
:''For places in the United States with this name, please see Santa Claus (disambiguation).'' Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle or simply Santa) is the North American and United Kingdom variant of the European Folklore of Saint Nicholas, explaining the source of Christmas presents given to children on Christmas He forms part of the Christmas tradition throughout the English language speaking world as well as in Latin America and Japan. In Eastern Orthodox tradition, he visits children on the New Year's Day and is identified with Saint Basil whose memory is celebrated on that day. ==The story== Conventionally Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled man in a red suit trimmed with white fur, with a long white beard. On Christmas Eve, he rides in his flying sled lifted by reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. To get inside the house, he comes down the chimney and lands in the fireplace. During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. Claus and his elf who serve as his toy production staff. His home is usually given as either the North Pole in the US and Canada, Korvatunturi in Finland Lapland, Finland, Dalecarlia in Sweden, Greenland, or Caesarea_Mazaca when identified as Saint Basil; traditions vary. Among virtually all adults the nonexistence of Santa Claus is a given, but many young children believe strongly in his existence. A majority of parents, at least in English-speaking households that celebrate Christmas, either actively attempt to convince their children of Santa's existence, or at least keep the source of their children's presents a secret from them and so fail to disprove the myth. Children who believe in the existence of Santa often tend to lose such beliefs by early primary school, as their ability to distinguish fantasy from reality improves and older children disillusion them. There is an occasional controversy in parenting as to whether it is appropriate to perpetuate the myth of Santa Claus to children. Some parents are concerned that it is wrong to Lie-to-children and that it can be traumatic to learn that there is no Santa Claus. Other parents believe that it is no more harmful than any other folk tale, and that it can help children gain confidence in their maturity in themselves to discover the "secret" of his existence. Furthermore, many children, upon being disillusioned, often maintain the pretense for younger siblings so they can enjoy the belief themselves for a bit longer. ==Origins== The modern Santa Claus is a composite character made up from the merging of two quite separate figures: The first of these is Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of Byzantine Anatolia that is now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they wouldn't have to become prostitutes. He was born at Patara, province of Lycia, Asia Minor. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. The relics of St. Nicholas were translated to Bari in southern Italy by some enterprising Italian merchants; a basilica was constructed from 1087 to receive them and a pilgrimage site was established. In Greece, Santa Claus is portrayed as being a spirit of Saint Basil (Vasilis in Greek), a bishop from Caesarea who traditionally comes to Greece on New Year's Day riding on a donkey. Recently though, Greek tradition has conformed to have Santa Claus come around Christmas time. The second character is Father Christmas, which remains the British name for Santa Claus. Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and was reflected in the "Spirit of Christmas Present" in Charles Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol''. Some elements of this part of the tradition of Father Christmas could be traced back to the Germanic god Wodan (Odin). The appearance is similar to some portrayals of this god, who brought gifts in the winter season of Yule, and rides a flying horse through the sky. When the Dutch still owned the land that later became New York, they brought the Saint Nicholas' eve legend with them to the Americas, but without the red mantle and other symbols. The name "Santa Claus" is derived from the character's Dutch language name, ''Sinterklaas''. In Dutch, the feast is called ''Sinterklaas Feest'', celebrating the birthday of ''Sinterklaas'' during ''Sinterklaasavond'' ("Sinterklaas's Evening") on December 5 (or, in Belgium, on December 6). In Washington Irving's ''History of New York'', Sinterklaas was Americanized to "Santa Claus" but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention. Santa Claus appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. His horse was converted to reindeer and a sleigh, the ''black peters'' (which were in fact moors slaves) were converted to elves, and, in an attempt to move the origin of the festivities away from their pagan background to a more Christian one, the date was moved back a few weeks to the celebrated day of the birth of Jesus: Christmas. Another popularization is ''A History of Santa Claus'' by L. Frank Baum, the same man who wrote the ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. In the United States, the tradition is to leave Santa a milk and cookies; in Britain, he is given sherry and mince pies instead. British and American children also leave out a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for ''sinterklaas'' will "put out their shoe" — that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed—sometimes weeks before the ''sinterklaas avond''. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marchpane figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a ''roe'' (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued. Many mails allow children to send letters to Santa Claus pleading their good behavior and requesting gifts; these letters may be answered by postal workers or other volunteers. (Canada Post has a special Canadian postal code for letters to Santa Claus: H0H 0H0.) Some people have created websites for Santa on which children can send e-mails to Santa Claus requesting gifts and telling of their good behavior. