Santa Claus. Father Christmas. Kris Kringle. Père Noël. Papa Noël. Sinterklaas. Weihnachtsmann. Babbo Natale. Papai Noel. Ded Moroz. Grandfather Frost. Noel Baba. Święty Mikołaj. Saint Nicholas.
However you say it where you're from, we all believed in Santa Claus as children. But where did this saint come from?
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. He would go around town and leave little hand made toys for children on their doorsteps the night before Christmas.
So where did the story of the North Pole and his Magic Reindeer come from?
Well, Thomas Nast, an American cartoonish submitted 33 Christmas drawings to a magazine in the late 19th century featuring a village called "Santa Claussville, N.P." and yes, N.P. stood for North Pole. And his reindeer? it was originally just one reindeer that first sparked the idea. In 1821, an illustrated children's poem published the cartoon in New York. Just two years later, a poem was published in the Sentinel highlighting 8 reindeers that Santa would call by name.
In observance of the Christmas season, our offices will be closed Monday, December 25, 2023. We will reopen our doors on Tuesday, December 26, 2023.
