BIOGRAPHY OF SANTA CLAUS,Santa Claus: The True Story,SANTA CLAUS

                                                    

                                BIOGRAPHY OF SANTA CLAUS

 “He sees when you are sleeping, he knowswhen you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad, or good. So be good, for goodness sake…” If you live in the western world, you alreadyknow this line from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Harry Connick Jr. We’ve all heard the songs and seen the movies,but you may not know the true story behind the legend of the man who can fly around theworld in just a single night. For over a thousand years, St. Nick has beencredited with selflessly leaving presents to boys and girls out of the goodness of hisheart, and he has been bringing the holiday spirit around the globe for centuries.

 He has been known by so many different namesover the years- Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Père Noël...And whileall of the variations of the story have changed over the years, they are all referring tothe same man. Today, we are going to talkabout the life and legend of Santa Claus. The Early Life of St. NicholasNicholas of Bari was born in the 4th Century in the town of Myra, located in Asia Minor. This is now located modern-day Turkey. His parents were wealthy Christians who hadtrouble conceiving a child for years. They prayed to God every day to have a childof their very own, and as soon as they finally conceived and gave birth to a son, it trulywas a miracle. Sadly, Nicholas’ parents would die of anepidemic that had spread throughout the city of Myra, leaving him to become a young orphan. 

He was raised by his uncle, who was the Bishopof Myra, and never had children of his own. He was very proud of his nephew, especiallywhen he grew up to be a very well-behaved boy. His uncle apparently announced to everyonein the church that he had a vision that his nephew would grow up to bring joy to manypeople. When Nicholas grew up, his uncle’s prophecyactually did come true. He was always kind to others, and went outof his way to help people. As an orphan, Nicholas had a special placein his heart for the children in town, and he would often help them make handmade toysto play with. Even though he was from a wealthy family,he still had a lot of sympathy for the poor, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help.

 There was a man in the town who had threebeautiful daughters. But he was so poor, he could not pay for adowry. This meant that his daughters could not getmarried, and they would have to be sold into slavery, because the father could not affordto support them. Nicholas wanted to help, but he did not wantto hurt the father’s pride by offering a donation face-to-face. So he dropped a bag of gold down the chimney,which landed in their stockings that were hanging up to dry. The father and his daughters jumped for joy,believing that God had finally answered their prayers. He was finally able to pay for the dowry,and his oldest daughter went on to get married. Nicholas came back to do this again for thetwo younger daughters, which is when he was caught in the act. Everyone knew that this gold wasn’t justappearing out of thin air, and people began to whisper around town about young Nicholas’kind heart and generosity. 

Nicholas was a very simple person who didn’tneed a lot to be happy, and the money didn’t mean much to him. But he knew his donations could be life-changingfor other families in Myra. He decided to continue paying attention towho needed the most help in the city, and he would anonymously give his inheritanceaway to other people. After this story spread around town, peoplebegan to leave their stockings and shoes by the fireplace in hopes that they would receivegold from Nicholas, as well. Soon after this, people throughout the cityof Myra were receiving anonymous presents that would mysteriously appear in their homes. This sparked a spirit of giving, and neighborswere now helping out one another in their time of need without fear of hearing theirpride. Any time an anonymous gift would show up,they decided to thank Nicholas, even if he wasn’t actually the one to deliver everysingle present. People in the town began a rumor that sincethis man seemed to be able to be in many places at once, he was more than just a devout Christianman. They believed that he had been blessed withmagical powers. He truly did begin to travel across Turkey,and he reached a point where he had given away all of his earthly possessions, whichwas fine by him. He devoted his life to becoming a monk. 

We know with absolute certainty that Nicholastruly was a real person, because he grew up to take over his uncle’s position as thenext Bishop of Myra. There are records of his participation inthe First Council of Nicea, including his outspoken outrage over the corruption he sawin the Catholic Church. In one story, Nicholas witnessed a horrificscene where children had been kidnapped, and he was able to rescue them. He was seen as such a holy man that he waslater canonized as Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, and...surprisingly, sailors. That’s right, St. Nick loved to travel,even back then. He learned to sail along the coast of AsiaMinor, and dreamed of seeing the entire planet some day. For years to come, sailors would continueto pray to Saint Nicholas for help when they were able to go on a long voyage.

