What does santa claus look like and where does he live - history and interesting facts. Character history Where does Santa Claus live

Our New Year cannot be imagined without the kind Santa Claus and his granddaughter Snegurochka. No Western Christmas (Europe, England, USA and others) is complete without the main character - Santa Claus. But who is this kind-hearted gift-giver? Is this a real character or a fictional one? Why was he named that and where does he live? I will try to answer all these questions for you today. Santa Claus I can say for sure that Santa Claus is a very real person who lived in antiquity. True, his name was different, he looked different and he was born not in Lapland, as is commonly believed, but in the place of Myra of Lycia in 253 AD, on the modern territory of Turkey. And then he was called Saint Nicholas. He was a simple bishop who was ready to accept death for his faith and always fought for good.

There were legends that Saint Nicholas himself was very prosperous, but not greedy. He helped all the unfortunate and the poor, at night, imperceptibly throwing coins into their shoes, which they left at the door, and putting delicious pies on the windows. So Saint Nicholas became the favorites of children. However, merchants, bakers, prisoners and sailors also chose him as their patron and saint.

But how did he become a symbol of Christmas? St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6th. In the 10th century, in the cathedral of the German city of Cologne, students of the Christian school began to distribute pastries and fruits on this day. Very quickly, this tradition became widespread in other cities and countries. Remembering the legend, people began to hang special festive stockings or shoes for the night so that Nikolai would put his gifts there.

It is believed that the Saint, who enters the houses at night, going down the chimney, brings gifts to obedient children, and rods to the mischievous, mischievous and pranksters. Therefore, long before the holiday, children try to behave well, and parents, with their bad behavior, immediately remind them that they can receive a rod as a gift. Sometimes, even together with presents, children are given small twigs.

How did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus? This character came to the USA from Holland in the 17th century. In 1626, a frigate from several Dutch ships arrived in the New World. On the bow of the main ship "Goede Vrove" stood the figure of Nicholas, who, as I said, was also the patron saint of sailors.

The seafarers bought land from the indigenous people of America - Indians for 24 dollars and gave the name to the settlement - "New Amsterdam". Today this "village" has become the largest city in the United States and one of the most famous cities in the world - "New York". The Dutch took the figurine of the saint from the ship and moved it to the main square so that Nicholas could defend the village.

Only now the Indians and the new inhabitants spoke in some kind of their own language, and not in English. They could not clearly pronounce the name of the saint and the phrase sounded like "Sinter Claus", then transformed into "Santa Claus", and over time into the familiar "Santa Claus". This is how Saint Nicholas miraculously transformed into Santa Claus, who delivers gifts to homes on Christmas Eve.

However, the story of Santa Claus's transformation does not end there. The poem by Clement Clark Moore, The Coming of St. Nicholas, published on Christmas Eve 1822, was an important milestone in his reincarnation. 20 quatrains describe the meeting of a child with Santa Claus, who brought him gifts. In the poem, practically nothing remained of the former saint; he was completely devoid of severity and seriousness. Santa on a sleigh U K. Moore Santa is a cheerful, cheerful elf with a pipe in his mouth and a round belly. As a result of this metamarphosis, Nicholas forever lost his episcopal appearance and moved to a team of reindeer. In 1823, the poem "The Night Before Christmas" listed the names of 8 Santa's reindeer:

• Blixem (Lightning Fast)
• Dunder (Blockhead)
• Cupid (Cupid)
• Comet (Comet)
• Vixen (Vicious)
• Prancer (Prancing)
• Dancer (Dancer)
• Desher (Awesome)

Only in 1939 did the ninth deer appear, Rudolph, with a large and shiny reddish nose. Rudolph Meanwhile, the illustrator Thomas Nast refined the image of Santa Claus in detail in 1860-1880. in Harper's magazine Santa has such irreplaceable attributes as the list of good and bad children, the North Pole, but this is not the end of transformation.

Klaus, completely devoid of a holy halo, was dressed up in all sorts of colorful clothes. But in 1931, the famous brand Coca Cola launched an advertising campaign featuring Santa Claus. Haddon Sandblom, an American artist, portrayed a good-natured white-bearded old man in red and white clothes and holding soda.

As a result, Santa Claus acquired the image that we can all see today. This is a plump, cheerful old man delivering gifts on Christmas night. He must have a red jacket or sheepskin coat, a white beard, a red hat and pants with white trim. Santa Claus travels on a sleigh pulled by 9 reindeer and filled to the brim with gifts for obedient children around the world.