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery-Ward copywriter, which is frequently played at Christmas. As such, he is typically included as the sleigh's lead reindeer. The names of all the other reindeer were invented in the poem ''A Visit From St. Nicholas'' (better known today as ''The Night Before Christmas'') ascribed to Clement Clarke Moore, although there is some question as to his authorship. The reindeer are traditionally pictured with antlers, although male reindeer shed their antlers in the winter. (Female reindeer keep their antlers until spring.) Many Christian churches dislike the secular focus on Santa and the materialist focus that present-giving gives to the holiday. They would prefer that focus be given to the birth of Jesus, their nominal reason for the Christmas celebration. It should be noted that the festivities at this time of year are predated by the Roman Empire Saturnalia and Yule festivals which were subsumed within Christianity. It should also be noted that the date of Jesus' birth is not known. The connection between Saturnalia and Jesus' birth was a clerical decision in order to introduce a religious element into the more carnal festivities that the Christian laity were indulging in during winter solstice. In multifaceted ways, the legend of Saint Nicholas of Myra was blended with North European folklore. As an example of the still surviving pagan imagery, in Nordic countries there is the ''Yule goat'' (Swedish ''julbock''), a somewhat startling figure with horns which however will deliver the presents on Christmas Eve, and a straw goat is a common Christmas decoration. Later, though, in Sweden and Norway, the gift bringer was seen as identical with the ''Tomte,'' or ''tomtenisse'', another folklore creature. In Finnish, the Yule Goat survives in the gift bringer's name, ''joulupukki''. Historically, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus' image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1862, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in ''Harper's Weekly''. It is believed the inspiration for his image came from a mythical German character called ''Pelznickel'' (Furry Nicholas) who visited naughty children in their sleep. Urban legend has it that Santa Claus in his current guise (particularly his red and white attire) was created by The Coca-Cola Company, but this is in fact false; the modern image of Santa Claus was already established in the 1920s, years before the first Coke-promoting Santa was pictured1. The vigorous promotion has caused Santa Claus and Coca-Cola to become closely associated, however, and to this day, Santa Claus still appears on Coca-Cola products each year around Christmas time. The depiction of Santa at the North Pole reflected popular opinion about industry. In some images of the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. By the end of the century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as managers. Many TV commercials depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. A current popular comic book series "Jingle Belle" by writer/cartoonist Paul Dini depicts Santa Claus as harried father with a rebellious half-human, half-elf teen age daughter. ===Possible parallel origin=== American mycologist Jonathan Ott suggests in his book ''Pharmacotheon'' (ISBN 0961423498) that many of the modern features attributed to Santa Claus may somehow be derived from those of the Kamchatka_Oblast or Siberia shaman. Apparently, during the ''midwinter festival'' (holiday season) in Siberia (near the north pole), the shaman would enter a yurt (home) through the ''shangrak'' (chimney), bringing with him a sack of fly agaric mushrooms (presents) to give to the inhabitants. This type of mushroom is brightly colored red and white, like Santa Claus, though the relevance of this is questionable as the standardised red and white Santa dates from no earlier than 1920. The mushrooms were often hung (to dry) in front of the fireplace, much like the stockings of modern-day Christmas. Furthermore, the mushrooms were associated with reindeer who were known to eat them and become intoxicated. Reindeer are also associated with the shaman, and like Santa Claus, many people believed that the shaman could fly. For more information, see [http://www.christmaspast.info/stories/realstory/hallucinogenic.html this excerpt] from ''The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey'' by [http://www.twbookmark.com/authors/43/1330/ Roger Highfield] =="Santa Claus" in shopping centers== Santa Claus is also a costumed character who appears at Christmas time in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actor(s) (most often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore. His function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by having them sit on his knee, state what they wish to get, and often have a photograph taken. The area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously ''"Santa's Grotto"'', ''"Santa's Workshop"'' or a similar term. In USA the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City - he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Santa Claus parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. David Sedaris is known for the diary he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which he later published. ==Velocity of Santa Claus== A calculation of the average velocity of Santa Claus can be done along these lines: Assume a world population of 6 billion people, with an average of 3 people per household. Use 1.5 × 108 square kilometers of land on the earth. This gives an average household density of 10 households per square kilometer, with approximately 350 m between each household in a uniform geometric distribution. Assuming he goes linearly from house to house, and takes 24 hours to cover the distance, we find that he covers 700 billion meters in 86,400 seconds, a velocity of 8 million meters per second, or .03 times the speed of light. At this speed, he would almost certainly burn up in the atmosphere. [http://home.uchicago.edu/~rascalzo/arch/palace/library/humor-tech/santa-physics.html Shifty Bits' site on the matter], or read [http://www.physorg.com/news2487.html this article]. ==Christmas gift bringers around the world== ''See also: Christmas around the world'' *Santa Claus *Father Christmas (United Kingdom) *Saint Nicholas or "Saint Nick" *Weihnachtsmann (Germany) means "Holy Night Man" *Los Reyes Magos - Spanish for The Three Kings (Spain) *La Befana (Italy) *Svatý Mikuláš (Saint Nicholas) or Ježíšek (Santa) - (Czech) *Old Man Christmas *Père Noël (French-speaking countries) *Papá Noel (Latin America) *Viejito Pascuero (Chile) *Papai Noel (Brazil) *Jultomten (Swedish folklore) *Joulupukki (Finnish folklore) *Christkind ("Christ Child" – Southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein) ==Footnotes== #See [http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp "The Claus That Refreshes"]. Article from [http://www.snopes.com Snopes.com - Urban Legends Reference Pages]. ==References== Siefker, Phyillis: ''Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men. The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years''. Jefferson (North Carolina): McFarland, 1996. ([http://www.grapevine.net/~kic/ Website about the book.]) == See also == * ho ho ho * Saint Nicholas * ''Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus'' == External links == * The Original 1860's [http://www.sonofthesouth.net/Original_Santa_Claus.htm Thomas Nast Santa Claus] Illustrations * [http://www.samlaren.se-swed.net/jn.htm Jenny Nyström, the artist whose Christmas cards inspired Haddon Sunblom when he designed Coca Cola's Santa] * Drawing upon the original Christian legends that coalesced over centuries into the familiar, jolly form of Santa Claus, author Seabury Quinn weaves a surprising new origin for this most beloved of children’s icons in his classic novella [http://www.redjacketpress.com/books/roads.html "Roads,"] originally published in 1948. Christmas characters kn:ಸಾ೦ಟಾ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್