 Legend has it that one day, Turkish sailorswere out at sea, and the wind and waves were so strong, the men were afraid that the boatwould capsize. They prayed to Saint Nicholas for help, andhe appeared before them, with his arms outstretched. He was able to control the weather and calmdown the ocean, and the sailors made it home safely. This was just one of the many examples ofthe stories told of St. Nick’s extraordinary magical power. And it just may be a good explanation of howSanta manages to travel in his sleigh through all kinds of weather. The fantastical stories of Saint Nicholaslasted far longer than just one lifetime. His story continued to go on for another thousandyears. It would seem that the magic behind his generositywas so inspiring and powerful, it was enough to keep him alive in the hearts of mankindfor generations to come. Santa Inspires a NationFrom the 4th to 16th Centuries, Nicholas became one of the most popular Catholic Saints. People continued to pray to him, wishing forhis help in their time of need. As time went on, he preferred to receive letters,rather than prayers. 

It’s probably much easier for him to keeprecords this way. Stories of St. Nick’s magic and generositybegan to spread throughout the rest of the world. In the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland,children began to leave their shoes outdoors on St. Nicholas Day so that the jolly “Sinterklaas”could leave them presents. Sure enough, small toys and candy were leftfor them when they awoke in the morning. After the Protestant reformation, Martin Lutherwanted to do away with the stories of Catholic saints, so he said that these presents wereactually coming from the baby Jesus, or the “Christkindl”. People were confused, of course, because theyknew that the real gift-giver was the jolly old Saint Nick delivering these presents tochildren. So “Christkindl” was misunderstood tobe “Kris Kringle,” and the nickname stuck. After the Revolutionary war, there was a movementto reject many of the English ways of life and start new traditions that were uniquelyAmerican. An author by the name of Washington Irvinghad already made a name for himself by writing and publishing American folk tales that hadbeen told by word-of-mouth, like Rip Van Winkle and the spooky “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”,which became a Halloween classic.

 So, when he heard about the Dutch story of“Sinterklass”, he decided to officially give him the properly American-sounding nameof “Santa Claus”, and St. Nick officially became apart of the American Christmas tradition. Over the next few hundred years, the publicwould learn more about Santa Claus than they ever had before. In 1809, Washington Irving’s book calledKnickerbocker’s History of New York, he wrote about a surprising Santa sighting inCentral Park; “The good St. Nicholas came riding over the tops of the trees, in thatself-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.” He went on to explain that Santa took a breakto smoke his pipe of tobacco before getting back in his wagon and flying away. Thankfully, Santa gave up smoking, which ispartly why he has extended his life expectancy. But he replaced it with a serious cookie addiction,so that wasn’t exactly kind on his ever-expanding waistline. 

As the years went on, more and more writerswould elaborate with additional details about Santa Claus. In December of 1823, a writer named ClementClark Moore was walking through the snow on his way home. Under his arm, he had a Christmas turkey forhis family, and looking around at the beautiful scene, he was suddenly inspired to write apoem titled, “A Visit from St. Nicholas”...But you probably know it as “The Night BeforeChristmas.” “'Twas the night before Christmas, whenall thro' the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there….” This became an incredibly popular poem. It so perfectly captured the Christmas spirit,that in just a few years, nearly every American knew how to recite it from memory. Instead of thinking of his time living inTurkey as a 4th Century saint, people now imagined Santa Claus to be a chubby, jollyold man who climbed through the chimney to place presents in stockings and leave wrappedunder the Christmas tree. St. Nick had always been a sailor and an avidtraveler throughout his lifetime. Navigating the open sea is no easy task, especiallyin the tears before the benefits of GPS. But he wanted to get around on land at a fasterpace. In 1821, an anonymous author wrote and illustrateda story called “Old Santeclaus with Much Delight”. For the first time, the public learned thatSanta had upgraded his ride from a rickety old wagon and boat to a proper sled pulledby a single reindeer. In 1889, poet Katharine Lee Bates introducedthe world to Mrs.

