Little Known Xmas "Facts"

According to various sources gathered by msnbc:

1) Santa replaced Odin - Before people told stories of Santa Clause, it used to be Odin, who traveled around and gave good children gifts. His his 8 legged horse, Sleipner, could leap great distances!

2) 1809 - first introduced the idea that Santa came down chimneys at night, in a satirical book written "A History of New York". Intended to be funny and sarcastic, the idea stuck and now he does it everywhere he goes...

3) Santa's nationality is Canadian. According to Canadian immigration by merit of his residence at the North Pole (Canadian territory)

4) Largest Santa Party 13,000 Santas - 2007, Derry City, Ireland

5) Most Santa Letters 1.06 Million - collected in 2006, Canada during Xmas season

6) Choclate Coins - given to commemorate Saint Nicholas "giving bags of gold to the poor" (Ok, seriously.... Do you know how heavy that would be.... Riiiiiiiiiiip!)

7) The "Real" Saint Nicholas in History - Some historians believe he never existed and was just a myth created to replace pagan gods: Odin, Poseiden, and Neptune with an "acceptable Catholic replacement"
Other historians claim he was real and died around 350 A.D.

8) Santa's Image (red suit, etc) - Often thought to have been created by Coca-Cola's marketing department; In Fact was created by cartoonist Thomas Nast in the 1860s

9) Cause of Rudolph's Red Nose - Norweigen scientists have hypothesized the cause of Rudolph's Red Nose to be a parasitic infection of his respiratory system. So...the other reindeer wouldn't let him join in any reindeer games cause he was F'n SICK!

10) "Rudolph" origin 1939 - Rudolph was originally called Rollo, then later Reginald. The name change to Rudolph was popularized by writer Robert L. May

11) Saint Nicholas's "Miracles" - of the legends attributed to Sain Nick include giving life to 3 boys who had been chopped up by a butcher... Um.... seriously?

12) Saint Nicholas Patron Saint of - Sailors, Children, Prisoners, Wolves & Shopkeepers.
Ok, seriously?? What do any of these groups have to do with one another???
As a child I didn't really want to be lumped in with prisoners (even though I often feel like one).... ijs

And they made fun of the old Gods.....

Where Does Santa's Mail Go? (U.S.) - gets routed by US Post Office to an actual northern town where local volunteers have been answering the letters since 1952.

Does Santa Fly Around the Whole World on Reindeer? - No.
Australia - he swaps them out for Kangaroos.
In other parts of the world, the locals believe he: rides a broomstick, donkey, or goat!

Argh! Gotta run. Will post rest later.

Many trace Santa’s origins to Saint Nicholas who was born in the third century in Patara, Turkey. After his death he was added to the saint pantheon.

Saint Nicholas 270 – 6 December 343),also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek[5] Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker.

He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos".



Merry Christmas Everyone!!