Santa Claus
Santa Claus is probably the most important symbol of today's Christmas, especially to children. What would Christmas day be without a pile of gifts delivered magically by Santa on his reindeer-driven sleigh?
Who Is Santa?
We always think of Santa as a jolly fat man with a red coat and a long white beard, but how do we know? After all, nobody ever actually sees him.This image of Santa is actually a modern invention. Well, fairly modern. The earliest known depiction of Santa in this form comes from an 1804 woodcut. The details seem to have arisen from the famous poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. In this Clement Clarke Moore set down the image of Santa that we think of today, complete with the reindeer pulled magic sleigh.
Even Santa's real name isn't known for sure. He goes by a variety of different names around the world. Here in the UK he's called Father Christmas, in France Pere Noel, in Holland Sinterklaas.
His original name may have been Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was a rich, generous man who gave many gifts and became the partron Saint of children. "Santa Claus" may derive from "Saint Nicholas".
Wherever he came from, Santa is today at the centre of our Western Christmas celebrations. He lives in the far north - possibly Lapland or the North Pole - where he and his band of elves make toys for all the good boys and girls. There may also be a Mrs Claus, however she never leaves home.
You can buy pictures of Santa on everything from cards and decorations to balloons and jewelry. There's even an online Santa Tracker that let's you find out where he is right now over the holiday season.
So as you can see Santa is a lot more complex than many people realise. Of course there's only one real thing that matters to most of us: does Santa really exist?
Well I've never seen him, but I still get presents on Christmas day. That's good enough for me.