In Great Britain it is customary to call him "Father Christmas", which means "Father Christmas". But our Russian Santa Claus has nothing to do with Saint Nicholas. Our Grandfather Frost is a folk ritual character living in the forest or, as it is believed today, his residence in Veliky Ustyug. Winter is his wife. Together they rule the earth from November to March. In very old tales, he is sometimes called Morozko or Ded Treskun.

Where does Santa Claus live today?

The closest relative of Santa Claus is Yolupukki, who lives in Lapland, and Santa Claus also lives here. Since 1984, by a UN decision, Lapland has been officially proclaimed the Land of Santa Claus. Here is also the residence of Santa, in which he lives with the gnomes and elves all year round. It is there that children from all over the world write letters with wishes to the address: Arctic Circle, 96 930, Finland, or to the website: santamail.com.

The Finnish government elevated Santa Claus to a cult status, built him a house on the slope of Mount Korvatunturi, made an advertisement, created a website and announced his email address to the whole world. It is Yolupukki from Lapland (Finland) who receives the most letters from adults and children from all over the world every day.

Every year on December 24 at noon, he arrives on his reindeer in the oldest Finnish town of Turku, accompanied by tontu, his young assistants - girls, boys in red overalls and caps. Here, from the building of the city council, the coming of Christmas is proclaimed and New Year's songs are sung.

But thanks to American advertising and perseverance, Western Santa Claus gradually replaced the English Father Christmas, the Finnish Yolupukki, and the French Christmas Grandfather. And even our beloved and dear Grandfather Frost. I will even say more, the Turks erected a monument to St. Nicholas in the city of Demra, but it is not a bishop who stands on the pedestal, but a cheerful bearded man with a huge bag of gifts!

However, apparently, these are not the final changes in the image of the saint. For example, in Israel, where religious traditions are strictly observed, Christmas is not celebrated. And if you want to buy Christmas cards or other accessories there, then you will be very problematic to find them.

But that's why they are Jews - they will find a way out of any situation! On Christmas Eve, postcards depicting Santa Claus, wearing a Jewish kippa instead of the traditional red cap, began to appear on the shelves of Israeli stores on Christmas Eve. There are still no holiday greetings on the postcards, but something tells me: there will still be Tolya!

Well, but seriously, it seems to me that it doesn't matter who knocks on your door on New Year's or Christmas night: Santa Claus, Santa, Nikolay, Father Christmas or Yolupukki. The main thing is to believe in magic and kindness, so that a cheerful wizard brings smiles and joy along with gifts. And what is his name, you ask him yourself when you meet on a magical night.

In Denmark his name is Sinterklaas, in Germany - Christmas Ded, in Russia his name is Ded Moroz. This character has many names and many countries claim that their territory is the birthplace of Santa Claus or Santa Claus. However, one of the claimant countries has recently moved one step closer to claiming the birthplace of its beloved Christmas character.

Who is Santa?

Saint Nicholas - a generous saint of early Christianity is considered the prototype of Santa. According to historians and church representatives, he was a church leader in a small Roman town located in what is now Turkey.

The place of his burial is still not known exactly. According to some reports, he was buried in Italy, and according to others - in Ireland. In October 2017, Turkish archaeologists discovered a tomb in the foundations of the Church of St. Nicholas in Antalya province, not far from the place where the city of Mira stood in the 4th century, the same one in which St. Nicholas served. Archaeologists immediately suggested that the tomb belonged to Nicholas the Wonderworker.

If Turkey succeeds in securing the title of homeland of Santa Claus, a new place may appear on the map of Christmas lovers. However, his "second homeland" is ready to enter into a dispute for Santa.

Finnish Santa

If you ask any Finn where he thinks Santa Claus lives, he will tell you without a shadow of a doubt that Santa is from Lapland and lives in the Korvatunturi hills.

These hills, or rather the three-headed hill, are almost always covered with snow and are home to nomadic reindeer. It is there, as the Finns are sure, that the secret workshop of Santa Claus is hidden. And, despite the fact that this place was associated with Santa only at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Finnish Christmas tradition is much older.

