#152 December 24: Santa Claus
originated as Sinterklaas in Holland and came to America with the Dutch as they
settled in New York. St. Nicolas was actually a Turkish bishop. 12/27
#153
December 25: Santa originally traveled on a donkey and
children left hay in their shoes outside their door to be swapped for gifts and
to feed the donkey.
#154 December 26: The Puritans were
the first to “wage war on Christmas”… wanting to strip it of any merriment and banning
it in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659.
The Dutch, however, embraced their Santa Claus and kept merry traditions
alive. 12/27
#155 December 27: “The Night Before Christmas”
had an original title of “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. It introduced the idea of Santa Claus being a
“jolly old elf” and using reindeer in 1823.
Rudolf didn’t make an appearance until 1939. Clement Moore may have plagiarized the poem from
a farmer named Henry Livingston, Jr, whom academics feel first, wrote it, but
their “proof” is sketchy. 12/27
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