|
Location Information:
A
well-known folk legend associated
with Santa Claus says that he lives
in the far north, in a land of
perpetual snow. The American version
of Santa Claus says that he lives at
his house on the North Pole, while
Father Christmas is often said to
reside in the mountains of
Korvatunturi in Lapland Province,
Finland. Santa Claus lives with his
wife Mrs. Claus, a countless number
of magical elves, and eight or nine
flying reindeer. Another legend,
popularized in the song Santa Claus
Is Coming to Town, says that he
makes a list of children throughout
the world, categorizing them
according to their behavior
("naughty" or "nice") and that he
delivers presents, including toys,
candy, and other gifts to all of the
good boys and girls in the world,
and sometimes coal to the naughty
children, on the single night of
Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this
feat with the aid of the elves who
make the toys in the workshop and
the reindeer who pull his sleigh.
Santa
Claus appears in the weeks before
Christmas in department stores or
shopping malls, or at parties. The
practice of this has been credited
to James Edgar, as he started doing
this in 1890 in his Brockton,
Massachusetts department store.
He is played by an actor, usually
helped by other actors (often mall
employees) dressed as elves or other
creatures of folklore associated
with Santa. Santa's function is
either to promote the store's image
by distributing small gifts to
children, or to provide a seasonal
experience to children by listening
to their wishlist while having them
sit on his knee (a practice now
under review by some organisations
in Britain, and Switzerland).
Sometimes a photograph of the child
and Santa are taken. Having a Santa
set up to take pictures with
children is a ritual that dates back
at least to 1918.
The area set up for this purpose is
festively decorated, usually with a
large throne, and is called
variously "Santa's Grotto", "Santa's
Workshop" or a similar term. In the
United States, the most notable of
these is the Santa at the flagship
Macy's store in New York City - he
arrives at the store by sleigh in
the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
on the last float, and his court
takes over a large portion of one
floor in the store. The Macy's Santa
Claus is often said to be the real
Santa. Essayist David Sedaris is
known for the satirical diary he
kept while working as an elf in the
Macy's display, which he later
published.
Local
Weather:
|
