from culture to culture to some extent. He has given a stage to local gift-givers in many countries. History.com also tells about santa claus real origins and its legends. For example:
- Kids of Italy wait for La Befana who is a kind witch and give gifts on Epiphany.
- Ded Moroz with his granddaughter Snergurochka share gifts on New Year in Russia.
- A character like Christ, Christkind delivers gifts on the Christmas Evening.
Different cultures may have different images of Santa. But in spite of that the common thing is that he was a gift-giver.
Some Interesting Facts To Know About Santa Claus
First Appearance of Santa’s Reindeer
We see the first appearance of Santa’s reindeer in the poem “A Night Before Christmas” which we have discussed above.
Magical Story of Santa
In the Old Eurpoen Foldkore, Saint Nicholas entered from the chimneys to leave gifts for children. People think it as magic that he did not use the key and enter their home.
Songs About Santa Claus
There are some famous songs about Santa Claus just as “Jingle Bells”, “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”. These songs are highly admired by the young generation. Moreover, many films and books on Santa have made him a legacy.
Final Words
The kindness and gift-giving nature of Santa Claus has made him an iconic part of Christmas celebrations. Waiting for gifts, and helping others highly excites Christmas.
Different cultures, brands, writers, and musicians played an important role in the global popularity of Santa Claus. Now it has become a ritual to add Santa for joy and happiness in Christmas Celebrations. If you need more information about Christmas events then explore our blogger ” vortexpedia” .
