The idea of Santa Claus bringing presents, how did it start?
 

Most ideas start with one person. Who was that person? And what was the reason?

Did it ever occur to them that it was a lie and that they might be teaching their kids to tell lies? :)

What lie?

He is kidding, right?


He has NOT missed a year at our house in my whole 74 years.

You mean Santa Claus is real? Have you ever seen him?

I saw mommy kissing Sa.... Nevermind, you wouldn't believe me.

The older we get, the more real Santa becomes....:D

There was a great program on one of the History channels about the origins of the holiday.

I've included a link with some info offered on the History channel.....

Christmas — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts

Merry Christmas VPL.....;)

If I'm not mistaken, it began with the poem, "The Night Before Christmas". That had something to do with the Santa as we know him today.

St. Nicholas was the precursor to Santa Claus. Other countries have Father Christmas, Sinter Klaas, and Kris Kringle.

No reply to the second part of your post.

The merchants started it

Gary always believes Santa exists at our home. He does no wrapping, no shopping, no hiding of presents, in fact nothing, yet every Christmas eve he looks at the presents and says Santa must really exist! After he recovers from his concussion I hand him the bills. And the truth be told.

The tradition of associating gift giving with the Christmas season and that there is someone who clandestinely brings presents to children can be found in The Bible and in European history.

GIFTS

The Magi, also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, were in Christian tradition, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition. The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death.

The account can be found in the Bible in Matthew, Chapter 2. "In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

SANTA CLAUS

Now, regarding Santa Claus, the legend has its origins in Europe.

The modern figure of Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, which, in turn, has part of its basis in tales concerning the historical figure of Christian bishop and gift-giver Saint Nicholas. He was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving,

Over time, traits of this character and the British folklore character Father Christmas merged to form the modern Santa Claus known today.

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You call it a lie. Most people consider it a harmless, charming tradition.

Are you expecting another lump of coal in your stocking this year?

If you seriously want answers to your question, begin by researching the historic 4th century christian named Nikolaos of Myra where today's Santa Clause had its origins. Also, I hardly think that keeping the spirit of Nikolaos of Myra alive through today's Santa Clause equates to teaching kids to lie! If it were, then you'd also have to consider that the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, cartoon characters, Grimm's Fairy Tales and virtually every literary work of fiction are also lies and can be used to teach children and adults alike to lie! :)

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Wait a minute! Are you saying there's no Mickey Mouse?

Good Grief.... Charlie Brown.......

It's nice to keep little children believing as long as possible, and seeing the sparkle in their eyes, as they receive the presents, brought by Santa.

It's a harmless tradition that revovles around the spirit of Xmas, and the good feelings that are engered in people. How quickly, those good feelings vanquish after the holidays.

Peace and goodwill towards all men/woman. :smiley:

Of course I'm not saying there's no Mickey Mouse! But it could be said that there are curmudgeons :grumpy: with erasers out there and we need to be conscious of there existence! ;)

When my daughter was little, we integrated the spirit of Santa Claus with the baby Jesus.

I told her of the real St. Nicholas- who honored the Christ-spark within children and emulated the acts of the Magi as a remembrance.

I told her that it was such a beautiful thing, people who have come after St. Nicolas decided to keep that tradition- and that those who dressed as Santa Claus were 'helpers' to remind everyone at Christmastime.

She knew her presents came from us, but with the 'spirit' of Santa Claus in our hearts- to honor the Christ-spark that she had within HER.
I explained that 'littler' children were not old enough to understand the full story, so their parents just started with the "Santa" part- and would add the rest of the beautiful story as they got older.
She was happy with that- felt special that I considered her mature enough to know, and agreed to let the little ones discover when it was time for their parents to tell them.

Each year, she and I went shopping for a toy to be donated. We made a special day out of it. She would pick it out and we'd wrap it to her liking. We'd take it to the Post Office that day and she would carry it in and place it in the 'Toys for Tots' bin. On the way home, we'd talk about the story of the wise men giving their presents to the baby Jesus. Sometimes, she would tell ME the story. It was beautiful to hear her rendition!

