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| Santa Claus From Sinter Klaas to Santa Claus Santa Claus is the most famous of all the figures associated with Christmas. We generally know him for being a fat, jolly man with a white beard, dressed in a red suit, and driving a sleigh full of presents which is drawn through the air by eight reindeers. Although Santa has always been an essential part of the Christmas celebration, the modern image of Santa did not develop until well into the 19th century: Santa Claus was an evolutionary creation, born by the fusion of two religious characters, St. Nicholas from the Netherlands and Christkindl from Germany. During the 17th and 18th centuries, children in the Netherlands put their shoes by the fireplace for Sinter Klaas (Saint Nicholas), a bishop who lived in the 4th century and was known for bringing gifts to the poor. According to the Dutch tradition, every 5th of December Sinter Klaas would fly from rooftop to rooftop on his white horse while dropping sweets down the chimney into the children's shoes. In Germany the similar tradition of the Christkindl (Christ Child) was celebrated on the 25th of December. The story of Sinter Klaas was brought to New Amsterdam (the original name of New York) by Dutch settlers in north America, where Sinter Klaas' name changed into "Santa Claus". In the 1860s German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized the modern image of Santa as our fat, jolly man with a white beard. Some years later, in the 1930s, Scandinavian-American artist Haddon Sundblom painted a Santa Claus dressed in a red suit for a Coca-Cola Christmas advertisement. From there on, the modern image of Santa Claus started to spread across the world. The Scandinavian Santa Claus The tradition of Santa Claus has remained particularly strong in the Nordic countries. In Christmas time, a traditional character known as the Yule Goat or Julbock visited the Scandinavian homes dressed with a goat disguise. The Yule Goat liked to sing and dance, and families offered him drink and food in exchange for his entertainment. During the 19th century the Yule Goat started to change into the modern Santa Claus who visited homes to give Christmas gifts. The goat disguise was abandoned and the jolly man in red took his place, but the Yule Goat was never forgotten. You can still see the ancient Yule Goat in every Scandinavian home as a traditional decorative item on Christmas trees, gardens and dinner tables. Among all the Nordic countries, the tradition of Santa Claus is particularly strong in Finland. In the late 1920s it was believed that Santa Claus lived on the remote Korvatunturi mountains, in Finnish Lapland. Subsequently, in 1985 a permanent Santa Claus office was established in Korvatunturi, so anyone can meet the jolly old fellow and his elves in the Santa Claus Park, where Santa gladly discusses about children's Christmas wishes.
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