 Claus, and we got to know a little bit more about St. Nick’s personallife. We still don’t know exactly when they gotmarried, but this couple have what is probably the longest lasting marriage in history. We also don’t know if they ever had anychildren together. As the years went on, the public learned moreabout Santa’s progress in his mission to bring joy to the world. We learned that he moved to his new secrethideout in the North Pole, and he hired a team of elves to run his workshop. We were introduced to his extended fleet of8 magic reindeer, and in 1939, he added the newest member of the team- Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer. In 1891, even the President of the UnitedStates was promoting Santa Claus. Benjamin Harrison told the press, “We shallhave an old-fashioned Christmas tree for the grandchildren upstairs, and I shall be theirSanta Claus myself. Let me hope that my example will be followedby every family in the land.” The very first video footage ever capturedof Santa Claus was in 1898, by a filmmaker named G.A. Smith. The world could see him leaving presents forsleeping children on Christmas Eve. Of course, as time went on and modern technologyimproved, more and more people were capturing footage of Santa Claus, and it was time forhim to come out of hiding, and make his first public appearances. The Modern SantaMoving into the 20th Century, Santa Claus was always hip to the modern times. During the Industrial Revolution, he was ableto improve his operations with his elf employees working the assembly lines in his workshopat the North Pole. Santa became more like the CEO of his toyempire, making sure the operation ran as smoothly as possible. 

Now that he wasn’t running his workshopalone, he was finally able to make the time to begin making public appearances. In 1924, he decided to be a part of the Macy’sThanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. He received such a warm welcome from his adoringfans, that has decided to reappear every single year ever since, so long as the organizersmeet the demand on his rider to provide him a tall glass of milk and some warm chocolatechip cookies in the green room. The 1980’s brought on the boom of the shoppingmall in the United States, and this began the tradition of Santa Claus taking personalrequests from girls and boys. There is even a massive party called “SantaCon” held every year in New York City, which isn’t even a real convention...It’s justan excuse to dress up like St. Nick and party in the streets. There is also the Liverpool Santa Dash, andso many other events around the world thrown in his honor. Moving into the 21st century, modern technologyhas helped us truly break down the science of just how Santa manages to make his journey. You can now track St Nick’s progress onthe Google Maps “Santa Tracker”. 

And in 2016, The Mirror did an intensive studyon the statistics of Santa’s magical journey on Christmas Eve. They discovered that in order for him to deliverpresents to every single child in the world on a single night, he needs to travel at speedsof 1,280 miles per second, which is faster than the speed of sound...It’s no wonderthat we rarely ever see him in the night sky. Even though the world loves Santa Claus, thatdoesn’t mean his legacy has been free from controversy. Indeed, he is often blamed for being at theroot of making the holiday season about material things, rather than having young people rememberthe true meaning of Christmas. Commercialism is a very real thing, of course,and there is no denying that Santa Claus has helped sell billions of dollars in productsevery holiday season, from coca cola to Barbie dolls. But in a world where religion and politicsdivide so many people, there are very few things that Americans can agree on quite likethe tradition of Santa Claus. Every December 24th, children go to bed earlyand wake up at the crack of dawn, hoping that they will find presents underneath their Christmastree. For many, it’s one of the very few memorieswe all share of having faith in something, and the experience of childhood wonder andthe belief in magic. 

Sometimes, Santa Claus can’t do everythingby himself, and needs to recruit help in unexpected ways. Just one example of this was in 2011. A young couple named Jim and Dylan moved intotheir new apartment on West 22nd Street in New York City, when they started to get lettersin their mailbox addressed to Santa Claus. They thought this was a joke, of course, andthey went to the post office to see if there was a forwarding address for the previoustenant, they were told that yes, there was, but it was simply put as; “The North Pole.” At first, they didn’t know what to do withthese letters, and they had no idea how these random children got their address. They even did a thorough search on Google. Eventually, they decided that they could notignore these letters. Many of them were heartbreaking letters thatcame from under-privileged children. Dylan and Jim began to pass out letters totheir friends and co-workers who all shared in the responsibility of buying presents forthese kids. Soon enough, the word spread on Facebook,and they were able to get hundreds of letters fulfilled by kind-hearted volunteers. 

They now run a charity called Miracle on 22ndStreet, where anyone can volunteer to help out with the letters to Santa. If you still aren’t convinced in the existenceof Santa Claus, there are few words that can better express the truth than that of FrancisPharcellus Church. In 1897, an 8-year old girl named VirginiaO'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun, saying that her friends in school told her that SantaClaus was not real. She asked them to tell her the truth, andChurch published his reply. “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as sure as generosity and devotionexists, and you know they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary the world would be without a SantaClaus.” Here at Biographics, we want to say that SantaClaus truly does exist, so long as he remains in our hearts. We wish you a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.