==Re: Santa and Coke== The modern image of Santa Claus was crafted quite a lot by Macy's in the late 1800s (Macy's first brought Santa into their stores in 1870). And Santa Claus being the feature of the first Macy's parade in 1924, then called the "Macy's Christmas Day Parade", had a lot to do with Santa Claus becoming national folklore. Or so I've read. Coca-Cola didn't start using the Santa image 'til the 1930s (1931, I believe), while Santa doesn't originate at all with Coca-Cola, they sure helped to drive Santa Claus deeper into U.S. Christmas culture. If this info is to be integrated into the Santa Claus article, you may want to verify everything with Google to check my facts, etc. --User:Jizzbug ---- I've been told that the current popular image of Santa Claus derives from :Coca-Cola advertising. I don't know how sure this is. --User:Pinkunicorn ---- Well I would have said that Coca-Cola invented the modern Santa - except just looking on Google I found this about [http://www.snopes2.com/cokelore/santa.htm], it goes into quite a bit of detail and looks to be a reliable source. ---- Yes, Coca-Cola didn't invent his looks if that what you're talking about. I was interested in figuring out who did though, and there's also the article tomte that explains he was illustrated like how he's represented today in 1881 (and to this day, "tomte" is the swedish word for Santa Claus). An interesting coincidence with the Macy's work in 1870. I wonder if the idea was borrowed from that, or if there's an earlier source for it. ==Santa Sources== Really good book on the invention of Santa Claus: [http://www.grapevine.net/~kic/]---:Trimalchio ---- Does anyone else think it might be a good idea to separate and compare the various Santa Claus/St Nick/Father Christmas traditions on this page? I ask because I would expect to see something about Nikolaustag (Dec. 6) if I looked on this page. On the other hand, I can see limiting this to the specifically US American version and doing see alsos...:JHK :Except that the US American version isn't limited to the United States. The US version is the only one I'm familiar with, and I'm an Australian... I wonder if the US version is being imported to any extent into continental Europe or other cultures which had their own Santa-like traditions? -- :SJK ::I think Santa Claus/Father Christmas vs. Saint Nicholas/Sinterklaas should have separate articles. They are not and never were the same figure (although it seems clear that elements of Saint Nicholas were taken over in Father Christmas). ::Also, Sinterklaas is well-known in Belgium and some parts of Germany, unlike what the article says. (Well, the Sinterklaas part seems to contain many many other mistakes, but I cannot verify that at the moment.) --branko ::mistakes my vary but this guy ::: for a god dedicated to 'sailors, children and whores'. ::sounds like a heck of a god! what's his name? ---- Is it really the birthday of Sinterklaas that's celebrated? I thought 5 or 6 December was the day he died. Also note that Sinterklaas is celebrated on 5 December in the Netherlands and on 6 December in Belgium. In Belgium children are told Sinterklaas comes during the night of 5-6 December and the next morning they discover their presents. I've got some work to do tonight! :)) User:Dhum Dhum 16:23 Dec 5, 2002 (UTC) :According to Jacobus de Voragine's ''The Golden Legend'' December 6th is the feast day of Saint Nicholas, and the day on which he died in AD 343. -- User:Someone else ::Which is probably untrue as well, the date was likely chosen to coincide with the feast of Diana, see Saint Nicholas. --User:Eloquence =="Shaman Santa"== What the hell? Where did this shaman business come from? What "hunter-gatherer" society is this talking about? Where was this society? Where is there a record of their culture, and how do you know the Christmas/Santa Claus tradition derives from it? User:Graft :I suspect it's from "When Santa Was a Shaman" by Tony van Renterghem, since that's the only place I've ever seen it. Suffice it to say it is speculative at best, and it certainly doesn't represent a well-established point of view. --- User:Someone else 17:43 Dec 5, 2002 (UTC) This does not really belong here: : The origins of Christmas and Santa Claus go back to the early history of mankind, to the time of the hunter gatherers. Each small hunter gatherer community had its own shaman/priest, who functioned as medicine man but probably also took care of the children while their parents went away hunting (men) or gathering (women). One of his other jobs was to calculate the exact date of the winter solstice. That was important because it was tradition for all the communities that lived in a certain area to meet each winter solstice at a holy place in the forest. So it was important not to be too late or too early because the trip, with all members of the community young and old, took days. After all the local communities arrived, all of the men went hunting together, while the rest of the community prepared for a great feast. Because they could hunt with a greater number of hunters the hunt could be targeting larger animals, like deer. After returning with their catch the hunters slaughtered the animals. Then their head shaman choose a large fir-tree and the intestines of the slaughtered animals were hung in the tree in the same way as we today hang garlands in our Christmas tree, together with other chunks of meat and perhaps a caught bird or two. Then the tree was set to fire by the shaman in a ritual (the candles in our Christmas trees still remind us to that), in this way the meat was cooked for the great winter solstice feast. : Today all of this is nearly forgotten, but some of it has survived in the form of rituals. The child caring shaman/priest evolved into Santa Claus and the winter solstice evolved into Christmas. The holy burning fir-tree with its intestines and meat chunks evolved into the symbolic Christmas tree with red (meat) and white (snow) garlands and other Christmas decorations (like birds) and with the fire symbolized by candles burning in the tree. But long before that happened this feast and its practices were already ritualised and their origins mainly forgotten in most Germanic countries and replaced by religious festivals. : When Christianity was first introduced in the Germanic countries it took over several of the ancient religious festivals and 'christianized' them. One of the festivals, was one that was held for a god dedicated to 