Saint Nicholas (270-310) was at one time
bishop of Myra (modern-day
Turkey). He is supposed to have
died on December 6 which is why his feast is celebrated on that date (in reality the party is the evening before). He went into the legends for his great
generosity, therefore he is the
patron of little children and school children.
The
feast and celebrations of
Saint Nicholas was abolished in some
European countries after the
Protestant reformation of the 16
th century. The
Dutch and
Flemish however, have preserved this
Catholic custom, and small children still await the visit of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) on his white horse accompanied with
Zwarte Pieten (black
moors in colourful clothes) on the night of December 5.
Adults celebrate this feast too by wrapping a present in something creative (euphemistically: amateur handcraft) that's related to the other's life. Best thing about those silly presents however, is the accompanying poem which should be on rhyme and contain funny as well as sarcastical/cynical personal notes.
And the story goes on...
At the beginning of the 17
th century, the Dutch
emigrated to the United States, among other places, and founded the
colony of
New Amsterdam which became
New York, iirc 1664. Over several decades, the Dutch custom of celebrating the feast of Saint Nicholas spread to the United States.
Sinterklaas quickly became
Santa Claus for Americans.
This
philanthropist, an old man with a white beard and a long caped red coat/
gown, remained, nonetheless, a
moralistic figure. He
rewarded deserving children and
punished the difficult and unruly ones with the
roe (= bunch of wooden twigs) and threads to take them back to
Spain (I wish the latter were true).
After several decades, Christian
society found it more appropriate to bring this children’s
festival closer to that of
Jesus. Saint Nicholas therefore made his rounds of Christian families during the night of December 24.