Tradition and folklore

Before Christianity came to this northern country, the Finns celebrated Yule, the winter solstice festival popular among the Germanic tribes. On St. Knut's Day, January 13, which is still considered the end of winter holidays in Scandinavian countries, special "demons" named Nuttipukki ("St. Knut's goats"), dressed in birch bark masks and fur coats, knocked on houses and demanded gifts and holiday food.

When the generous Saint Nikolaus replaced the terrorizing demons, his image mixed with the traditional, and the Finnish Santa was called Joulupukki ("Yule's goat, or Christmas").

Joulupukki, dressed in red clothes, knocks on the door in the evening and asks if there are obedient children in the house. If there are children, he gives them gifts and leaves.

In November 2017, the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Education recognized this Christmas tradition as a living heritage of the state. UNESCO agreed with the decision. And even though UNESCO may not actually be able to recognize Santa Claus for Finland, the recognition of its ancient traditions is still an important achievement for Finland.

Christmas spirit

So why fight for the recognition of Santa Claus to compatriots? Although, it is more correct to ask why not all countries of the world are trying to make this character their property? In the end, Santa Claus personifies the spirit of Christmas - a cheerful, friendly, generous and peaceful character, striving with all his might to ignite the fire of kindness and joy in children. And while skeptics see it as just a commercial gimmick to get us to spend more money, we can't help but agree that there is no Christmas spirit without Santa.

Tourism

In addition, Santa's house attracts many tourists. According to statistics, visits to Lapland have increased by 18% this year. Of course, people come not only for Santa Claus, but also for the northern lights, the snowy beauty of Lapland and the ski resort of Rovaniemi, but Santa's house is still one of the main attractions in the region.

If Saint Nicholas does turn out to be from Antalya, Turkey will still have to cede Finland, which not only has its own Santa, but also the perfect winter landscape that surrounds it - snow, reindeer and aurora borealis. Even the beaches of Antalya cannot argue with this.

As everyone knows, the real Santa Claus has been living far away on the Korvatunturi hill in Finnish Lapland since time immemorial.

There, in a reserved place, there is his house and workshops, as well as storerooms with gifts and other households. Only here, at any time of the year, you can meet not only Santa himself, but also his reindeer. During the Christmas period on the Arctic Circle, where the General Post Office of Santa Claus and his office are located, everything is covered with white-white snow. It is here that a huge number of letters from children from all over the planet come. Here, in Finland, is also located "Santa Park" - a real amusement park of Santa Claus. Many people in Finland are busy all year round helping Santa Claus in his difficult work.

It is interesting that although the Korvatunturi fell can be easily found on the map, only Santa Claus himself, his gnomes, and, of course, all his reindeer know the way to the house.

Korvatunturi is an unusual hill, where gnomes can hear if children are behaving well, as well as adults. The dwarfs listen carefully to who is doing what, and diligently write down what they hear in huge notebooks. In the books, basically all good deeds are noted, but possible whims and cases of bad behavior, which sometimes happen, can also be mentioned. Shortly before Christmas and New Years, gnomes look into the windows of houses where children live and check the situation on the spot.

Before Christmas, Santa Claus goes through the big books and prepares wonderful gifts for all who have been obedient. If there are bad behavior marks next to a name, Santa Claus can only bring that child a bunch of brushwood for Christmas. Fortunately, such cases have not been observed in recent years, since everyone was very obedient.

You know, in the homeland of Santa Claus, in Finland, he himself brings gifts to obedient children home. Entering the house, he once again asks a clarifying question: "Well, are there obedient children here?" Children sing a Christmas song to Santa Claus and promise to be obedient next year as well. Then Santa Claus distributes gifts, and the children themselves help him in this. In many countries, Santa Claus brings gifts to children at night when they sleep. Adults give gifts to children in the morning, and Santa Claus is already on his way back to Korvatunturi.

Santa Claus Village

And so, Santa Claus with his helpers, the gnomes, lives on the Korvatunturi hill. Yet he had decided long ago that he wanted to meet people not only on Christmas and New Years. Thus, after carefully studying the situation, he decided, with the help of his good friends, to build a house and a village near the city of Rovaniemi, in the place where the road leading to the north crosses the magical Arctic Circle.

Santa Claus wanted an international airport near his village, where his many friends could fly to meet him. He also wished that there was a city nearby, where guests can stay in comfortable hotels and get acquainted with the life of people and nature in the North with the help of good guides. These conditions were successfully met in the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi.