'sailors, children and whores'. Well the first and last dedication did not do so well in the eyes of the new Christians, and were discarded. Also to make the point clear this 'god' was replaced by a Christian symbol, the bishop. : Later a legend (created or otherwise) was used to strengthen the symbol. The Bishop of Myra (in Turkey) was invented which supposedly had, among other things, brought back to life a few children which where murdered, cut to pieces, salted and put into a barrel. Because of this 'miracle' the bishop became an official saint. The origins of Saint Nicholas are already discussed in a separate article, and the origins of Christmas should be discussed in that article, not here. Whoever wrote the above part, please move the content you want to keep there, preferably in an NPOV tone with references. --User:Eloquence ==Other Disputed Facts== ''The reindeer are traditionally pictured with antlers, although true reindeer shed their antlers in the winter.'' -- Isn't it only true that the males shed their antlers, and the females keep theirs? -- User:Zoe
:I've seen so many photos and videos of reindeer in snowy landscapes with their antlers, my impression is that they keep them. User:Wetman 18:09, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC) :Male reindeer shed their antlers by January, according to University of Alaska's "Reindeer FAQ".[http://reindeer.salrm.uaf.edu/html/reinFAQ.html] But Santa's reindeer are magical. If Rudolph's nose glows red and all nine reindeer can fly, it's possible that normal reindeer physiology does not apply.--User:Westendgirl 07:52, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) ---- Should the article summarize Christian views of Santa Claus? I gather a lot of evangelical Christians don't like him and actively try to discourage the meme, but I'm not sure how widespread this is? --User:Robert Merkel 04:11, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC) :Should an entry on Canasta include some Christians' disapproval of card-playing? User:Wetman 18:16, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC) ---- (About Pagan and heathen. The recent edit of User:Kchishol1970 is better NPOV, but the pejorative word Kchishol wants to avoid is actually "heathen." "Pagan" is neutral, as "Neo-pagans" will attest! User:Wetman 18:09, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC)) ==Joulupukki?== Why is this listed in the header for the page? As far as I can tell, this term is not used by any group of native English speakers. If we start putting every non-English term for Santa Claus in bold in the first paragraph, the page will go on forever and be filled with junk like Santaa Kurozu (the Japanese pronunciation of Santa Claus). A better idea is to take the little bits and pieces of info about Santa in non-English speaking countries that doesn't relate to the history of Santa in English-speaking countries and make a separate page called "Santa Around the World" or some such thing. This is a good idea anyway because kids frequently have to do pre-Christmas reports on Christmas traditions around the world. I'll pick out whatever bits of info I can from this article and put each bit under a header for a particular country. Ie. "Japan: Santa is non-religious. On Christmas people go on dates.", etc., etc. Unless anyone objects in the next few days, I'll start working on that soon.--User:Carlj7 03:45, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==NPOV?== How can it be NPOV to say that Santa isn't real? * Because that's factually true. We're an encyclopedia. --User:Ardonik.User talk:ArdonikUser:Ardonik/I ate my cat 05:21, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC) Ardonik, your stocking will be empty this year. Santa It would be good to make the article "kid-safe". Perhaps this could be done by using a more NPOV tone for discussion of the existence/nonexistence of Santa, making it possible for kids to read the article without being disillusioned. User:Nighthawk4211 02:08, Dec 25, 2004 (UTC) Yes, NPOVing might be a good idea -- we don't want any potentially traumatic events in anyone's life to happen at the hands of the Wikipedia; that's bad PR, but on the other hand, the truth is pretty obvious to anyone who'd be using the Wikipedia, particularly in context of other articles. It's pretty easy to hit North Pole, Reindeer, and Elf and be disillusioned re. Santa Claus; should we pseudo-NPOV all those as well? --User:JeffTL 07:19, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) : Pff, I say we just put in a Spoilers warning. ;p :--User:Carlj7 20:18, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) I think it is a pity to say Santa is not real. Any adult reading the article will know this already. ==Birthdate?== What is the source for the 1903 birthdate given? I've never heard of this before. I recommend the birthdate be deleted unless there is some "canonical" backing to suggest this. User:24.71.223.141 04:12, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC) ==Sinterklaas feest== Ive removed the comment in bold below from the body of the article. Ive reproduced the whole paragraph here so it can be seen in context: :''When the Dutch still owned the land that later became New York, they brought the Saint Nicholas' eve legend with them to the Americas, but without the red mantle and other symbols. The name Santa Claus is derived from the character's Dutch name, Sinterklaas. Note that in Dutch, the feast is called 'sinterklaas feest' and it celebrates the birthday '''((Conflict: The Saint_Nicholas page states that it's his death day, not his birth day.))''' of sinterklaas during sinterklaasavond ("sinterklaas's evening") on December 5th or in Belgium on December 6th.'' User:213.202.163.174 21:23, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC) ==Hilarious image copyright note== The santa has this text: "This image is a work of an U.S. Air Force airman or employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain." I found it funny that it's supposedly photographed by a USAF Airman/Employee on duty and property of US government? I wonder if that's really correct and it's really in the public domain since it's so nicely arranged and all, like it was a professional capture for advertisement or whatever. -- User:Jugalator 11:18, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC) ==The other Santa== *Satan; it's a perfect anagram. ==The Greenman== Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that the Greenman has no reference in this article, yet is the primary source of the Santa myth for all European and Asiatic countries that carry the myth of the gift giving wild man? ==More Santas== *Mrs. Claus *Mother Christmas *Santa María
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Santa Claus
