Santa and his many branches

This is a school project to summerize CGPGreys videos.

Every year on the 24th of December, children around the world put out milk and cookies hoping to lure a magic fat man into their home, who will leave presents behind before sneaking into the house next-door. How did this tradition begin? You can blame northern Europe for that, where the winter wether is cold, dark, and depressing. But the coldest, darkest, and depressingest day is the winter solstice on December 21st or 22nd. This is when the sun only gives a few weak hours of light or none at all. These sun deprived people invented magical creatures to come and lighten the mood by bringing presents. These characters range from elves to gods to goats, but there are 2 in interest to the modern story. The first is Saint Nick in the Netherlands. Saint Nick is thin and stern, but still brings presents to children in December. He dresses like a bishop, in red and white, and rides on a horse named Amerigo for whom children are encouraged to leave out a carrot. Saint Nick in Dutch is Sinter Klaas. The second character is Father Christmas from England. Father Christmas is a big jolly pagan, dressed in green with a holly wreath around his head. Traditionally he is less concerned with children than the is with food, wine, and celebrations.

He is also known for being one of the three spirits that terrorized Scrooge. When the Europeans came over to North America, Saint Nick, Father Christmas and and all the other characters started to mix together. That explains why Santa has so many names. Some of his names are Santa Claus, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, and Kris Kringle. In the old world these were different characters but over time they got smushed together into Santa Claus, which you can see happening in the older stories. The poem The Night Before Christmas came out in 1823 in New York, which said that Santa lands on the roof and fills stockings with toys. But this Santa is an elf, much like those from Arctic countries. This Santa is small, and drives a mini sleigh with mini reindeer. Which makes a lot more sense for someone whose job description includes fitting down chimneys. Also the word Santa appears nowhere in the poem. The real title is a visit from Saint Nick. As the 1800s continued a fat, human looking, immortal Santa turned into the standard among American authors. It was in the States that he gained an elfish workforce and a wife. By about 1900 santa had developed into his current iconic style. It should be noted that, contrary to popular belief, Coca-cola™®© didn’t change its colours to its corporate scheme, but instead the conveniently red and white Santa in 1931 to help sell more Coca-cola™®© during their off season. Though Coca-Cola™®© didn’t create him, their omni present ads probably did brand this as the one, true Santa in the minds of millions. Helping spread Santa around the world to cultures with no gift giving traditions. This American Santa in turn influenced his relations in northern Europe to become more like him, Although not always to the pleasure of the locals. In the Netherlands, Saint Nick is still a distinct character. The one last detail about Santa that is still up for debate is exactly where he lives. In the late 1800s his home was magnetic north, centred under the Northern Lights. While this would be the most diplomatic option for Santa, since then magnetic north has moved off the polar ice cap, and into the ocean. So Canada claims that Santa lives somewhere in Nunavut, and has given Santa a post code: H0H-0H0 (0 is zero. There is no Os in Santa’s post code) and, no joke, official Canadian citizenship. America says Santa lives in North Pole, Alaska. Denmark says Santa lives in Greenland and Greenland agrees. Finland says Santa lives in Rovaniemi on the Arctic circle. You can Actually go see Santa, the Elves, toys, Reindeer, and post office in Rovaniemi. But Santa still gets around the world in one night, to deliver all those presents,(And eat all those cookies).