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===Santa Claus=== | ===Santa Claus=== | ||
Santa Claus was modeled after a real person named Saint Nicholas (270–343) who was the bishop of Myra, a city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkiye) around the 3rd and 4th centuries. It is said that he had helped the poor and the unfortunate, giving alms. After his death, the Catholic Church appointed him as the patron saint of children, sailors, unmarried virgins, merchants, and pawnbrokers, and celebrated Saint Nicholas Day on December 6 to commemorate him. His legend, combined with the Nordic folktale about a magician who punishes naughty children and gives gifts to good ones, gave rise to the custom of putting small gifts under children’s pillows, shoes, or plates on the eve of St. Nicholas Day.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas St. Nicholas], bishop of Myra, ''Britannica''</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Nicholas-Day "St. Nicholas Day,"] <i>Britannica</i></ref> The Dutch who immigrated to the new continent of America followed the Catholic custom and called it Sinterklaas, which became the present English pronunciation of Santa Claus.<ref name=":0">[https://www.artandobject.com/slideshows/how-santa-claus-has-changed-throughout-history How Santa Claus Has Changed Throughout History], ''Art & Object'', December 1, 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus Santa Claus], ''HISTORY.COM'', December 14, 2021</ref> | Santa Claus was modeled after a real person named [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas Saint Nicholas] (270–343) who was the bishop of Myra, a city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkiye) around the 3rd and 4th centuries. It is said that he had helped the poor and the unfortunate, giving alms. After his death, the Catholic Church appointed him as the patron saint of children, sailors, unmarried virgins, merchants, and pawnbrokers, and celebrated Saint Nicholas Day on December 6 to commemorate him. His legend, combined with the Nordic folktale about a magician who punishes naughty children and gives gifts to good ones, gave rise to the custom of putting small gifts under children’s pillows, shoes, or plates on the eve of St. Nicholas Day.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas St. Nicholas], bishop of Myra, ''Britannica''</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Nicholas-Day "St. Nicholas Day,"] <i>Britannica</i></ref> The Dutch who immigrated to the new continent of America followed the Catholic custom and called it Sinterklaas, which became the present English pronunciation of Santa Claus.<ref name=":0">[https://www.artandobject.com/slideshows/how-santa-claus-has-changed-throughout-history How Santa Claus Has Changed Throughout History], ''Art & Object'', December 1, 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus Santa Claus], ''HISTORY.COM'', December 14, 2021</ref> | ||
Today’s overweight Santa Claus dressed in red was popularized through an advertisement for Coca-Cola, an American beverage company, in 1931.<ref>[https://www.coca-colacompany.com/company/history/five-things-you-never-knew-about-santa-claus-and-coca-cola "Haddon Sundblom and the Coca-Cola Santas,"] ''Coca-Cola Company''</ref> As the sales of Coca-Cola declined in the winter, the company created a friendly image of Santa Claus wearing red, which symbolizes the color of the company’s logo, and growing a beard as thick as Coke's bubbles, and actively used it for marketing purposes.<ref name=":0" /> | Today’s overweight Santa Claus dressed in red was popularized through an advertisement for Coca-Cola, an American beverage company, in 1931.<ref>[https://www.coca-colacompany.com/company/history/five-things-you-never-knew-about-santa-claus-and-coca-cola "Haddon Sundblom and the Coca-Cola Santas,"] ''Coca-Cola Company''</ref> As the sales of Coca-Cola declined in the winter, the company created a friendly image of Santa Claus wearing red, which symbolizes the color of the company’s logo, and growing a beard as thick as Coke's bubbles, and actively used it for marketing purposes.<ref name=":0" /> | ||