:''For places in the United States with this name, please see Santa Claus (disambiguation).'' Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle or simply Santa) is the North American and United Kingdom variant of the European Folklore of Saint Nicholas, explaining the source of Christmas presents given to children on Christmas He forms part of the Christmas tradition throughout the English language speaking world as well as in Latin America and Japan. In Eastern Orthodox tradition, he visits children on the New Year's Day and is identified with Saint Basil whose memory is celebrated on that day. ==The story== Conventionally Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled man in a red suit trimmed with white fur, with a long white beard. On Christmas Eve, he rides in his flying sled lifted by reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. To get inside the house, he comes down the chimney and lands in the fireplace. During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. Claus and his elf who serve as his toy production staff. His home is usually given as either the North Pole in the US and Canada, Korvatunturi in Finland Lapland, Finland, Dalecarlia in Sweden, Greenland, or Caesarea_Mazaca when identified as Saint Basil; traditions vary. Among virtually all adults the nonexistence of Santa Claus is a given, but many young children believe strongly in his existence. A majority of parents, at least in English-speaking households that celebrate Christmas, either actively attempt to convince their children of Santa's existence, or at least keep the source of their children's presents a secret from them and so fail to disprove the myth. Children who believe in the existence of Santa often tend to lose such beliefs by early primary school, as their ability to distinguish fantasy from reality improves and older children disillusion them. There is an occasional controversy in parenting as to whether it is appropriate to perpetuate the myth of Santa Claus to children. Some parents are concerned that it is wrong to Lie-to-children and that it can be traumatic to learn that there is no Santa Claus. Other parents believe that it is no more harmful than any other folk tale, and that it can help children gain confidence in their maturity in themselves to discover the "secret" of his existence. Furthermore, many children, upon being disillusioned, often maintain the pretense for younger siblings so they can enjoy the belief themselves for a bit longer. ==Origins== The modern Santa Claus is a composite character made up from the merging of two quite separate figures: The first of these is Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of Byzantine Anatolia that is now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they wouldn't have to become prostitutes. He was born at Patara, province of Lycia, Asia Minor. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. The relics of St. Nicholas were translated to Bari in southern Italy by some enterprising Italian merchants; a basilica was constructed from 1087 to receive them and a pilgrimage site was established. In Greece, Santa Claus is portrayed as being a spirit of Saint Basil (Vasilis in Greek), a bishop from Caesarea who traditionally comes to Greece on New Year's Day riding on a donkey. Recently though, Greek tradition has conformed to have Santa Claus come around Christmas time. The second character is Father Christmas, which remains the British name for Santa Claus. Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and was reflected in the "Spirit of Christmas Present" in Charles Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol''. Some elements of this part of the tradition of Father Christmas could be traced back to the Germanic god Wodan (Odin). The appearance is similar to some portrayals of this god, who brought gifts in the winter season of Yule, and rides a flying horse through the sky. When the Dutch still owned the land that later became New York, they brought the Saint Nicholas' eve legend with them to the Americas, but without the red mantle and other symbols. The name "Santa Claus" is derived from the character's Dutch language name, ''Sinterklaas''. In Dutch, the feast is called ''Sinterklaas Feest'', celebrating the birthday of ''Sinterklaas'' during ''Sinterklaasavond'' ("Sinterklaas's Evening") on December 5 (or, in Belgium, on December 6). In Washington Irving's ''History of New York'', Sinterklaas was Americanized to "Santa Claus" but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention. Santa Claus appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. His horse was converted to reindeer and a sleigh, the ''black peters'' (which were in fact moors slaves) were converted to elves, and, in an attempt to move the origin of the festivities away from their pagan background to a more Christian one, the date was moved back a few weeks to the celebrated day of the birth of Jesus: Christmas. Another popularization is ''A History of Santa Claus'' by L. Frank Baum, the same man who wrote the ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. In the United States, the tradition is to leave Santa a milk and cookies; in Britain, he is given sherry and mince pies instead. British and American children also leave out a carrot for Santa's reindeer, and were traditionally told that if they are not good all year round, that they will receive a lump of coal in their stockings, although this practice is now considered archaic. Children following the Dutch custom for ''sinterklaas'' will "put out their shoe" — that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed—sometimes weeks before the ''sinterklaas avond''. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marchpane figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a ''roe'' (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued. Many mails allow children to send letters to Santa Claus pleading their good behavior and requesting gifts; these letters may be answered by postal workers or other volunteers. (Canada Post has a special Canadian postal code for letters to Santa Claus: H0H 0H0.) Some people have created websites for Santa on which children can send e-mails to Santa Claus requesting gifts and telling of their good behavior. