?The History of Santa Claus?

**** *** *** In this video: Santa Claus has long been one of the most enduring figures of the Christmas season, but where did this jolly old character come from? One of the earliest traditions in which a form of Santa Claus can be seen is an ancient German custom involving a mythical being named Odin. It was believed that on the Winter Solstice (December 21st), Odin would fly through the night sky and determine who would prosper and who would fail in the coming year. Another basis for the legend comes from the stories of Saint Nicholas, a well-known and popular saint from the 300s. Amongst the many stories attributed to Saint Nicholas is one legend in which he donated large sums of money to a poor family. When they refused his help, he tossed the money down their chimney so that they might find it the next morning (this gave us the origin of Santa’s means of entering a home). However, the largest portion of the Santa Claus legend was given to us by Dutch tales of Sinterklaas (pronounced Sin-ter Klows). Sinterklaas is also based on the stories of Saint Nicholas, and Sinterklass traditionally visits Dutch children on December 6th (St. Nicholas Day). The character of Sinterklaas arrives on a boat from Spain. He wears a red bishop’s robe and is usually depicted as having a long, white beard. Children leave their boots next to the fire in hopes that Sinterklaas will leave presents, or possibly fruit in them. When Dutch settlers came to the area that is today New York...