News: The Jolly Origin Of Santa Claus

Everyone loves Santa, with his jolly laugh and his big red gift-filled sack; he represents the modern Christmas spirit all around the world. What you might not know is that today’s modern American Santa comes from an interesting background.
St. Nicholas, Santa's original ancestor, has multiple images according to different stories, but none of them look like the Santa we know today. So how did the Mediterranean- born St. Nicholas become the white beard chubby, North Pole Santa we know today?
Some stories have it that the character of Santa Claus, who visited on the 6^th and 7^th of December each year and give presents to good kids, has been developed in Northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands based on St. Nicholas’s giving spirit, as he was told to give presents to children and look after the poor.
Christian families then, and after the tradition moved to the United States with the Dutch, saw it more fit for Santa Claus to visit around Christmas, and so Santa’s visits started on the night of the 24^th of December.
Santa’s looks have changed afterwards to wear a red suit instead of St. Nicholas’s traditional brown suit and his drawings were published yearly in Harper's Weekly magazine till 1886. But the chubby, red-outfit-and-belt-wearing Santa we know today wasn’t known until 1931, drawn by Coca-Cola to encourage consumers to drink Coke in the winter season.
Since then and according to this story, Santa Claus has been the icon of the Christmas jolly spirit that is celebrated by different cultures in different countries that all have it in common to wait for the ringing laugh and awaited presents.

By: Salma Tantawi