Santa Claus Village is located just eight kilometers north of the city of Rovaniemi. Exact geographic coordinates: 66º33'07 "North and 25º50'51" East, in the Arctic Circle.

Today, in Santa Claus Village, he has his own ward, which houses an office and reception rooms. By the way, Santa Claus brought there several large notebooks from the Korvatunturi hill. Books can be viewed on the shelf in the ward, but outsiders are not allowed to look into them. This can only be done by Santa Claus himself and his gnomes.

The Village also houses the Santa Claus General Post Office, which is arguably the most interesting in the world. In addition, Santa Claus has his own "Shopping Center" - many small shops offering beautiful handicrafts, high quality souvenirs. There are cafes and restaurants, places for themed events. In winter, the village of Santa Claus has a special fairytale atmosphere, when everything around is covered with fluffy white snow, and numerous lanterns and Christmas garlands illuminate the space of the village, emphasizing the mystery of the blue twilight of the polar night. One of the main helpers of Santa Claus is the "Santa Claus Greeting Center", which takes care of mail correspondence together with the Santa Claus General Post Office.

Not far from the Santa Claus Village there is SantaPark. This is a Christmas cave built inside the mountain. There, guests of Santa Claus can get an idea of ​​what his real home is, which is located in the north of Lapland, on the Korvatunturi hill.

Important addition

Santa Claus is very happy with his village and therefore visits there almost every day. You can meet him there any time of the year. Yes, Santa Claus comes to the Village from Korvatunturi on reindeer. Someone was lucky enough to even once see him in a reindeer team on the way from there. Interestingly, for this "local message" Santa Claus needs only one reindeer harnessed to a small sleigh, and when he delivers gifts for Christmas and New Years, the gnomes equip a large sleigh and harness a large number of more experienced reindeer. The city of Rovaniemi can be considered the city of Santa Claus. Hundreds of thousands of tourists come here every year to meet Santa Claus and admire the fabulous nature of Lapland in winter and summer. In summer, the midnight sun is especially amazing. For example, the Concorde supersonic liner has been delivering passengers to Santa Claus airport for 20 years.

Santa's helpers

In Lapland, and throughout Finland, there are many small businesses and large companies that are partners of Santa Claus.

Among these, mention should be made of companies such as air, rail and road transport, taxis, hotels, trading companies, industrial information technology enterprises, telecommunications services, program firms and many others. Local and state radio and television channels and print media play a special role. For example, Santa Claus Television publishes interesting things on the Internet. The Rovaniemi Theater puts on Christmas musicals for Christmas, folk dance groups help Santa Claus in many events, individual artists depict many interesting things from the life of Santa Claus. A technology park for high-tech companies has been built near Santa Claus Village and its airport. In all official documents, Rovaniemi airport is named Santa Claus airport.

In addition, many educational institutions from preschool to university partnered with Santa Claus. At the Rovaniemi Graduate School, there is a Santa Claus School, which trains Santa Claus assistants and specialists in ceremonial events. Gnome schools for children are organized in many tourist centers. Santa Claus tirelessly cares about the welfare of not only his reindeer, but all other four-legged animals. For example, at the Ranua Zoo, Christmas is celebrated by all its polar inhabitants - from the little lemming to the furry lynx. Although the bears at this time, unfortunately, sleep in their dens and cannot take part in the merry celebration of Christmas.

There are several places in Lapland where Santa Claus grazes his reindeer - the reindeer play the title roles in Santa Park, the Reindeer Park in Salla, and the Reindeer Village in Vuotso.

It seems that the good old Santa Claus, who gives gifts to good children and fulfills their wishes, has existed since ancient times.

In fact, this is not entirely true - the progenitor of this fairy-tale character really really existed in antiquity, but Santa Claus, known to us in his current form, was "born" by the standards of historical science recently - no more than 200 years ago.

The good grandfather swam the ocean twice before he became famous all over the world. The real prototype of Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, a real character who lived in Asia Minor during the time of Rome and who later became the archbishop of the city of Myra in Lycia in the Roman province of Lycia.

Originally from a family of wealthy Christians, Nicholas devoted himself entirely to the service of God and gave his inheritance to the church. In the Orthodox tradition, he is considered Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of travelers and seafarers, a benefactor who gives gifts to children.

We know him well for the holiday of St. Nicholas the Winter on December 19, when obedient children find gifts from St. Nicholas under their pillows.