We had one other tradition, gosh, until my daughter was grown- she and I would make a 'snowball' dessert for Christmas eve. Ice cream balls rolled in coconut. We would make a circle of them on our fanciest plate, and put a red birthday candle in each one. We'd light the candles, turn down the lights and we (and everyone at the table) would sing, "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus, Happy Birthday to You!" and she would get to blow out the candles.

I asked her (as an adult) how she felt about the way we did it when she was little. To her, it was perfect.

Thank you for sharing

If you want to malign someone as an example of lying look to Politics.




Santa Claus LIVES.


Stop this foolishness. The Elves will hear you and report. This is D Day. Good night SHIRT. I can't believe the people who like to live on the edge. Coal STILL EXISTS. Straighten up and fly right.




BOY HOWDY!!! BOY HOWDY!!!

VPL, earlier in the year we heard you talk about the negative things taught to kids by Halloween. I guess we didn't change your mind, because now we hear about Santa Claus teaching kids to lie. What's next, the Easter Bunny???:cryin2:

There is a Santa Claus, and I'm not lyin'. He came early this year and brought our kids through some horrendous weather up north, got them on a plane in snow and ice and dropped them at our doorstep. I believe. :wave:

If NORAD can track Santa, how can you possibly doubt?

VPL, you really do like crossing lines and stirring up pots, don't you? Hope you have the merriest of Christmases and that Santa doesn't leave you too many lumps of coal.

............

[QUOTE=redwitch;800457]If NORAD can track Santa, how can you possibly doubt?

VPL, you really do like crossing lines and stirring up pots, don't you? Hope you have the merriest of Christmases and that Santa doesn't leave you too many lumps of coal.[/QUOTE

I saw Santa on tv filling a FedEx box with lumps of coal. Better watch out!

You still thinking of changing your name? VPL is definitely on the naughty list now.

Pooh, thanks for the interesting link. Merry Christmas!

That's funny! :D

Nighthawk, I think you might be on to something.

Good explanation, Carl. It does seem harmless and charming when one thinks about it in terms of how it came about.

I went to the movies with my brothers when I was about 4 years old and saw cartoons but I never thought they were real. I knew they were cartoon characters. I put a tooth under my pillow and the "tooth fairy" left me some money, but I never actually believed that it came from a tooth fairy. As a kid I had a couple of fairy-tale books but I understood they were fairy tales. I pretty much always knew fiction from reality. Likewise, I knew the Easter Bunny wasn't leaving colored eggs. So I think much of it, from my perspective, was harmless.

I'm going for "Grinch" now. Has that name been taken yet?

I think the name I picked was taken.

I hope he likes health food; I'll put out a bowl of fruit. (No milk and cookies.)
I'm going to put Santa on a diet! :D

I have a sad feeling that maybe VPL never had a Santa Claus in his life.But even Ebenezer Scrooge found redemption and love in the end I hope you do too VPL.

What, no milk??? Oh, never mind. Santa will be stuffed by the time he reaches your house.

Say what... the Easter Bunny didn't leave those colored eggs? And no Tooth Fairy? OMG, what will I find out next...that Kukla, Fran & Ollie weren't real?

Whaaaa.... now you've gone and done it... you've gone and shattered the fond memories of my childhood. I'll never be the same again! :sing:

Lalalalalalalallallllalllal DON'T Listen. SKy guy.


Look at that light in the Northern Sky...He is on his way.

He may well be, but he won't be stopping at any of our homes here in The Villages. There are no chimneys here for him to come down! http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/by...y-emoticon.gif

No wait! Santa comes in through the stackable sliders when there's no chimney.

And the Easter Bunny is the only rabbit in the world who lays colored eggs.

You'll be fine, Skyguy!

Don't work for us. Santa would have to get into our birdcage first, and we keep the screen doors to our birdcage locked. We wouldn't want good ol' Santa to strain himself passing through the screens now would we? :22yikes:
That's funny... my therapist keeps telling me the same thing! :loco: