HO HO HO! Did You Know These Interesting Facts About Santa?

Let’s read about these interesting facts about Santa With Christmas being just around the corner, children worldwide are getting excited to receive gifts from their favourite person or best friend, Santa Claus. Children ensure behaving well and respecting others throughout the year to make it to Santa’s ‘nice’ list and receive gifts from him. He is the most iconic figure in the minds of children at this time of the year who come on his sleigh, shaking his belly like a bowl full of jelly and leaving gifts under the Christmas tree or in the stockings. 

We have all heard about Santa’s merry blue eyes, his long bushy beard, and a big bulging bag. But do you know there are other interesting facts about Santa that you aren’t aware of! How did this jolly bearded man, dressed in red, dashing through the snow on his sleigh, become the most beloved Christmas figure over these years? Therefore, we decided to make you aware of some interesting facts that will make you go HO! HO! HO! Are you ready for this mystical journey? So let’s dive in!

Read On To Know More About Santa Claus!

Fact #1: Santa Claus – Real or Myth? 

Have we left you in a daze? According to popular folklore, Santa Claus is the round, chubby man who leaves gifts for children worldwide in socks and under trees on Christmas eve. But as it turns out, the story of Santa Claus stretches back to 280 AD, where a saint known as St. Nicholas gave coins to children and assisted the sick and poor. He became the protector of children, and when he passed away, he was acknowledged as the patron saint of children. Now that’s an interesting fact about Santa you didn’t know, right? But hey, that’s not it; we have a lot more facts in store for you.

Fact #2: Original Name – Santa Claus or Sinterklaas?

Santa has been Santa Claus only for 200 years. The first-ever mention of the name Santa Claus was made in a story that appeared in the New York newspaper. But before that, the story of St. Nicholas was kept alive by a Dutch tradition by the name of Sinterklaas – who delivered Christmas presents to children from door to door on the night of 5th December. Santa is also known by other names like Father Christmas in the UK, Kris Kringle in the USA, Papa Noël or Père Noël in France, and Weihnachtsmann in Germany. 

Fact #3: Santa and His Eight Tiny Reindeers

Clement C. Moore introduced the story of the eight tiny reindeers in a poem. The poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas, more popularly known as Twas the Night Before Christmas, introduced many characteristics about Santa, including his eight reindeers. The reindeers, named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen, pulled Santa’s sleigh to drop gifts from door to door. Clement Moore popularized Santa’s image as a jolly old elf who entered chimneys with a nod of his head. 

Fact #4: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – New Addition!

There were only eight reindeers mentioned in the poem by Clement Moore. But how can we forget the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, is a fictional character created almost a hundred years after the eight reindeers by Robert Lewis May. Rudolph was depicted as Santa’s youngest reindeer who used his luminous red nose to lead the other reindeers, pulling the sleigh on Christmas eve. 

Fact #5: But We Think Santa Needs a Lot More Reindeers

With so many children all around the world, he needs to carry almost 400,000 tons of gifts to distribute on Christmas eve. And to carry this much weight on his sleigh, he’ll probably need a lot more reindeer power than his nine tiny reindeers. He will need at least 360,000 reindeers to pull the sleigh in the air! 

Fact #6: Coca-Cola Picturized the Modern Santa

Today, we think about Santa Claus and imagine a jolly, bearded man in a red outfit. Before, Santa was illustrated in different coloured clothes like green, brown, and blue. However, this warm and friendly figure with a white beard and red coat was introduced by Coca-Cola in 1931 as a widely-circulated campaign. This illustration of Santa created by Haddon Sundblom became a global icon and was featured in various art museums around the globe. This connection with Coca-Cola is just one of the many interesting facts about Santa you didn’t know. 

Fact #7: The Department Store Santa – 120 Years Old Tradition

The department store Santa is a 120-year-old marketing technique, first introduced by Massachusetts businessman James Edgar. He constructed the idea of using a dressed-up Santa outside the department store as a marketing tool. The children in the state got excited and dragged their parents to Edgar’s store to meet the dressed-up Santa Claus, making it a renowned tradition all around the globe. The dressed-up, dancing Santa Claus is still a new concept that many businesses use to increase sales. 

Fact #8: The Story Of Santa and His Wife, Mrs. Claus

Until the 1800s, there was no mention of Santa’s wife, and he was considered a bachelor. His wife’s idea found its way in the short story A Christmas Legend written by James Rees in 1849. Over the years, people mentioned Mrs. Claus in several literary publications, including Harper’s Magazine and Yale Literary Magazine. But the idea of Mrs. Claus was popularized by Katherine Lee Bates’ poem Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride in 1889. So now you know that even Santa has a family! 

Fact #9: Well, What Do You Know! Santa Has His Own Postal Code

The leaders in Canada believe that Santa is real and lives in the North Pole, which is within the Canadian jurisdiction, according to the Canada Post. And to prove that he’s a Canadian, they have even assigned him his postal code, which is the oh-so-clever HOH OHO (a reference with his famous greeting HO HO HO!). Anyone who wishes to send a letter to Santa Claus during the Christmas season can address the letter to Santa Claus, North Pole, HOH OHO, Canada. Well, now, that got to be the most interesting fact about Santa you’ve ever heard!

Fact #10: Santa Even Got His Own Town

Typically, Santa’s home is recognized in the North Pole, Alaska, with a Santa Claus House. The general manager of this house once claimed that if you are keen on meeting the real Santa, you should visit the place. However, there’s another town that claims to be Santa’s hometown. Santa Claus, a town in Indiana, has esteemed itself as America’s Christmas Hometown where you can meet Santa 365 days a year. It even has some famous locations like Santa Claus Post Office, 1880 Santa Claus Church, and a 22 foot tall Santa statue. 

Fact #11: People Receive Replies for Letters Addressed To Santa Claus

All the letters addressed to Santa Claus end up at the Santa Claus Post Office in the Santa Claus town of Indiana. Pat Koch and her father started a tradition of replying to all the letters with a return address. The replies are handwritten either by the postmaster or the ‘elf’ volunteers. Even outside the US, some countries have taken this initiative and created a postal code, like the one in Canada (HOH OHO) and Finland (99999). 

Fact #12: Santa Claus Receives the Maximum Letters From France

Santa receives billions of paper mails from children in every part of the world. According to surveys, the maximum number of letters are received from France, amounting to a staggering 1.7 million. The next in queue is Canada, where children send about 1.35 million letters every year. And just over a million letters are received from the United States. Countries like Mexico did not even make it to the list, maybe because of the Mexican tradition of children putting their letters and messages in a balloon and setting them free in the air. 

What Do You Think of These Interesting Facts About Santa?

So here’s wrapping up the facts about your best bud, Santa Claus. We bet you didn’t know about most of these! But now that you know, you can share these interesting facts about Santa with your friends and family over Christmas dinner. As Christmas is upon us, there is a festive vibe of love, spending time with family, and giving gifts. So stop looking and start ordering the best Christmas gifts for your loved ones. 

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• The Psychology of Gift Giving

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