XPost: alt.bible, alt.religion.christian.biblestudy, alt.religion.christianity   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic, alt.christnet.christianlife   
      
   A very merry christmas to all.   
      
   The source for the child's account for the guy in redd is based on a real   
   prson. St. Nicholas was a bishop who lived in the 4th century.  He was   
   bishop of an area now in turkey..  A bishop's red vestments at some time in   
   history became part of the child's story; as did having a bishop's white   
   beard.   
      
   He was renowed for his anonymous acts of charity for the poor; often   
   bringing the charity at night unseen. That morphed into gifts being brought   
   on christmas eve for children to discover..   
      
   He was the national patron saint of holland even when it became mostly   
   protestant.  His clothing and other bits of the child's story came from   
   holland and the Scandinavian countries to n. america.  Santa Clause is a   
   shorten name in dutch for the good saint.   
      
   Thus also the reindeer and sleigh part of the child's story which are   
   native to that area.  The dutch first came to what is now nyc and brought   
   the child's account and name of the saint at the end of the 18th century.   
   Others from n. europe; including the british isles; brught other cultural   
   elements to produce the child's story which soon produced american written   
   stories of him.  The shorthand name St. Nick" was spread" beginning then.   
      
   His appearence was fixed when in the 19th century and the first part of the   
   20th century his image was used in marketing.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)