Student shares history of Santa Claus

Santa Claus has been a Christmas staple for hundreds of years. He’s at every store, in songs and in pretty much every Christmas movie that’s ever been made, but where did the whole idea of the magic man come from?

Every country has its own story as to where he came from but in America, Santa was based off a Dutch monk named St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was honored because he gave his wealth to the poor, and he travel around to help the sick and those in need. When St. Nicholas died on the Dec. 6, people began to have a feast in his honor.

The word of St. Nicholas and his good deeds didn’t come to America until 1773 when a New York reporter wrote about how Dutch families honored his death. This is when St. Nicholas dubbed the name Sinterklaas, which soon became Santa Claus. According to History.com, in 1804 a member of the New York historical Society, passed out wooden figures to everyone in the society. In the backgrounds of these cravings were stockings filled with toys and fruits, hung by a fireplace.

Washington Irving also helped popularize Santa, as he was the first to come up with the flying sleigh.

Santa became even more popular in America when the poem “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” or as we know it now “The Night Before Christmas,” was published in 1823. The poem described Santa as a jolly old elf and gave the names of eight of the reindeer that we all know today. (instar.com)

We all found out when we got older that Santa Claus wasn’t actually real, among other things like the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. So when did the Students at MHS stop believing in Santa Claus?

Well, for freshman Annazean Laws, her parents used tough love. “Nobody really told me that Santa wasn’t real,” said Laws. “Just one year he didn’t show up. I was probably 10 or 11 years old.”

For freshman Lilly Self, the mystery was easily solved. “I don’t think there was a certain age; my parents just aren’t very good at hiding it,” said Self.