Бринюк Тамара

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Who are you, Santa Claus? Tamara Brinyuk Grade 2a Yarovoye Every December 24th millions of people are visited by a short, fat guy in a red suit. Where did he come from, why does he do it, and how does he accomplish this seemingly impossible task?

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Santa Claus... Kris Kringle...Old Saint Nick... We see him on advertising posters, in parades, at departments stores...who is this guy and why does he have so many aliases? Well, the original St. Nicholas lived in southwestern Turkey in the 4th century. As the bishop of Myra he was credited with doing a number of miracles involving sailors and children. After his death this led him to become the patron saint of both groups as well as for unmarried girls. As a saint he was given his own "feast day" that was celebrated on December 6th.

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At about the same time Nicholas lived, Pope Julius I decided to establish a date for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. As the actual time of year for this event was unknown, the Pope decided to assign the holiday to December 25th. There had long been a pagan midwinter festival at this time of year and the Pope hoped to use the holiday to christianize the celebrations. Eventually, Saint Nicholas's feast day also became associated with December 25th and his connection with Christmas was established. A tradition developed that he would supposedly visit homes on Christmas Eve and children would place nuts, apples, sweets and other items around the house to welcome him. As the reformation took a hold of much of Europe, however, the popularity of St. Nicholas dropped in most Protestant countries, with the exception of Holland where he was referred to as "Sinter Klaas." After this tradition came to the United States, "Sinter Klass" would eventually be corrupted to "Sancte Claus."

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America's Santa Saint Nicholas or "Sancte Claus," in a woodcut by Alexander Anderson done for the New York Historical Society. It's been said that Dutch settlers brought the tradition of Saint Nicholas to the North American city of New Amsterdam (which the British would later rename "New York"). However, research shows there's little evidence that Nicholas played much of a part in these early settlers' celebrations. It seems more likely that Saint Nicholas became an American tradition during a wave of interest in Dutch customs following the Revolutionary War. Washington Irving (of Sleepy Hollow fame) included him a comic History of New York City written in 1809. John Pintard, founder of the New York Historical Society, took an especially keen interest in the legend and the Society hosted its first St. Nicholas anniversary dinner in 1810. Artist Alexander Anderson was commissioned to draw an image of the Saint for the dinner. He was still shown as a religious figure, but now he was also clearly depositing gifts in children's stockings which were hung by the fireplace to dry.

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Perhaps nothing has fixed the image of Santa Claus so firmly in the American mind as a poem entitled A Visit from St. Nicholas written by Clement Moore in 1822. Moore, a professor of biblical languages at New York's Episcopal Theological Seminary, drew upon Pintard's thinking about the early New Amsterdam traditions and added some elements from German and Norse legends. These stories held that a happy little elf-like man presided over midwinter pagan festivals. In the poem, Moore depicts the Saint as a tiny man with a sleigh drawn by eight miniature reindeer. They fly him from house to house and at each residence he comes down the chimney to fill stockings hung by the fireplace with gifts. Moore had written the poem for the enjoyment of his own family, but in 1823 it was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel. It became very popular and has been reprinted countless times under the more familiar title, The Night Before Christmas. Where did Moore get the reindeer? The Saami people of northern Scandinavia and Finland often used reindeer to pull their sledges around and this found its way into the poem. Reindeer, which are much sturdier animals than North American deer,are well adapted to cold climates with their heavy fur coats and broad, flat hooves for walking on snow. As time went by, more and more was added to the Santa Claus legend. Thomas Nast, a 19th century cartoonist, did a series of drawings for Harper's Weekly. Nash's vision of Santa had him living at the North Pole. Nash also gave him a workshop for building toys and a large book filled with the names of children who had been naughty or nice

