Waking up on Christmas or Christmas morning, the children of the whole world rush first to a decorated Christmas tree or festive socks hung by the fireplace in order to find presents there with a joyful squeal ...
What does Santa Claus look like, what country does he live in, does he have a family? These questions concern not only children, but also adults, who sincerely wish to continue to believe in a beautiful New Year's fairy tale.
It is interesting to know that the prototype of the current SantaKlaus was a real historical character. Saint Nicholas, nicknamed the Mirlikskiys, was in fact a Christian bishop originally from the city of Mira in Lykia (present-day Turkey). He lived in the IV century and became famous for charity and good deeds.
About him folded many legends.So, having learned that one of the residents of the city was so impoverished that he was going to sell his three daughters in a brothel, St. Nicholas secretly threw three bags full of gold into the window of this man's house. According to another belief, he miraculously revived three children killed and sharpened in a barrel. Therefore, he is considered the protector of the little ones, the patron saint of the lost and the innocent, and also guards travelers and sailors in their travels.
In Russia, this saint is also very revered. He is called the Benefactor, or Wonderworker.
Having studied the power of St. Nicholas with permissionVatican, scientists of Britain using computer technology recreated the appearance of this saint. Thanks to them, it became reliably known what Santa Claus looks like, which existed in reality.
Saint Nicholas was not tall - 168centimeters, had olive skin, short gray beard, dark brown eyes and a broken nose. There are not so many similarities with the modern fairytale hero who brings Christmas presents ...
Santa Claus became a Christmas character awaynot right away. Initially, in Europe, gifts were given to children on December 6 - the day of worship of St. Nicholas. However, in the period of the Reformation, this tradition has changed. The baby Christ was considered the character who bestows children, and the holiday, when it happened, was postponed on the eve of the Catholic Christmas.
После победы Контрреформации подарки детям вновь began to bring St. Nicholas, but still at Christmas, in late December. Although, for example, in the Netherlands this is a saint (here his name is Sinterklaas), sometimes the kids are happy with surprises for both holidays.
English Puritans, the first to begin to learnthe North American continent, did not celebrate the Christmas holidays at all. The history of Santa Claus in these lands begins from the middle of the 17th century, when the settlement of New Amsterdam was founded by the Dutch colonists (later to become New York).
At the beginning of the 19th century by an American writerWashington Irving wrote The Story of New York, in which he mentioned the custom of honoring St. Nicholas in New Amsterdam. In the development of this topic, 14 years later, from the pen of Clement Moore, the book “The Night Before Christmas, or the Visit of St. Nicholas” was published. In it, he first described what Santa Claus looks like, how he travels across the sky on a reindeer sleigh, and what happens when he visits Christmas with gifts on Christmas Eve.
This poem significantly influenced the idea of Santa Claus in the whole English-speaking world. And today she is one of the most beloved American Christmas tales.
It was from this time that the image of the character who distributed gifts to children finally ceased to be associated with the saint.
In the work of Clement Moore, Santa Claus appears inthe image of a cheerful elf with a fat belly, smoking a pipe and loving a tasty meal. The cartoonist Thomas Nast was the first to succeed in fulfilling the desire of adults and children to find out what this fabulous hero looks like. For twenty-four years, he portrayed Santa Claus on the Christmas cover of the weekly Harpers Weekly, which was very popular. However, Santa Claus, performed by Nast, was black and white, although the fur coat, wide belt, headdress, and sparkling boots were almost the same as we used to see them now.
He painted the fairy-tale grandfather's fur coat in red at the end of the 19th century by publisher Louis Prang, who was the first in America to produce colored lithographic postcards for Christmas.
In 1930, the American company "Coca-Cola",wanting their drinks to be equally popular both in winter and in summer, she included Santa Claus in her advertising campaign. The work was assigned to the Chicago artist Haddon Sandbloom. For thirty years, he created images of "Christmas grandfather", which brings gifts to children. The prototype of Santa Claus, today known around the world, served as a friend and neighbor of the artist, Lou Prentice.
Images where Santa Claus looked no longeran elf, and a kindly smiling giant, liking people. Rudolph was also well received - the new ninth deer invented by Santa invented by the artist.
You can often hear a question that doesn’t give rest to many: "Does the family of Santa Claus exist, or does the" Christmas grandfather "live alone?"
Ответ на него покрыт завесой тайны.According to the classical Catholic tradition, the "historical" Santa Claus, that is, St. Nicholas, was a priest, that is, he definitely did not have a family. But as for the current fairy-tale character, it does not at all exclude the fact that he may well remain in a happy marriage.
According to some data, the first time information about Mrs.Klaus appeared on the pages of the American magazine Harper in 1881. According to another version, eight years later this woman was invented by the writer Catherine Lee Bates, who dedicated an amusing song to her.
One way or another, but by the most commonversion, the spouse of Santa Claus is an ordinary human woman. Her "fairy age" - about sixty years. Nobody knows the real name of Mrs. Klaus - some sources call her Goody, others - Wilhelmina, and others - Jessica ... She is plump, funny and very sociable, wears a red dress almost all the time, because she adores this color, puts on glasses, and also spins gray hair in a bun on the back of his head. She often bakes tasty buns and loves to watch how the elves - Santa Claus' faithful helpers - make toys for children's gifts. It is said that once, when Santa Claus became seriously ill just on the eve of the Christmas holidays, Mrs. Claus put on his fur coat, put on an artificial beard and set off to deliver presents for the little ones herself.
Холодная "страна Санта Клауса" – Лапландия, the realm of eternal snow and ice is actually the northern province of Finland. However, the residence of the "Christmas Grandpa" there really exists! It is located in the capital of the province - Rovaniemi.
Добрый седобородый господин в красном принимает here guests are all year round. From the central mail of Santa Claus, you can send a postcard to any corner of the world. And the dreams of adults and children about the holiday come to life in the fabulous Santa-Park and Christmas village.
The image of Santa Claus, so popular inTV shows and advertising, does not descend from our screens and storefronts in the December-January days. Often, children simply identify Santa Claus with the originally Slavic Grandfather Frost. However, besides the fact that both of these fabulous characters bring presents to the kids during the winter holidays, they have not so much in common as it may seem at first glance.
So what is the difference between Santa Claus and Santa Claus?First of all, the fact that the latter has nothing to do with Saint Nicholas. The history of our Father Frost goes back to the folklore of the Eastern Slavs. There he is represented in the image of a fairy-tale warrior, a giant who fetters rivers and lakes with frost and ice.
Over time, the image of Frost changed.From a formidable stern character, he gradually turned into a kind and fair Grandfather, who presented gifts to children. His company is traditionally his granddaughter, the dear and beloved by all the Snow Maiden.
Externally, Santa Claus also looks different - quite different from what Santa Claus looks like. The photo below allows you to fully represent these differences.
Дедушка Мороз могуч и крепок, внушительного growth, wears a bulky white beard. He is dressed in a long fur coat all the way to the ground, wears a boyar hat on his head, and he wears valenki on his feet. He does not wear glasses. Unlike Santa Claus, Santa Claus’s vehicle is not a fabulous deer, but a Russian horse troika. He does not penetrate the houses through the fireplace at all, but by an inexplicable magical method inherent in the magical creature. And he never puts gifts in a sock, preferring to hide them under the branches of the Christmas tree.
That these fairy-tale characters are different, in no wayAt least it does not mean that one of them is better, and someone is worse. Just do not forget that during the winter holidays, along with the world famous Santa Claus, the Grandfather Frost majestically parades through his possessions, easily carrying a huge bag of gifts behind his back ...
