'Ghost of Christmas Present' in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol 1843 -Public Domain
Posted on 12/05/2021 11:08:47 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The concept of Santa and Sinterklaas arguably stems from Saint Nicholas, an early Christian bishop of Greek descent who had many miracles attributed to his intercession, but is also known for his generous practice of gift-giving.
Father Christmas, however, is a completely different entity who was a Yule-tide visitor and not a gift-giver. Some sources suggest that he was originally a pagan figure who represented the coming of spring, or the Saxon “Father Time”, or even the Norse God Odin when he takes on the character of Jul, riding his eight-legged horse Sleipnir.
He was first recorded in 15th century England in various personifications and was associated with merrymaking, drinking and singing. “Sir Christëmas” – A contemporary carol attributed to Richard Smart, a Rector from Devon gives mention of Father Christmas where “Sir Christëmas” announced the news of the birth of Christ, encouraging listeners to drink in celebration.
By the 16th century, Father Christmas appeared in a more distinct form normally portrayed wearing green or scarlet robes lined with fur, as part of an old English midwinter festival. He typified the spirit of celebrating Christmas, embracing joy, revelry, good food and wine on the 25th of December to coincide with Christmas Day...
As Victorian Christmas celebrations began to focus on family festivals around children, Father Christmas started to be associated with the practice of giving gifts. Various published works from America about Santa Claus had started to become popular in England, with residual distinctions between both figures fading away into the 20th century.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritagedaily.com ...
'Ghost of Christmas Present' in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol 1843 -Public Domain
Merry Christmas, in case I don't see ya.
Now what about Hanukkah Harry?
The four stages of Santa Claus:
1) You believe in Santa Claus
2) You don’t believe in Santa Clause
3) You are Santa Clause
4) You look like Santa Clause
He’s also known as the bishop that punched out the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicaea.
LOL. That's about right!
Great suits. And always with two pairs of pants.
The Germanic countries also have a strange tradition regarding the Krampus, which is a demonic figure that would punish naughty children.
Krampus LARPers sometimes get out of control.
Good one, SC!
I’m a fan of all of it, so bring on the presents!
‘Face
;o]
I was in Greece once on New Year's Eve and lo and behold, St. Basil showed up and started giving out presents to kids. He was the spitting image of Santa Claus.
Or Kwanzaa Kwame?
It’s no Riddle of the Sphinx, but that sums it up nicely!
He always seemed a little *cold* for my taste. /rimshot
Also, if anybody ever asks you to put on a Santa Claus suit (for the kids), consider that as a hint to go on a diet ASAP.
Ooh, good addition to the Musical Interlude for this month...
I was walking down the aisle in our local Publix and this family was coming the opposite way.
The young father had a full jet black beard with long black hair down his back, the wife also had long black hair pushing a tiny little boy sitting up in the shopping cart. The Mother-in-law was with them, all the picture of third world immigrants. The little boy was staring at me with a amazed and perplexed look on total awe.
I trim my beard every once in a while, when my wife complains or when I get tired of chewing on my moustache. This day my beard was a little full and had that mountain man look.
When I got close to them, I said that I could tell he had never seen a man with a white beard before. They looked surprised for a moment, but then noticed I was talking about the boy, then they all agreed at once that he probably had not. We got a little chuckle out of the way he was acting, but I didn't think until later about the Santa Claus aspect of it.
Bkmk
I love the songs about Santa who's really Dad but the kid doesn't know, he's just wondering how come Santa is way too cozy with Mom.
Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy (Or Daddy Looked a Lot Like Him)
LOL. God bless America.
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