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery-Ward copywriter, which is frequently played at Christmas. As such, he is typically included as the sleigh's lead reindeer. The names of all the other reindeer were invented in the poem ''A Visit From St. Nicholas'' (better known today as ''The Night Before Christmas'') ascribed to Clement Clarke Moore, although there is some question as to his authorship. The reindeer are traditionally pictured with antlers, although male reindeer shed their antlers in the winter. (Female reindeer keep their antlers until spring.) Many Christian churches dislike the secular focus on Santa and the materialist focus that present-giving gives to the holiday. They would prefer that focus be given to the birth of Jesus, their nominal reason for the Christmas celebration. It should be noted that the festivities at this time of year are predated by the Roman Empire Saturnalia and Yule festivals which were subsumed within Christianity. It should also be noted that the date of Jesus' birth is not known. The connection between Saturnalia and Jesus' birth was a clerical decision in order to introduce a religious element into the more carnal festivities that the Christian laity were indulging in during winter solstice. In multifaceted ways, the legend of Saint Nicholas of Myra was blended with North European folklore. As an example of the still surviving pagan imagery, in Nordic countries there is the ''Yule goat'' (Swedish ''julbock''), a somewhat startling figure with horns which however will deliver the presents on Christmas Eve, and a straw goat is a common Christmas decoration. Later, though, in Sweden and Norway, the gift bringer was seen as identical with the ''Tomte,'' or ''tomtenisse'', another folklore creature. In Finnish, the Yule Goat survives in the gift bringer's name, ''joulupukki''. Historically, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus' image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1862, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in ''Harper's Weekly''. It is believed the inspiration for his image came from a mythical German character called ''Pelznickel'' (Furry Nicholas) who visited naughty children in their sleep. Urban legend has it that Santa Claus in his current guise (particularly his red and white attire) was created by The Coca-Cola Company, but this is in fact false; the modern image of Santa Claus was already established in the 1920s, years before the first Coke-promoting Santa was pictured1. The vigorous promotion has caused Santa Claus and Coca-Cola to become closely associated, however, and to this day, Santa Claus still appears on Coca-Cola products each year around Christmas time. The depiction of Santa at the North Pole reflected popular opinion about industry. In some images of the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. By the end of the century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as managers. Many TV commercials depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. A current popular comic book series "Jingle Belle" by writer/cartoonist Paul Dini depicts Santa Claus as harried father with a rebellious half-human, half-elf teen age daughter. ===Possible parallel origin=== American mycologist Jonathan Ott suggests in his book ''Pharmacotheon'' (ISBN 0961423498) that many of the modern features attributed to Santa Claus may somehow be derived from those of the Kamchatka_Oblast or Siberia shaman. Apparently, during the ''midwinter festival'' (holiday season) in Siberia (near the north pole), the shaman would enter a yurt (home) through the ''shangrak'' (chimney), bringing with him a sack of fly agaric mushrooms (presents) to give to the inhabitants. This type of mushroom is brightly colored red and white, like Santa Claus, though the relevance of this is questionable as the standardised red and white Santa dates from no earlier than 1920. The mushrooms were often hung (to dry) in front of the fireplace, much like the stockings of modern-day Christmas. Furthermore, the mushrooms were associated with reindeer who were known to eat them and become intoxicated. Reindeer are also associated with the shaman, and like Santa Claus, many people believed that the shaman could fly. For more information, see [http://www.christmaspast.info/stories/realstory/hallucinogenic.html this excerpt] from ''The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey'' by [http://www.twbookmark.com/authors/43/1330/ Roger Highfield] =="Santa Claus" in shopping centers== Santa Claus is also a costumed character who appears at Christmas time in department stores or shopping malls, or at parties. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actor(s) (most often mall employees) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore. His function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by having them sit on his knee, state what they wish to get, and often have a photograph taken. The area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously ''"Santa's Grotto"'', ''"Santa's Workshop"'' or a similar term. In USA the most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City - he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Santa Claus parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. David Sedaris is known for the diary he kept while working as an elf in the Macy's display, which he later published. ==Velocity of Santa Claus== A calculation of the average velocity of Santa Claus can be done along these lines: Assume a world population of 6 billion people, with an average of 3 people per household. Use 1.5 × 108 square kilometers of land on the earth. This gives an average household density of 10 households per square kilometer, with approximately 350 m between each household in a uniform geometric distribution. Assuming he goes linearly from house to house, and takes 24 hours to cover the distance, we find that he covers 700 billion meters in 86,400 seconds, a velocity of 8 million meters per second, or .03 times the speed of light. At this speed, he would almost certainly burn up in the atmosphere. [http://home.uchicago.edu/~rascalzo/arch/palace/library/humor-tech/santa-physics.html Shifty Bits' site on the matter], or read [http://www.physorg.com/news2487.html this article]. ==Christmas gift bringers around the world== ''See also: Christmas around the world'' *Santa Claus *Father Christmas (United Kingdom) *Saint Nicholas or "Saint Nick" *Weihnachtsmann (Germany) means "Holy Night Man" *Los Reyes Magos - Spanish for The Three Kings (Spain) *La Befana (Italy) *Svatý Mikuláš (Saint Nicholas) or Ježíšek (Santa) - (Czech) *Old Man Christmas *Père Noël (French-speaking countries) *Papá Noel (Latin America) *Viejito Pascuero (Chile) *Papai Noel (Brazil) *Jultomten (Swedish folklore) *Joulupukki (Finnish folklore) *Christkind ("Christ Child" – Southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein) ==Footnotes== #See [http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp "The Claus That Refreshes"]. Article from [http://www.snopes.com Snopes.com - Urban Legends Reference Pages]. ==References== Siefker, Phyillis: ''Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men. The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years''. Jefferson (North Carolina): McFarland, 1996. ([http://www.grapevine.net/~kic/ Website about the book.]) == See also == * ho ho ho * Saint Nicholas * ''Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus'' == External links == * The Original 1860's [http://www.sonofthesouth.net/Original_Santa_Claus.htm Thomas Nast Santa Claus] Illustrations * [http://www.samlaren.se-swed.net/jn.htm Jenny Nyström, the artist whose Christmas cards inspired Haddon Sunblom when he designed Coca Cola's Santa] * Drawing upon the original Christian legends that coalesced over centuries into the familiar, jolly form of Santa Claus, author Seabury Quinn weaves a surprising new origin for this most beloved of children’s icons in his classic novella [http://www.redjacketpress.com/books/roads.html "Roads,"] originally published in 1948. Christmas characters kn:ಸಾ೦ಟಾ ಕ್ಲಾಸ್
