Holiday Stories and Traditions

DATE: December 25

The History of Santa Claus

Santa Claus has been called by several different names throughout the years. The original tradition and legend of Santa Claus may have been based on the early Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, originating in the 1600's.

Santa Claus really started to get famous when American author Washington Irving published stories about Santa Claus, referring to him as Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas arrived on Christmas Eve bringing presents for children. Santa Claus changed and became more famous when writer Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem in 1823 about a Christmas Eve visit from Saint Nicholas, better known as "The Night Before Christmas". Millions of children now could have a consistent description of Santa Claus and his eight flying reindeer.

In anticipation of St. Nicholas's nightly visit, children in several European countries put their shoes in front of the fire place. They sing traditional songs and provide a carrot or hay for the horse. At night Black Pete puts gifts and candy in the shoes.

The History of the Christmas Tree

The tradition of having an evergreen tree as a symbol of Christmas goes back before recorded written history.

The Druids in ancient England & Gaul and the Romans in Europe both used evergreen branches to decorate their homes and public buildings to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Over the years, these traditions were adopted by Christians, who incorporated them as part of their Christmas holiday celebration.

Trees used specifically to celebrate Christmas are mentioned in the early 1600's in Germany and surrounding countries. The families would set up these trees in a prominent location of their home and decorate them with colored paper, small toys, food, and sometimes candles. As these people moved or immigrated to other countries, they brought this tradition with them.

Through the years many different things were used to decorate Christmas trees. As the world moved into the 1900's, many trees were decorated with strings of popcorn, homemade cards and pictures, cotton to look like snow, candy in all shapes and sizes, and occasionally, fancy stores made glass balls and hand blown glass figurines.

Today, Christmas tree ornaments can be found in nearly every size, color, and shape imaginable, and they are used to decorate the millions of Christmas trees used throughout the world.