In Catholicism, a legend is spread about three non-dowry sisters who could not get married because of poverty and the only way for them was to go to the den - to be sold for money. Saint Nicholas learned of this situation and secretly threw a bag of gold coins to the two older sisters.

Their father found out about this and decided to track down the donor. The saint learned about the insidious plan and threw a bag of money into the chimney. The bundle landed safely in the youngest daughter's stocking, which was drying by the fire. It was this episode that formed the traditional idea of ​​Santa Claus bringing gifts through the chimney on Christmas night and hiding from people.

This legend was very popular in the Netherlands and, together with the Dutch settlers, crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Founded by emigrants from Holland, New Amsterdam after a while became New York, and the kind grandfather from the fairy tales of the Old World took root in a different society and has already overgrown with fresh legends and myths.

This is especially interesting for the reason that Puritan New England did not celebrate Christmas at all as such. The legends about Santa Claus existed in the form of oral tradition and were transmitted as the population mixed from the descendants of the Dutch to all new emigrants.

Only at the beginning of the X | X century, in 1809, a written mention of this character appeared.

American writer Washington Irving (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip van Winkle), now considered the father of American literature, wrote A History of New York, where he spoke of the veneration of Santa Claus during the existence of New Amsterdam. With this, he marked the beginning of the popularity of this character.

The baton was picked up by Clement Moore, who wrote a poem about Santa Claus, and then the artist Thomas Nast portrayed him for the first time as we are used to seeing him today. It is believed that Nast portrayed himself in the guise of Santa - a cheerful, plump elderly man with a thick beard and a magnificent mustache.

Santa Claus got its final look in 1931 under the brush of Haddon Sandblom - it was a red suit and a cap with white fur edging. It was in this guise that the good miracle worker crossed the Atlantic for the second time and returned to Europe in order to finally take over the entire planet.

The popularity of this hero among the general population began to be actively exploited in their advertising campaigns by various trading enterprises.

On Christmas ads for Coca-Cola, Santa still delivers drinks and gifts around the world, no longer on reindeer, but on a large wagon. Deer, elves and other supporting characters are always present in the stories about Santa, helping him in all his good deeds.

It is very difficult to unequivocally answer the question "Who is Santa Claus", because many peoples have their own analogue of a kind grandfather who brings gifts to obedient and well-mannered children in winter and lives somewhere far away on the North Pole.

For the French, this is Per Noel, for the Russians, Santa Claus, and for the Finns, Joulupukki. All these characters have common features - they appear in winter, live somewhere far away at the end of the world, elderly, plump and very kind.

It doesn't matter what his name is - Santa or Santa Claus, what is more important is that joy, fun and hope for a happy future come to the house with him.

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The prototype of Santa Claus was Saint Nicholas, who was born in the 3rd century in the city of Patara (Asia Minor, Lycia)

from very wealthy parents. Saint Nicholas is one of the most revered Christian saints.

This honor fell to him for his great kindness to people and for the many miracles he performed. He later became bishop

in the city of Mira (now Demre, a small town near Phenicia), therefore it received the name

Mirlician. They even erected a monument to him in this town. In some countries it is said that

Saint Nicholas threw wallets stuffed with gold into the houses of the poor, and many believe that

the saint threw purses through the chimney, and they fell into the shoes, which were left to dry by the hearth.

Therefore, in many Western European countries, New Year's gifts are accepted today, especially for children,

hide in boots, slippers, or slippers. European settlers who settled in America in

VII and XVIII centuries, they brought with them there the legends about St. Nicholas. One of the first churches built

in what was then New York, there was Sinter Klaas or Sint Nicholas, later called "Santa Claus".

Where was Santa Claus born

The modern image of a good-natured fat Santa Claus appeared in the United States relatively

recently, on Christmas Day 1822. It was then that Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem "The Coming of a Saint

Nicholas ", in which the Saint appeared as a cheerful and cheerful elf with a round tight

with a belly indicating an addiction to delicious food, and with a smoking pipe. V

As a result of the reincarnation, Saint Nicholas got off the donkey, acquired eight deer and in his hands

a bag of gifts appeared.

Where does Santa Claus live

Many northern countries are still arguing about where Santa Claus lives. Some believe that he lives

at the North Pole, others - that he settled in the town of Rovaniemi in northern Finland.

In modern Finland there is even a special service for answering on behalf of Santa Claus,

and this is understandable, since on average, in December, up to 80 thousand letters from children of different

countries with requests and wishes.

