Ha, caught you off guard huh? You’re wondering: what the hell does that mean? Well, for those nog familiar with Dutch traditions, instead of Santa Claus, we have “Sinterklaas”. And guess what: basically they are the same! You even pronounce the names almost the same.
I don’t know the exact origin of Santa Claus or Sinterklaas real well, but supposedly he was a figure that lived in the 4th century a.c. in Myra, Turkey as a bischop. According to the legend he saved his village from starvation, resurrected three kids that were dead, and gave gifts to the poor people. He supposedly died on December 6th 343 a.c. In 1087 his remains were moved to Bari in Italy (but for some reason in Dutch tradition he came form Spain).
The fact that he gave gifts etc. became a tradition that we Dutch celebrate in December 5th; “pakjesavond”. Kids that behaved good all year get presents and the ones that were not so good are supposedly put into a bag and get whipped with a stick and then are taken back to Spain by the black helpers of Sinterklaas (“Zwarte Pieten”).
Anyway: this goofy tradition has been around for many years and almost every Dutch kid grew up with this myth, only to discover that Sinterklaas doesn’t exist and it all was just a big scam.
So how did the Americans wind up with Santa Claus? Well supposedly an American preacher called Clemet C. Moore described the red suit that “Sinterklaas” was wearing, in a poem called ” ‘t Was the night before Christmas” and thus introduced the Dutch legend in the United States of America. And in 1773 the Dutch introduced him as St. A Claus.
So, the truth of the matter is that the modern Santa Claus is a conglomeration of sources, a legendary being that has evolved over the years. Along the way, pre-Christian legends, the story of St. Nicholas, Dutch immigrants to America, Washington Irving, Clement Moore, Thomas Nast, and the Coca-Cola company, all made their contributions.
If you want to read a very good indepth piece on it, check out: The Origin of Santa Claus and the Christian Response to Him.