Santa Claus
==Re: Santa and Coke== The modern image of Santa Claus was crafted quite a lot by Macy's in the late 1800s (Macy's first brought Santa into their stores in 1870). And Santa Claus being the feature of the first Macy's parade in 1924, then called the "Macy's Christmas Day Parade", had a lot to do with Santa Claus becoming national folklore. Or so I've read. Coca-Cola didn't start using the Santa image 'til the 1930s (1931, I believe), while Santa doesn't originate at all with Coca-Cola, they sure helped to drive Santa Claus deeper into U.S. Christmas culture. If this info is to be integrated into the Santa Claus article, you may want to verify everything with Google to check my facts, etc. --User:Jizzbug ---- I've been told that the current popular image of Santa Claus derives from :Coca-Cola advertising. I don't know how sure this is. --User:Pinkunicorn ---- Well I would have said that Coca-Cola invented the modern Santa - except just looking on Google I found this about [http://www.snopes2.com/cokelore/santa.htm], it goes into quite a bit of detail and looks to be a reliable source. ---- Yes, Coca-Cola didn't invent his looks if that what you're talking about. I was interested in figuring out who did though, and there's also the article tomte that explains he was illustrated like how he's represented today in 1881 (and to this day, "tomte" is the swedish word for Santa Claus). An interesting coincidence with the Macy's work in 1870. I wonder if the idea was borrowed from that, or if there's an earlier source for it. ==Santa Sources== Really good book on the invention of Santa Claus: [http://www.grapevine.net/~kic/]---:Trimalchio ---- Does anyone else think it might be a good idea to separate and compare the various Santa Claus/St Nick/Father Christmas traditions on this page? I ask because I would expect to see something about Nikolaustag (Dec. 6) if I looked on this page. On the other hand, I can see limiting this to the specifically US American version and doing see alsos...:JHK :Except that the US American version isn't limited to the United States. The US version is the only one I'm familiar with, and I'm an Australian... I wonder if the US version is being imported to any extent into continental Europe or other cultures which had their own Santa-like traditions? -- :SJK ::I think Santa Claus/Father Christmas vs. Saint Nicholas/Sinterklaas should have separate articles. They are not and never were the same figure (although it seems clear that elements of Saint Nicholas were taken over in Father Christmas). ::Also, Sinterklaas is well-known in Belgium and some parts of Germany, unlike what the article says. (Well, the Sinterklaas part seems to contain many many other mistakes, but I cannot verify that at the moment.) --branko ::mistakes my vary but this guy ::: for a god dedicated to 'sailors, children and whores'. ::sounds like a heck of a god! what's his name? ---- Is it really the birthday of Sinterklaas that's celebrated? I thought 5 or 6 December was the day he died. Also note that Sinterklaas is celebrated on 5 December in the Netherlands and on 6 December in Belgium. In Belgium children are told Sinterklaas comes during the night of 5-6 December and the next morning they discover their presents. I've got some work to do tonight! :)) User:Dhum Dhum 16:23 Dec 5, 2002 (UTC) :According to Jacobus de Voragine's ''The Golden Legend'' December 6th is the feast day of Saint Nicholas, and the day on which he died in AD 343. -- User:Someone else ::Which is probably untrue as well, the date was likely chosen to coincide with the feast of Diana, see Saint Nicholas. --User:Eloquence =="Shaman Santa"== What the hell? Where did this shaman business come from? What "hunter-gatherer" society is this talking about? Where was this society? Where is there a record of their culture, and how do you know the Christmas/Santa Claus tradition derives from it? User:Graft :I suspect it's from "When Santa Was a Shaman" by Tony van Renterghem, since that's the only place I've ever seen it. Suffice it to say it is speculative at best, and it certainly doesn't represent a well-established point of view. --- User:Someone else 17:43 Dec 5, 2002 (UTC) This does not really belong here: : The origins of Christmas and Santa Claus go back to the early history of mankind, to the time of the hunter gatherers. Each small hunter gatherer community had its own shaman/priest, who functioned as medicine man but probably also took care of the children while their parents went away hunting (men) or gathering (women). One of his other jobs was to calculate the exact date of the winter solstice. That was important because it was tradition for all the communities that lived in a certain area to meet each winter solstice at a holy place in the forest. So it was important not to be too late or too early because the trip, with all members of the community young and old, took days. After all the local communities arrived, all of the men went hunting together, while the rest of the community prepared for a great feast. Because they could hunt with a greater number of hunters the hunt could be targeting larger animals, like deer. After returning with their catch the hunters slaughtered the animals. Then their head shaman choose a large fir-tree and the intestines of the slaughtered animals were hung in the tree in the same way as we today hang garlands in our Christmas tree, together with other chunks of meat and perhaps a caught bird or two. Then the tree was set to fire by the shaman in a ritual (the candles in our Christmas trees still remind us to that), in this way the meat was cooked for the great winter solstice feast. : Today all of this is nearly forgotten, but some of it has survived in the form of rituals. The child caring shaman/priest evolved into Santa Claus and the winter solstice evolved into Christmas. The holy burning fir-tree with its intestines and meat chunks evolved into the symbolic Christmas tree with red (meat) and white (snow) garlands and other Christmas decorations (like birds) and with the fire symbolized by candles burning in the tree. But long before that happened this feast and its practices were already ritualised and their origins mainly forgotten in most Germanic countries and replaced by religious festivals. : When Christianity was first introduced in the Germanic countries it took over several of the