Santa Claus, known in English as Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, is a saint believed to enter houses through chimneys on Christmas night and distribute gifts to children with his white hair, white beard, red costume and big belly that has become the symbol of Christmas tradition. But in reality, who is Santa Claus, where is he from, how did he appear, where did he live? I will cover all these questions in this article.
Who is Santa Claus? The Man Behind the Santa Claus Story
Actually, this person we know as Santa Claus is a man named St. Nicholas, who was born into a Christian family. The year was 280 AD. At that time, Christianity was not legal in the Roman empire. However, Nicholas wanted to become a priest and worked hard for it, and he was imprisoned because of his beliefs. After a while, Christianity was legalized by Emperor Constantine and Nicholas was elected bishop of the town of Myra.
There are many stories about St. Nicholas, but the most famous of them is how stockings began to be hung to put gifts in it.
Once upon a time, there was a father with 3 daughters. This man was a very poor man. In fact, he was so poor that his daughters couldn’t marry because he didn’t have enough money for the dowry. Knowing this, Nicholas secretly threw a bag of gold into the chimney one night. Where do you think the bag fell? In a sock hung to dry in front of the fireplace! The poor father married his eldest daughter thanks to the gold from which it is unknown.
Another night Nicholas rolled another bag of gold down the chimney. This time, the father insisted on discovering where this gold came from. He hid by the fire every evening until he saw Nicholas throwing a bag of gold down the chimney and caught Nicolas throwing the bag inside. Nicholas begged his father not to tell anyone about this. But after a while, the news spread that whenever someone secretly received a gift, they thought it was from Nicholas.
For his generosity, Nicolas was made a Saint.
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of not only children but also sailors. It’s said that one day he rushed to the aid of sailors caught in a severe storm off the coast of Turkey. When the sailors were about to die under the waves, they began to pray to St. Nicholas. And suddenly St. Nicholas appeared on the deck. He prayed for the sea to calm down, and the storm abruptly stopped.
Where Was Santa Claus Born?
The birthplace of Santa Claus is the Patara village, now called Demre, in Antalya, Turkey.
Where Does Santa Claus Live According to Legend?
It’s said that Santa Claus lived with his wife in the North Pole and spent the whole year making toys with the help of his elves.
It’s believed that he receives letters from children asking for Christmas gifts. On Christmas Eve, he loads toys on his sleigh and goes all over the world on a sled pulled by eight reindeer and stops at every house. He slides down the chimneys of the houses and leaves the presents. He happily eats the cookies and milk left by the children of the house for him. Then he jumps on his sled and continues his journey.
How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus?
People believed that Nicholas continued to work miracles after his death. The burial place under the floor of his church became a popular place for people who begged Nicholas to convey their wishes to God.
Over the years, Nicholas’s popularity spread around the world and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on December 6, the anniversary of his death.
By the 18th century, Santa Claus had also managed to be known in American culture. The name Santa Claus was shortened from Nicholas’ Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, and became Santa Claus. Sinter Klaas stories became more popular day by day.
Saint Nicholas became popular again in the 1800s as writers, poets and artists rediscovered old stories. In the Netherlands and some other European Countries, children began to leave shoes in front of their windows on December 5 (St. Nicholas’ Eve) for Santa Claus to fill with gifts.
An anonymous poem called ‘Old Santeclaus with Much Delight’ was published in New York in 1821. Santa Claus was first described on a sleigh pulled by a reindeer.
In 1823, his famous poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ was published. The poem describes Saint Nicholas with his eight reindeer and gives them their names.
Santa’s Reindeer
The names of the Reindeer are described in the famous poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ as follows;
- Dasher
- Dancer
- Prancer
- Vixen
- Comet
- Cupid
- Donner
- Blitzen
- Rudolf
All Santa’s deer are female.
The Ninth Reindeer: Rudolph
The most famous of all the reindeer is, of course, Rudolph. Rudolph was born more than a hundred years after his eight flying colleagues but has become the most popular.
Robert L. May wrote a story in 1939 about a reindeer that was teased for its red, shiny, large nose. But on Christmas Eve, when the fog was all over and Santa Claus was afraid of not being able to deliver the presents, this red-nosed Rudolph steered the sleigh by the light of his bright nose and saved Christmas!
Italians Stole Santa Claus’ Body!
I mentioned above that after Santa Claus died, his grave was flooded by people to make wishes. This event lasted until the Seljuk Turks invaded Anatolia. The tomb of St. Nicholas, who remained in these lands that were captured by the Turks, frightened the Christians and devout Christians decided to make a plan.
Ships loaded with grain set out from the Italian city of Bari to Antakya in 1087. However, the main reason for this ship to set off was to steal the corpse of St. Nicholas! As soon as the sailors landed, they hurried to the church where the tomb was located. The priest guards of the church became suspicious when the sailors stubbornly wanted to see the tomb.
When the sailors told the priests that they had come to retrieve the body of St. Nicholas, the priests objected. Then the marines tied the priests. Meanwhile, a manna bottle fell on its own and broke. The sailors interpreted this as St. Nicholas saying “I want to come with you” and they removed the body and took it to Bari.
A new church and tomb were built for St. Nicholas in Bari. Miraculously, after being placed in his new home in Bari, a sweet-smelling holy liquid known as the Manna of St. Nicholas began to flow from the new marble tomb.
Described as oil in early reports, but more recently turned out to be water, this manna was believed to heal everything. For hundreds of years, manna has been collected, mixed with holy water, and bottled in small glass bottles decorated with saintly icons to be sold to pilgrims.
I want to make a final note on this subject. Turkish archaeologists claim that the Italians stole the wrong body and that Nicholas’ remains never left Demre.
Santa Claus and Coca Cola
Santa Claus in its current form was first drawn in 1863 by American cartoonist Thomas Nast. Even though his religious identity is still in the foreground, Santa Claus is reflected as an individual with earthly pleasure in this drawing.
The relationship between Coca Cola and Santa Claus coincides with the Great Depression of 1929. The crisis turned America upside down in a few days and lasted for 10 years.
In such an environment, Coca Cola literally launched an incredible advertising campaign using Santa Claus. These advertisements attracted such attention that even urban legends were born that Santa Claus was a Coca-Cola invention.
In fact, even before the 1930s, Santa Claus was portrayed as a white-bearded, gray-haired grandfather in a red costume. As you can see in the photo below, even the White Rock company, which sold mineral water long before Coca-Cola, used the Santa Claus figure in its advertisements.
Therefore, the rumor that Santa Claus has something to do with Coca Cola is unfounded!
Ho ho hoooo!
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