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Christmas Treasures (3):
Part Three: Santa Claus or the Santa Claus:
Written by Margaret Ikladious, Member of the American Press (USPA)
In continuation of the above, we will talk today about some other important symbols in Christmas celebrations:
Today we are discussing the unveiling of a figure who is considered one of the most important figures in the Christmas celebrations, which is Santa Claus or Pope Noel.
Santa Claus is a famous character associated with Christmas and the New Year; he is known as an old man with a white beard who is always happy and very kind and has a beautiful smile on his face.
He was known for his great love of children for him, as they waited for him from year to year to distribute gifts to them, riding his magic sleigh and wearing his famous red suit and his red fur-colored turban that hung from his head..!!!
As for the truth about the story of Santa Claus, which everyone thinks is legendary, it is a real story, taken from the reality of the life story of Saint Nicholas, the bishop of "Mira" in Asia Minor, and from the city of Mora or Patara in Lycia, one of the provinces of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). )..
Myra, the capital, was close to the sea and was the seat of the episcopal chair at that time.
His father's name was Epiphanius, and his mother's name was Tuna. In addition to wealth, they gathered a lot of fear of the Lord and provided them with the flame. They raised him on virtue and love of good, especially giving.
He lived in the fifth century AD and was known for his love for children, particularly his extra generosity, doing good with the needy in secret and traveling in the countryside to help the less fortunate and the sick.
Santa Claus is known in the Syriac Church as Mar Zukhi, meaning (virtuous, victorious, or pure), and he is the patron saint of sailors in Sicily, Greece, and Russia, and he is also the patron saint of children.
In the pagan Germanic tradition, children were waiting for the god Thor, who used to come on the night of Yule on December 25, and visit the homes that prepared an altar for him in the (hearth) and bring gifts to the children who hung their wooden shoes on the stoves in the hope that they would be filled with a gift.
Saint Nicholas used to distribute gifts to the poor and needy families during the night without these families knowing who the perpetrator was.
And it happened that he passed away in December, which made all of this linked to the same date as the Christmas celebration.
By the Renaissance, Saint Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. .!!
Saint Nicholas was canonized by Pope Eugene IV on June 5, 1446, and became known as the patron saint and protector of children and sailors.
And brought waves of European immigrants across the Atlantic Ocean and even their arrival in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in America (New York now), the tradition of the St. Nicholas holiday to America.
By the end of the eighteenth century, Saint Nicholas was recognized by American culture.
In December 1773 and December 1774, it was reported that groups of Dutch families in New York met to celebrate the anniversary of the death of Saint Nicholas.
The name Santa Claus is said to evolve from the Dutch nickname Sinter Klaas, an abbreviated form of Sint Nikolaas, translated as the Dutch name for Saint Nikolas.
When it comes to pronunciation, it's easy to see how "Sinter Klaas" could translate to "Santa Claus" when applying the accent of an English-speaking New Yorker..!!
Gift-giving, a custom carried over from Saint Nicholas' generosity to help others, has been part of the Christmas tradition since the early 19th century.
In the United States, stores announced Christmas shopping in 1820.
The modern image of Santa Claus was born by the American poet Clement Clark Moore, who wrote 1823 a poem entitled "The Night Before Christmas" describing this beloved visitor on Christmas Eve. This poem was later known as "The Night Before Christmas."
Clement Clark Moore was a friend of Washington Irving and another important contributor to the image of Santa we have today.
In 1822 Moore sat his children down to write a Christmas poem based on Irving's tales.
Originally titled "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," Clement's poem soon became known as the classic "The Night Before Christmas" and became so popular that within a decade, it became canon regarding the Santa legend.
In writing the poem, Clement made some modifications to the legend of Sinter Klaas to make the story more relevant to people from a British/Anglo background, and it is interesting to note how his modifications still figure in Santa legends today.
And "The fur plugs left by the Dutch children at the chimney corner on December 6 became something all children could relate to in cold weather with socks, and the cart became a 'miniature sleigh' pulled by 'eight little reindeer'..!!
A horse-drawn sleigh with its bells was a popular mode of transport for the English, and replacing horses with reindeer added an element of mystery to Saint Nicholas.
It was as if he was from a northern land covered in ice where a few people had traveled to somewhere secluded from the world.
It is believed that Clement never intended for anyone other than his family to hear of a visit from Saint Nicholas.
The poem was printed anonymously in the New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823.
Some say it was thanks to Clement's wife, Katherine Taylor, who loved the story so much she sent copies to her friends.
The legends linking Santa to the Christmas period were well established and true at this point. But there still needs to be some clarification about what Santa looks like.
The publication of the poem led to the famous version of Santa as the "spirit With a fat personality and the ability to go down chimneys to leave presents under the trees for good boys and girls, and after leaving gifts in one house, he would dash away to another on a sleigh drawn by eight flying reindeer.
By 1840, American newspapers were carrying Christmas advertisements featuring Santa Claus.
In 1841 several children traveled to Philadelphia to see a life-size Santa.
The temptation of Santa Claus and Christmas has become popular in the United States for children and adults.
In the mid-nineteenth century, it was common to paint Santa Claus either in his bishop's robes or as a man with a pointed hat, long coat, and straight beard.
It was not uncommon to see Santa Claus drawn this tall and very skinny.
This changed in 1863 when Harper's Weekly magazine hired a 21-year-old named Thomas Nast to paint a picture of Santa Claus delivering gifts to troops fighting in the American Civil War.