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Norman Rockwell's 1921 cover for the magazine The Country Gentleman shows Santa with his modern red and white theme. The 19th century Santa was often shown wearing outfits of different colors: purple, green and blue in addition to red. This slowly faded out so that by the beginning of the 20th century the standard image of Santa Claus was a man in a red suit trimmed with white. The Coca-Cola company has often been cited for cementing the image of Santa with the colors red and white through a series of popular advertisements in the 1940's depicting Saint Nick enjoying their product (Coca-Cola's company colors are red and white). However, Santa was already well associated with these colors by that time. American artist Norman Rockwell had done a number of paintings with Saint Nick wearing red and white including A Drum for Tommy which appeared on the cover of The Country Gentleman in 1921. The truth is that by the time the Coke ads came out, Santa, in the public's mind, was already wearing only the modern version of his colors.

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Almost as popular as Santa himself is his sometimes lead reindeer with a glowing red nose, Rudolph. Unlike Santa's history, the story of Rudolph can be traced back to a specific author: Robert L. May. May was a copywriter for Montgomery Ward department stores in 1939. The company had been buying and giving away coloring books at Christmas time for many years. May's boss thought they could save some money by printing their own books and asked May to come up with a story. May thought up the idea of a misfit reindeer who saves the day for Santa on a foggy Christmas Eve. The story took off, but unfortunately May did not own the rights. His employer, Montgomery Ward, did. With a generosity not often seen in the corporate world, in 1947 the company's President turned the rights over to May, who was in debt because of his wife's terminal illness. With a hit song written in 1949 by May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, and a TV special in 1964, May's financial security was assured and Rudolph earned a permanent spot in American Christmas pop culture.

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Mrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in North American Christmas tradition. While Santa Claus himself emerged from the 1820s from a number of traditions of European folklore, Mrs. Claus has no precedent in folklore and is a literary creation by James Rees (1849), popularized by Katharine Lee Bates, appearing in her poem "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride" (1889). The character has since appeared in story, film, television, and other media.

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The wife of Santa Claus is first mentioned in the short story "A Christmas Legend" (1849), by James Rees, a Philadelphia-based Christian missionary.[1] In the story, an old man and woman, both carrying a bundle on the back, are given shelter in a home on Christmas Eve as weary travelers. The next morning, the children of the house find an abundance of gifts for them, and the couple is revealed to be not "old Santa Claus and his wife", but the hosts' long-lost elder daughter and her husband in disguise. Mrs. Claus' first name is Gertrude, but she goes by Jessica. [

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Just like many people believe that Santa Claus is like the spirit of Saint Nicholas (a generous man who was known for giving gifts and performing miracles for children), Santa’s elves also have their own special history! People all over the world have believed in elves for a very long time, usually describing them as special creatures who are small and sometimes fairy-like, with pointed ears and magical abilities, and sometimes a hint of mischief. Even though elves have been around for such a long time, it wasn’t until the mid-1800s (about 150 years ago) that people first started to recognize their role as Santa’s Helpers. But because elves are so special, many people believe that it’s only natural for them to be the helpers of someone like Santa Claus, who is also pretty special! According to legend, Santa’s elves help him with everything from making toys to keeping lists of boys and girls to polishing his sleigh and more!

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In American folklore, a Christmas elf is a diminutive creature (elf) that lives with Santa Claus in the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are often depicted as green or red clad with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats. Santa's elves are often said to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of his reindeer, among other tasks. They were first introduced by Louisa May Alcott in 1856. The Santa Claus character is somewhat older, emerging in US folklore in the early 19th century from an amalgamation of various European Christmas traditions, especially from English Father Christmas and Dutch Sinterklaas. The association of Christmas presents with elves has precedents in the first half of the 19th century with the Tomte in Scandinavia, and Father Christmas himself was identified as an elf in A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823).

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http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/3482288/post115860258/ http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-santa-claus.html http://www.unmuseum.org/santa.htm http://www.history.com/topics/santa-claus http://www.tasteoftx.com/holidays/xmas/santa.html http://www.the-north-pole.com/history/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus