History of Santa Claus

I am starting this topic because of something that appears in U S News. Santa Claus is becoming PC taboo.

Some PC people have begun to argue that even "Jingle Bells" is a church-state no-no. Santa Claus, a totally secular figure, is controversial because he was originally based on St. Nicholas. Horrors .

www.usnews.com...

It has always been my impression that Santa Claus and that part of Christmas was the secular version of Christmas. This was more or less invented to circumvent the religious aspects of Christmas. An alternative to the birth of the Christ Child.

So what gives? Giving the history of Santa Claus and SECULAR Christmas, why is Santa, Jingle Bells and even the word Christmas being bashed. Are we so PC that we are willing to forego this tradition?
Is modern secular Christmas celebrated worldiwide or is the Santa-gift giving-type Christmas mostly a US/Canada event?

Santa
Claus is perhaps the most remarkable of all the figures associated with Christmas. To us, Santa has always been an essential part of the Christmas celebration, but the modern image of Santa didn't develop until well into the 19th century. Moreover, he didn't spring to life fully-formed as a literary creation or a commercial invention (as did his famous reindeer, Rudolph). Santa Claus was an evolutionary creation, brought about by the fusion of two religious personages (St. Nicholas and Christkindlein, the Christ child) to become a fixed image which is now the paramount symbol of the secular Christmas celebration.

www.snopes.com...


More history of Santa:
www.the-north-pole.com...
www.northpolesantaclaus.com...
www.lnstar.com...

Good topic it will be interesting to see what others have to say on this.

I just wish mainstream Americans would stand up and complain to the malls/stores etc and demand the return of The word Christmas back in the stores. That goes for radio stations also, seems some of them do not even want to play the traditional songs either.

I had posted a thread about NORAD tracking Santa already so I thought I would bring a bit of info over here to this thread for the little and big kids who want to track Santa using NORAD here is the link TRACK SANTA CLAUS CHRISTMAS EVE courtesy of NORAD.


I think it �s nice to see a bit of fun for the little ones of this world, NORAD has been tracking Santa and his reindeer cronies across the night sky�s for 50 years now, ever since a Colorado newspaper mistakenly printed a phone number for a �Santa Hotline� the number turned out to be the �Operations Hotline� for NORAD. Military personal on duty at the time where very surprised to hear small children�s voices asking to speak to Santa.


From ATS
Santa Claus is coming to town,and in these uncertain times, he's being offered a jet fighter escort

This has happened every Christmass for the last 5 or 6 years. These people are getting thier panties in a wad. Nothing more. Just some people who want everything to be like they like it so they dont have any inconsistencies to deal with. Just ignore them and maybe they will go away.

I think that we need to reconcile the religous holiday with the secular one. Jesus and Santa need to be combined into ONE character....Santa Jesus, who died on the cross so we could have candy at Easter time and toys at Christmas.

A neighboring county tried to ban Christmas trees in public places such as libraries, etc. because of this nonsense, and quickly found itself on the business end of a lawsuit. Needless to say, they backed down rather quickly, hehe...

Originally posted by Sauron
I had posted a thread about NORAD tracking Santa already so I thought I would bring a bit of info over here to this thread for the little and big kids who want to track Santa using NORAD here is the link TRACK SANTA CLAUS CHRISTMAS EVE courtesy of NORAD.

Well, I'm glad to see NORAD hasn't been taken over by the Grinch.

This hijack of Christmas is just going too far. What is wrong with celebrating a secular holiday with religious roots? Do they want to ban halloween, valentine's day, ground hog day, easter etc, too? (and miss a Hallmark or Hershey moment??)

I think whatever agenda is trying to abolish Christmas is gonna lose. In metro Detroit, at least one radio station has ben playing non-stop Christmas music since Thanksgiving. While that is too much for my taste, it speaks volumes. It was the most listened to station last year, during December.
Some stores are still using the word "Shristmas" in their sales ads.
Sales of Christmas related merchandise is still going strong, as far as I can see.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I am starting this topic because of something that appears in U S News. Santa Claus is becoming PC taboo.

Maybe it is just me, but almost every time I hear or see PC , I know I will not agree. I sort of see it as PU--Politically UNcorrect, but I know that grammatically it ought to be PI, Politically INcorrect. I just think the PU fits better.
Like it or not, Santa has become part of the American culture. It is part of who we are, just like the Easter Bunny, and the Great Pumpkin.
If Santa and Christmas are too religious for some folks, do they take the day off from work or exchange gifts? I see nothing wrong with refusing to participate, but I do see hypocracy in bad-mouthing it and enjoying the fruits of it. Personally, I DO know folks like that.
PC--- Guess I should not have been so proud of my granddaughter when she baited her own hook and caught that little fish. (Bluegill)
I should not be happy for my friends for putting meat on the table during hunting season.
Santa is welcome at my home anytime.

Like every other 'ill' of Republican-America this will be blamed on Clinton.

Hopefully the Republicans will stay in power for thirty years so that at last they can take credit for something instead of laying off blame.

PC was supposed to be American Liberal- now it seems American Conservatives have brought in a new set of encyclopedias. What's a good name for this set?
Republican Approved Political Expressions (aka R.A.P.E.)

The beginning entry-
an.r.ky- - that state of turmoil when Democrats and other degenerate political groups have political power

At G, the largest entry section, entries range from god to God W., to George Christ.

The shortest section is S
Satan=Saddam=liberals
Santa, see approved list as per Karl Rove

Only in America will a new language be given birth every election. Current day America reads like a late chapter in Brave New world.