ancient religious festivals and 'christianized' them. One of the festivals, was one that was held for a god dedicated to 'sailors, children and whores'. Well the first and last dedication did not do so well in the eyes of the new Christians, and were discarded. Also to make the point clear this 'god' was replaced by a Christian symbol, the bishop. : Later a legend (created or otherwise) was used to strengthen the symbol. The Bishop of Myra (in Turkey) was invented which supposedly had, among other things, brought back to life a few children which where murdered, cut to pieces, salted and put into a barrel. Because of this 'miracle' the bishop became an official saint. The origins of Saint Nicholas are already discussed in a separate article, and the origins of Christmas should be discussed in that article, not here. Whoever wrote the above part, please move the content you want to keep there, preferably in an NPOV tone with references. --User:Eloquence ==Other Disputed Facts== ''The reindeer are traditionally pictured with antlers, although true reindeer shed their antlers in the winter.'' -- Isn't it only true that the males shed their antlers, and the females keep theirs? -- User:Zoe
:I've seen so many photos and videos of reindeer in snowy landscapes with their antlers, my impression is that they keep them. User:Wetman 18:09, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC) :Male reindeer shed their antlers by January, according to University of Alaska's "Reindeer FAQ".[http://reindeer.salrm.uaf.edu/html/reinFAQ.html] But Santa's reindeer are magical. If Rudolph's nose glows red and all nine reindeer can fly, it's possible that normal reindeer physiology does not apply.--User:Westendgirl 07:52, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) ---- Should the article summarize Christian views of Santa Claus? I gather a lot of evangelical Christians don't like him and actively try to discourage the meme, but I'm not sure how widespread this is? --User:Robert Merkel 04:11, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC) :Should an entry on Canasta include some Christians' disapproval of card-playing? User:Wetman 18:16, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC) ---- (About Pagan and heathen. The recent edit of User:Kchishol1970 is better NPOV, but the pejorative word Kchishol wants to avoid is actually "heathen." "Pagan" is neutral, as "Neo-pagans" will attest! User:Wetman 18:09, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC)) ==Joulupukki?== Why is this listed in the header for the page? As far as I can tell, this term is not used by any group of native English speakers. If we start putting every non-English term for Santa Claus in bold in the first paragraph, the page will go on forever and be filled with junk like Santaa Kurozu (the Japanese pronunciation of Santa Claus). A better idea is to take the little bits and pieces of info about Santa in non-English speaking countries that doesn't relate to the history of Santa in English-speaking countries and make a separate page called "Santa Around the World" or some such thing. This is a good idea anyway because kids frequently have to do pre-Christmas reports on Christmas traditions around the world. I'll pick out whatever bits of info I can from this article and put each bit under a header for a particular country. Ie. "Japan: Santa is non-religious. On Christmas people go on dates.", etc., etc. Unless anyone objects in the next few days, I'll start working on that soon.--User:Carlj7 03:45, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==NPOV?== How can it be NPOV to say that Santa isn't real? * Because that's factually true. We're an encyclopedia. --User:Ardonik.User talk:ArdonikUser:Ardonik/I ate my cat 05:21, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC) Ardonik, your stocking will be empty this year. Santa It would be good to make the article "kid-safe". Perhaps this could be done by using a more NPOV tone for discussion of the existence/nonexistence of Santa, making it possible for kids to read the article without being disillusioned. User:Nighthawk4211 02:08, Dec 25, 2004 (UTC) Yes, NPOVing might be a good idea -- we don't want any potentially traumatic events in anyone's life to happen at the hands of the Wikipedia; that's bad PR, but on the other hand, the truth is pretty obvious to anyone who'd be using the Wikipedia, particularly in context of other articles. It's pretty easy to hit North Pole, Reindeer, and Elf and be disillusioned re. Santa Claus; should we pseudo-NPOV all those as well? --User:JeffTL 07:19, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) : Pff, I say we just put in a Spoilers warning. ;p :--User:Carlj7 20:18, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) I think it is a pity to say Santa is not real. Any adult reading the article will know this already. ==Birthdate?== What is the source for the 1903 birthdate given? I've never heard of this before. I recommend the birthdate be deleted unless there is some "canonical" backing to suggest this. User:24.71.223.141 04:12, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC) ==Sinterklaas feest== Ive removed the comment in bold below from the body of the article. Ive reproduced the whole paragraph here so it can be seen in context: :''When the Dutch still owned the land that later became New York, they brought the Saint Nicholas' eve legend with them to the Americas, but without the red mantle and other symbols. The name Santa Claus is derived from the character's Dutch name, Sinterklaas. Note that in Dutch, the feast is called 'sinterklaas feest' and it celebrates the birthday '''((Conflict: The Saint_Nicholas page states that it's his death day, not his birth day.))''' of sinterklaas during sinterklaasavond ("sinterklaas's evening") on December 5th or in Belgium on December 6th.'' User:213.202.163.174 21:23, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC) ==Hilarious image copyright note== The santa has this text: "This image is a work of an U.S. Air Force airman or employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain." I found it funny that it's supposedly photographed by a USAF Airman/Employee on duty and property of US government? I wonder if that's really correct and it's really in the public domain since it's so nicely arranged and all, like it was a professional capture for advertisement or whatever. -- User:Jugalator 11:18, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC) ==The other Santa== *Satan; it's a perfect anagram. ==The Greenman== Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that the Greenman has no reference in this article, yet is the primary source of the Santa myth for all European and Asiatic countries that carry the myth of the gift giving wild man? ==More Santas== *Mrs. Claus *Mother Christmas *Santa María
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