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Santa ClausSanta Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, Joulupukki, Grandfather Frost) is the American, Latin American, and British variant of the European folk myth of Saint Nicholas, explaining the source of Christmas presents given to children on Christmas Day. The name Santa Claus is a degeneration of the Dutch word Sinterklaas.
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 sleigh (pulled by reindeer) from house to house to give presents to children. During the rest of the year he lives at the North Pole, in Finnish Lapland, or Dalecarlia in Sweden (traditions vary) together with his wife, Mrs. Claus, and his elves who serve as his toy production staff. Amongst 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 Claus 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 non-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. Many postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus pleading their good behaviour and requesting gifts; these letters may be answered by postal workers or other volunteers. (Canada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus: H0H 0H0.) One of the most famous editorials of all time was published in the New York Sun in 1897, in response to a little girl's question whether Santa Claus was real. 'Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus' is a classic that is worth reading for older children (and adults!) 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. A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children in the United States and some other cultures hang on Christmas Eve so that Santa can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins, or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers. Tradition says that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece of coal. By tradition, the stocking is hung on the fireplace, but, since modern homes often do not have a fireplace, it is hung in almost any location when no fireplace is available, under the assumption that Santa can find it wherever it is. Originally, children simply used one of their everyday socks, but eventually special Christmas stockings were created for this purpose. Today, stores carry a tremendous variety of styles and sizes of Christmas stockings, from small and conservative, to long and stretchy, to gigantic. Many families create their own Christmas stockings with each family member's name applied to the stocking so that Santa (or the family members) aren't confused about which belongs to whom. In the United States, the tradition is to leave Santa a glass of milk and cookies; in Britain, he is given whisky and mince pies instead. "Santa" in shopping centresSanta Claus is also a costumed character who appears at Christmas time in department stores or shopping malls. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actor(s) 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. 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 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store. Grandfather FrostSince the 1880s, the Christmas customs of Eastern European Slavic countries have included a character similar to Santa known as Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost.") According to legend, he travels in a magical troika — a decorated sleigh drawn by three horses. With his young, blond assistant Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden, said to be his granddaughter) at his side, he visits homes and gives gifts to good children. He only delivers presents to children while they are asleep, and unlike Santa, he does not travel down chimneys, coming instead to the front door of children's homes. It is traditional for children to leave food for Ded Moroz just as American and British children do. This Ded Moroz is not identified nor in any way associated with St. Nicholas, who is very widely revered in Eastern Europe more for his clerical and charitable works as a Bishop. In all likelihood, Ded Moroz is actually a Slavic interpretation of the American Santa Claus or some similar figure, any connection to the original saint long since disappeared. Also see:
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia and from ShiningRise.com
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