Merry Christmas and Santa lives!

Well, first of all the Christians need to ban Christmas altogether, or at-least move the date it�s celebrated . We celebrate it on the 25th (ish) because this is "mid-winters day". A pagan celebration conveniently nicked by the early church. Not the birthday of Jesus.

What I don�t get, is why these people just can`t celebrate whatever way they want and leave the rest of us in peace. I�m an agnostic, why should I be forced to celebrate mid-winters day in a Christian way?

Excerpt from some research I did for a node on E2...

"27 Dec 1930 - Santa Claus made an appearance in Coca-Cola's advertising. Artist Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke�. The ad featured the world's largest soda fountain, which was located in the department store of Famous Barr Co. in St. Louis, Missouri. Mizen's painting was used in print ads that Christmas season, appearing in The Saturday Evening Post. This is the very first image that resembles the modern day idea of American Santa Claus.

1931 - The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus. For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas." Moore's description of the man as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly and human. For the next 35 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa -- an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of children of all ages all over the world. Sundblom gets the credit, though Mizen had created the original red white-fur outlined outfit with a black belt (for Coca-Cola, mind you) that Sundblom used."

The answer is quite obvious. If you dont agree with Christmass, then dont celibrate it. Quit bitching about it and dont celibrate it. I mean my God! If you have something better to do on Christmass eve and the following day, then by all means, go do it! After you have quit celibrating Christmass, you can shut the hell up and quit bothering the rest of us who are trying to enjoy this time of year.

Originally posted by thelibra
Well, Coca-Cola invented the U.S. image of Santa Claus

Coca Colas Santa was based on Scandinavian and Finnish folklore about mystic creatures: "Nisser" in Norwegian, don�t know exactly what it transelates to. They just changed his appearance to white and red, and made him a tad chubbier.


A proud moment in advertising history though.

Yes and this guy ultimately goes back to Thor. The guy from thursday.

Thor was the god of the peasants and the common people. He was represented as an elderly man, jovial and friendly, of heavy build, with a long white beard. His element was the fire, his colour red. The rumble and roar of thunder were said to be caused by the rolling of his chariot, for he alone among the gods never rode on horseback but drove in a chariot drawn by two white goats (called Cracker and Gnasher). He was fighting the giants of ice and snow, and thus became the Yule-god. He was said to live in the "Northland" where he had his palace among icebergs. By our pagan forefathers he was considered as the cheerful and friendly god, never harming the humans but rather helping and protecting them. The fireplace in every home was especially sacred to him, and he was said to come down through the chimney into his element, the fire. 70 [Note 70: H. A. Grueber, Myths of Northern Lands, Vol. I, New York, 1895, 61ff.]

Edit: Of course. I Mixed up those two again

[edit on 21/12/04 by tsuribito]

Originally posted by tsuribito
Yes and this guy ultimately goes back to Thor. The guy from thursday and tuesday.

I Didn't know Thor had anything to do with Santa, although it makes sense from what I know of his perceived appearance.


A small correction though: You're right about Thursday being named after Thor. Tuesday however is named after Tyr, the god of war. Tyr was worshipped by a group of pirates/ merchants commonly known as the Vikings...

tsuribito; I just thought of another couple of things.
You mentioned Thors wagon, it too resembles santas sledge flying across the sky. They just swapped The two goats pulling it (Tanngrisne and Tanngnjost) with Rudolf Co...

It might be stretching it somewhat far, but it�s also worth mentioning that norse mythology most likely had its roots in its greek counterpart. The greek God most resembling Thor is Zeus, the god of lightning and thunder, and the protector of the gods.

Santa = Zeus

Originally posted by thelibra
Excerpt from some research I did for a node on E2...

an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of children of all ages all over the world. Sundblom gets the credit, though Mizen had created the original red white-fur outlined outfit with a black belt (for Coca-Cola, mind you) that Sundblom used."

Too bad you didn't READ the snopes link I posted above:

This legend is not true. Although some versions of the Santa Claus figure still had him attired in various colors of outfits past the beginning of the 20th century, the jolly, ruddy, sack-carrying Santa with a red suit and flowing white whiskers had become the standard image of Santa Claus by the 1920s, several years before Sundlom drew his first Santa illustration for Coca-Cola.

www.snopes.com...

I'm thinking your research may not be as factual as you thought.

"the first attempt by the Illuminati in the 20th Century was the creation of Santa Claus in the red suit.... Now Santa is the enthrallment of children.The word Santa is an anagram for Satan
Satanism and Satanic rituals have grown exponentially since the media blitz of the Red Santa. This subliminal method instills in the mind-pattern that a mystical, non-human can enter people's homes. He will be good to them only if they behave a certain way during the year. The red costume speaks for itself - red is the color code for entry into the astral planes. Red is the color code used by the Godess during the Reptilian ritual to invoke astral entities.
Of course Santa lives at the North Pole, , which is the entry point into the Inner Earth and the underground Reptilian society.. He has short little elves that do his work, symbolic of the small greys with a group mind-pattern. The flying sled and the reindeer symbolise the interdimensional flying craft used to enter there. Children are advised to leave a snack for his arrival, representing a sacrificial offering to a powerful god......."
Stewart Swerdlow 'Blue Blood, True Blood'
Satan Claws is coming to town.......

[edit on 21-12-2004 by dh]

[edit on 21-12-2004 by dh]

Santa Clause is entirely satanic in his roots. If any one thinks Im crazy just try and deny this and I will prove it.

Prove it please inquiring minds want to know.