Christmas is the most important holiday of all time. It is the time of the year to decorate houses, visit the church, spend time with your loved ones, and of course, wait for Santa Claus. The latter bit is just for kids but it is a huge part of the Christmas tradition.
One cannot even imagine the holiday without the visuals of a big Santa riding his reindeer and sneaking gifts for children. So let’s take this occasion to find out the origin of this iconic character and its significance on the holiday. Keep on reading to find out.
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The Origin Of Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a big character in the Christmas celebration who brings gifts for children during the evening and late hours of Eve. He collects gifts with the help of elves, who make the toys in his workshop at the North Pole. Flying reindeer help him in distributing the gifts.
The folklore of Saint Nicholas is said to be the basis of Santa Claus who is a popular figure in European culture. This character merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the Santa Claus we know now.
The word is said to be a phonetic change from the Dutch word Sinterklaas. In the 19th century, an 1821 book describes through an anonymous poem about Santeclaus. He rides a reindeer sleigh and brings gifts to children. Since then, the character went through several renditions of the change via pop culture and poetry.
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Traditions Surrounding Santa Claus During Christmas
The traditions surrounding Santa Claus include a chimney which is said to be his entry point in houses. In several pre-Christian Norse traditions as well as the Italian Befana tradition, the significance of the Chimney has been mentioned.
In the US and Canada, children leave a glass of milk along with cookies for Santa. Several other countries have different traditions of leaving different food items for Santa to consume.
When it comes to appearance, Santa is often depicted as a fun and jolly, white-bearded spectacle-wearing man. He dons a red coat with a white fur collar and cuffs along with red trousers, a red hat, and a black leather belt and boots.
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