Christmas and Santa Claus go well together. Parents tell their kids to be good or else Santa Claus won't bring them anything for Christmas. We see Santa Claus movies on television,Santa Claus in the malls,and so on. Where did the idea of Santa Claus come from? Was he a real person? Well the primary inspiration for Santa Claus was Saint Nikolaos of Myra. He was a 4th century christian Greek bishop. He was famous for giving gifts to the poor and for helping 3 poor daughters of a christian.
Saint Nicholas and the dutch Sinterklaas merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the Santa Claus we know today. In England Father Christmas dates back to the 17th Century and in pictures wears a green robe. In the rest of the world Saint Nicholas was blended with local folklore. For example in the 1840s in Denmark there was an elf in Nordic folklore that delivered presents. This elf was a bearded man that wore a red hat.
The name Santa Claus was first used in the United States in 1773. In Washington's Irving's History of New York,Sinterklaas was Americanized into Santa Claus.In this version he lost his bishop's apparel and wore a green winter coat. Most of Santa Claus's modern attributes were established in the poem "The Night Before Christmas" in 1823.In that poem St. Nick rides a sleigh, has around belly, and is jolly. The tradition of Santa Claus going down a chimney came from a tale of St.Nick tossing coins down a chimney to help 3 poor daughters.
There are many different versions and legends of Santa Claus all throughout the world. Local folklore blended with Saint Nikolaos of Myra and many writers added their own twist over the years to get the Santa Claus we know today.
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