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The History of Santa Claus

History of Santa ClausEvery December 25th, people around the world celebrate the religious, cultural, and commercial phenomenon known as Christmas. Many of us look forward to the Christmas season every year: the decorations, the lights, and, of course, the gifts delivered from everyone’s favorite big-bellied, rosy-cheeked individual – Santa Claus. But where did Santa Claus come from?

The History of Santa Claus

The story of the man we now call Santa Claus can be traced back to the third century to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is said that he gave away his inherited wealth and instead traveled the countryside helping the poor. During his travels, St. Nicholas became the basis of many folk stories, including the one we told you several weeks ago about the History of Stocking Stuffers:

“Once upon a time, there was a father with three beautiful daughters. Unfortunately, the father was very poor and did not have money for dowries. Because of this, he feared his daughters may never marry good men.

Hearing of this, St. Nicholas of Myra had an idea. He knew the father would never accept a gift, so he devised a plan. One night, St. Nicholas climbed to the top of the family’s home and dropped gold down the chimney.

Meanwhile, the three daughters had just finished the day’s laundry and decided to hang their stockings by the fire to dry. The next morning, to everyone’s surprise, the stockings were filled with gold coins, enough money to make each daughter a generous dowry.”

St. Nicholas’ popularity quickly spread and, by the 18th century, his legend had even spread to America.  But where did the name Santa Claus come from? Well, Santa Claus evolved from Nicholas’ Dutch name, Sinter Klaas, the shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas).

The image of Santa Claus came about in 1804 when a member of the New York Historical Society, John Pintard, distributed wooden cutouts of St. Nicholas at a society meeting. The wood cutouts depicted Nicholas as a jolly man in red along with toy-filled stockings over a fireplace. This image was solidified in 1822 in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.”

According to History.com, “In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus.”

Christmas Candy from Wockenfuss Candies

We have a wide variety of Christmas candies you are sure to enjoy, from our milk chocolate candy cane pops to mint filled candy straws to milk chocolate foil Santas and so much more!  Best of all, our candy is available online at WockenfussCandies.com and can be shipped to you in 3-6 business days.  We also offer pick-up orders, as well.

What is your favorite type of Christmas candy? Let us know!

If you have any questions about Wockenfuss Candies’ wide variety of Christmas Candy, please contact us by calling 1-800-296-4414 or email info@Wockenfusscandies.com. When you’re not savoring our sweets, stay satisfied by following us on FacebookTwitterGoogle+, and Pinterest!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 25th, 2013 at 4:44 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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