Thomas's Santa combines Clement's description of Saint Nicholas from The Night Before Christmas with the all-too-familiar advertising image of Uncle Sam.
Nast's Santa was a cheerful, bubbly man who wore a star-spangled jacket, striped pants, and a hat.
Historian James I. Robertson wrote, "The drawing boosted the morale of soldiers and civilians alike because it showed that the spirit of Christmas came to the Civil War."
It was so popular that every year for 40 years, when the magazine asked Nast to draw Santa Claus, he stuck to the same concept, though he eventually abandoned the stars and mustache in favor of a woolen suit.
And although this woolen suit was once green, Nast popularized St. Nicholas's famous red outfit more than four decades before Coca-Cola portrayed Santa, contrary to rumors that "Coca-Cola made Santa red"..!!
If the American Santa Claus was formed by repetition..!!
Coca-Cola led the charge for most of the 20th century, although it would be unfair to say that Coca-Cola invented Santa.
The company's relationship with Santa began in the 1920s when Coca-Colafirst began advertising in American magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post during the holiday season.
The ads used images of a man dressed as Santa Claus, not unlike Santa Claus in Thomas Nast's mid-19th century photography. .!!!
This Santa Claus was usually photographed outside the world's largest soda fountain or visiting supermarkets, and things remained that way until the 1930s.
Christmas advertising has become a substantial part of Coca-Cola's business operations.
In 1931 the company commissioned the services of D'Arcy Advertising Agency and Michigan-born artist Haddon Sundblom to create a campaign featuring the healthiest, friendliest, funniest Santa Claus..!!
Something that captured the true essence of Santa himself, and he wasn't just a man in a costume..!!!
For inspiration, Haddon turned to Clement's film The Night Before Christmas..!!
The description of Santa Claus as a "jolly old elf" dressed in red fur who descends chimneys to give children their presents was instrumental in laying the foundations for our modern image of Santa Claus..!!
The poem described Santa Claus as a "cheerful old elf" dressed in red furs which would come down chimneys to give gifts to children.
Clement's account was so vivid and compelling that it had become the standard.
In the early days, Haddon invited his friend, retired salesperson Lou Prentice, to work as a live model on whom he based his photographs.
And when Lou died, Sundblom used himself as a model and painted while looking in the mirror..!!!!!!
And from 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola ads showed Santa delivering toys or playing with them, pausing to read a letter, enjoying a sparkling Coca-Cola, visiting children who stayed up to welcome him, and raiding refrigerators in several homes..!!!
Santa Haddon has appeared regularly in The Saturday Evening Post as well as in the Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and more…!!
People have paid much attention to the Coca-Cola Santa pictures..!!!
So much so that when anything changed in the drawing, they sent letters to Coca-Cola one year, Santa's Big Belt was retracting (probably because Haddon was drawing through a mirror in which he atomized himself)!!.
Another year, Santa Claus appeared without a wedding ring, which caused fans to write in asking what happened to Mrs. Claus..!!!!
Haddon created his last version of Santa Claus in 1964, but for decades to follow, Coca-Cola ads featured Santa images based on Haddon's original work…!!
The Salvation Army began in the early 1890s by sending unemployed men in Santa suits to solicit donations for needy families to provide them with Christmas meals.
The Salvation Army's Santa Clauses have been ringing their bells on street corners and in front of stores to collect donations for those in need since the beginning of the tradition.
All images merged in Europe with the tyranny of the idea of free giving.
And by listing the many stages that explain the appearance of the Santa Claus character, we find that it has undergone many transformations all the years.
Santa Claus is not always depicted as a cheerful spirit with a red coat, rosy cheeks, a big white beard, a chubby belly, and black boots.
Before 1931 Santa was depicted as a tall man or dwarf with a nervous appearance.
During history, Santa's clothing varied from a bishop's robe to a Norse hunter's skin outfit.
Then by converting Santa's coat from tan skin to a red one..!!
He became Santa Claus today, although the popular representation of Santa Claus has remained the same since the 1960s.
He wears shorts on Australian Christmas cards but still rocks a beard.
He found the side of Coca-Cola Christmas Trucks in Australia still glowing with his glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes.
These days Santa can be emailed directly and tracked online as he flies through the sky.
But it is still likely that he and Mrs. Claus run the best supply chain in the world and that the Elves have Hollywood status.
And I knew the legend about the life of Santa Claus and the manufacture of gifts, so it says that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, where the workshop for making holiday gifts is also located.
He receives help from a group of diligent elves, who have a history in Scandinavian mythology, and he lives in his large village with his wife, and all their interest is to bring joy and pleasure to everyone at that time every year.
After listing all these changes, especially with the shift in place, Santa Claus abandoned his donkey, which was carrying gifts and toys that were made in his workshop, to ride a sled on the ice pulled by eight deer called the animal (reindeer), which has a distinctive shape in many poems and illustrations.
And Santa Claus, with his white beard, red coat, and beautiful cap, takes a trip on the night before Christmas Eve in his cart drawn by eight reindeer.
Each deer has two ears, and the name of the ninth reindeer, "Rudolph," with a bright red nose, was added in 1939.
Santa Claus climbs the chimney to leave his gifts in children's stockings on the fireplace mantelpiece, where the family gathers on cold winter nights.
And he takes a few pieces of biscuits that the children may leave for him by the fireplace on Christmas Eve as a reward for bringing gifts to them and to draw his strength from them and return to the journey of distributing gifts active and fun.
As a result, this character became famous in America, Europe, and all countries of the world.
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