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Santa Doesn't Always Bring
the Gifts:
Other Christmas Traditions
By Alllie
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In the United States we think of Santa Claus as being as
old as Christmas but the character we visualize was invented
by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822 in a poem he wrote for his
children called "A Visit From St. Nicholas." You
remember it…"'Twas the night before Christmas and
all through the house...." Moore gave St. Nicholas his
red suit, his sack of toys and his flying sleigh pulled by
reindeer. Before Moore, St. Nicholas, born about AD 280, was
usually shown as a staid and dignified churchman. Moore transformed
him into "a right jolly old elf". The early Dutch
settlers in America called St. Nicholas "SinterKlaas"
which Americans mispronounced as Santa Claus. So Santa got
his name.
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Thomas Nast's depiction
of Santa Claus
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Our Santa was further elaborated by artist Thomas Nast who
drew for Harper's Weekly starting in the 1860's. His pictures
of a plump, jolly man with a white beard completed the American
vision of Santa Claus.
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The American Santa Claus has become
popular throughout much of the world. In some countries he has
absorbed or even replaced traditional gift givers but many traditional
figures still remain.
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In the Netherlands Saint Nicholas is still called Sinterklaas.
In November he arrives by boat from Spain, along with servants
called Black Peter. Crowds of people come to welcome Sinterklaas,
who is dressed as a Catholic bishop and riding a white horse,
as he's greeted by the Mayor and as the whole thing is shown
on TV.
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The arrival of Sinterklass in the
Netherlands
accomplied by Black Peters
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Children give carrots and water to his horse. Sinterklaas
leaves presents for children the night of December 5, St.
Nicholas's Birthday, and then departs on December 6th. Christmas
itself is mostly a time of feasting.
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Crèche Figure of
The Wise Man Balthazar
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In Spain elaborate crèches and displays of Bethlehem
and the manger are common. Every family seems to have one, many
of them handed down for generations.
Today it is becoming more usual for some people to give presents
the evening of the 24th. but traditionally, gift giving is on
the night January 5th , Epiphany Eve. In Spain children believe
their presents are brought on that night by the Three Wise Men.
They leave out their shoes filled with carrots, straw and barley
for the horses and donkeys of the Wise Men, hoping they will
be visited, especially by Balthazar, who is believed to leave
gifts for children. January 6th, Epiphany, is a day of parades
with candy and cake handed out to children lining the streets.
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In Italy Christmas is primarily a religious celebration while
Italians exchange gifts on Epiphany, January 6th, the twelfth
day of Christmas. Presents are brought by La Befana, an old
woman who the wise men asked for directions to Bethlehem. She
refused because she was too busy. Later she had a change of
heart and tried to find them but could not. Now she travels
the world seeking the Christ Child to atone for turning away
the Wise Men. Dressed as a fairy queen she gives presents to
good children and dressed as a witch brings bags of ashes to
bad children. |
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Another version of this tale has her as one of the mothers
who lost her son in Herod's massacres. Unable to accept the
loss she put her child's belongings in a tablecloth, threw
it over her shoulder and went out in search of him. She finally
came upon a young child and, thinking it was her lost son,
placed the cloth sack of her son's things at the base of the
manager where the baby Jesus lay. So much time had passed
that she was old and gray. In gratitude for the old woman's
gifts Jesus named her "La Befana", "Giver of
Gifts" and gave her the blessing of having one night
a year to have all the children of the world as her own and
on that night to be able to visit each one and leave them
gifts.
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La Befana
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So on the night of January 5 each year she flies through
the air on a broom (or a donkey) carrying a bag of gifts for
the children of Italy. The next morning they find their stockings
filled with candy if they were good or coal if they were bad.
Each family leaves a plate of broccoli and spice sausage and
a glass of wine for the old woman.
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In Switzerland gifts are brought
by the Christkind, who is visualized as a beautiful angel with
long blond hair. The Swiss often leave a window open at Christmas
so the Christkind can enter.
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Christkind
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The people of Finland have almost completely
adopted Santa Claus but believe that he lives in Finland, where
reindeer are native rather than on the ice pack at the North
Pole. |
In Norway the tradition of nisser, barn little barn elves with
caps like Santa, has mixed together with that of the American
Santa Claus who now brings the Christmas gifts. On New Years
Eve children go door to door collecting candy and chocolate
a few hours before the fireworks.
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Norwegian nisser
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No matter how you celebrate Christmas,
here's hoping you have a merry one!!
ALLLIE!
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Stories
Behind Great Traditions of Christmas by Ace Collins, Clint Hansen
From Publishers Weekly
Collins serves up some little-known holiday history in this interesting
book that teems with Christmas facts and legends, arranged alphabetically
by topic. Readers will be fascinated to learn, for example, that the
holiday shopping season used to be only a couple of weeks long, but
was extended during WWII so families could get care packages off to
soldiers in a timely fashion. Or that St. Francis of Assisi was one
of the first people to use a live nativity scene to teach others about
Christ's birth. Collins tackles customs such as Christmas gifts and
cards, and the popularity of cultural events like the Nutcracker and
the Messiah (which, intriguingly, fell entirely out of fashion in
the decades after Handel's death). There are chapters on the history
of holly, mistletoe, Christmas trees, candy canes, poinsettias, yule
logs, stockings and-of course - Santa Claus. |
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The
Night Before Christmas: The Heirloom Edition by Christian Birmingham
(Illustrator), Clement Clarke Moore
The illustrations in this edition are beautiful and bring the magic
of Christmas to life for both young and old. It truly is an heirloom
edition made all the more special by the brass christmas stocking
bookmark. |
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The
Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola
Because Befana's household chores kept her from finding the Baby King,
she searches to this day, leaving gifts for children on the Feast
of the Three Kings. |
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