English Santa Claus comes from the nickname Sinterklaas (from the word "ash") of St. Nicholas

(in the Orthodox tradition of Nicholas the Pleasant) the first Dutch settlers in America.

He was considered the patron saint of sailors and children, for whom he prepared gifts all year, and at Christmas

carried them overnight and left them in stockings prepared for gifts. True, it began to be considered so

later, while the Dutch Sinterklaas was, rather, a harsh educator, for he poured ash into the stockings of those

children who misbehaved.

The protagonist of Christmas has gained particular popularity

after the American professor of Greek and Oriental literature Clement Clarke Moore in

1822 wrote a poem for his children for the holiday about Saint Nicholas, who appears

on Christmas Eve, when even mice fall asleep, and descends the chimney with a bag,

full of gifts to leave them to the children. In a fur coat, with a white beard and a red nose, he drives

team of eight deer, and you can recognize its approach by the creak of the runners and the melodic

ringing of bells tied to reindeer's necks.

The poem quickly sold out and became popular, which offended the professor somewhat,

as he was very serious and did not approve of the fun that the celebration of Christmas had become.

And forty years later the cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus, and the image acquired

perfection: red fur coat and headdress, wide leather belt and sparkling black boots.

Russian Santa Claus looks a little different, and his story goes back to Morozko from Slavic folklore.

If Santa Claus looks more like a dwarf, then Santa Claus is a giant, a hero who goes around on patrol

his possessions, freezing rivers and lakes, and at the same time giving gifts to children. Its disadvantage is often

asks to do something for himself. Not because of greed - just the soul asks. But for the voiceless

legless, suffering from sclerosis, everything pays off by the fact that our Grandfather has a Snow Maiden - she not only gives gifts, but can also kiss.

The Americanized Santa Claus was detailed by illustrator Thomas

Infusion in the magazine "Harper" s "in the years 1860-1880. Nast added attributes such as the northern

pole and list of good and bad children.

The Christian saint, deprived of a halo, was dressed in all kinds of multi-colored sheepskin coats,

until in 1931 the well-known Coca Cola company launched its new advertising campaign, the main

whose character was chosen by Santa Claus. Artist Haddon Sandblom painted a good-natured

a white-bearded old man dressed in red and white clothes with a bottle of carbonated drink

in hand. So the familiar modern image of Santa Claus was born to all of us.

In 1939, Rudolph appeared - the ninth deer with a large shiny red nose.

Thus, Santa Claus, a fat, cheerful old man who delivers gifts, has become an integral part of

part of the celebration of Christmas around the world. He must have a white beard, a red jacket,

pants and a hat with white fur trim. He rides with reindeer

sleigh filled to the brim with gifts. He enters houses through the chimney and leaves gifts under the tree.

or in a special sock, but only for obedient children.

Today, many Americans believe that the modern image of Santa Claus was

dressed in a red and white suit, these colors are the corporate colors of the Coca-Cola company, and

"Santa Claus also drinks Coca-Cola" only in 1931. Except for a bottle of Coca-Cola, nothing new in

The Coca-Cola Company did not contribute the image of Santa Claus. She only popularized him thanks to her

from the history of dates

In 1822, another New Yorker, Clement Clarke Moore, wrote the series

fairy tales, where he described that Santa Claus arrives on eight reindeer. Clement Clarke Moore

also came up with a way to get Santa Claus into the house - through the chimney.

In 1841 in Philadelphia, a certain businessman Parkinson, to attract

clients hired a man and dressed him up as Santa Claus. The first live Santa Claus sat

on the roof of the house where the store was located, next to the chimney.
In 1863, cartoonist Thomas Nast portrayed Santa Claus with huge sideburns and

dressed in fur from head to toe.

In 1869, poems by Georges Webster were published, where the North Pole was indicated as the dwelling of Santa Claus.
Publisher Louis Prang spread the English tradition of sending to friends and family in America

for Christmas greeting cards. In 1885, he issued a greeting card on which

was drawn by Santa Claus in a red suit. Since then, Santa Claus has been increasingly drawn in

red robes, not furs or robes of any other color.

This is how the New York Times describes Santa Claus, dated 1927

year: "Santa Claus appeared before the young people of New York: huge growth,

in a red robe, a hat and white sideburns, a bag full of gifts,