Maegwyn
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The Real Santa Claus
By Elnaith
Now, after reading that title, you might wonder what got in my head - a Santa Claus article when it isn't even December yet!? If that is the case, I point you to the title again: note the word, 'real'. Because for the real one, this article is still early, but a lot less so; he arrives November the 15th, and his name is Saint Nicolas (Or in Dutch, where his tale hails from: Sint Nicolaas or Sinterklaas).
So who is this guy, you ask? Sint Nicolaas is kind of the Dutch version of Santa Claus, but it would be more accurate to say it's the reverse, as the title suggests. He is an old man, who gives children presents if they've been good, and has a lot of helpers. That's the same, but now come the differences. First off, Saint Nicolas isn't fat - he is actually quite lean, and his clothes are very different, having an outfit based on a Catholic bishop. His helpers aren't elves, but are black guys called Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) who wear an old-fashioned, but flashy costume, and like to fool around and do acrobatics. Oh, and they throw candy around! Nor does Sint Nicolaas live on the North Pole. No, he has searched for warmer places and found Spain, although his exact location in said country varies, depending on whomever tells you the story. And of course, no flying reindeers (Reindeers in the Netherlands? Seriously.) - no, Sinterklaas has a White Gray Horse (that is, the horse is white, but is a Gray ... Oh, never mind - it sounds much better in Dutch) who can conveniently walk on roofs. (And presumably walls, although they are never quite clear on that.)
So now, let me tell you the wonderful story of Saint Nicolas. Every year, on a Saturday in mid-November, the whole of the Netherlands is in cheer, for Saint Nicolas is finally going to be here. He arrives in a steamship, usually nr. 12, and rides down on his white Gray, Amerigo, together with his helpers, the Black Petes. The assembled crowd is ecstatic - he's finally back, and the shoes can go in front of the fireplaces again. Shoes, you ask? Yes, shoes - every child has the right to set a shoe in front of the fireplace (or central heating, if the former is lacking) where until December 5th the Black Petes will deposit some candy or small presents every night. Well, only if the child kept up with his/her songs, for every night the child has to sing a Saint Nicolas song (or more than one song, for the very eager ones) in front of the fireplace/Central Heating/BackDoor/whatever his shoe is standing in front of. This supposedly lets the Petes know that a shoe needs some sugaring up. Instead of a song, the child may also opt to give some carrots for Amerigo, or a letter/poem to the Dear Saint, or to a Black Pete.
On December 5th, the Saint will ride across the whole of the Netherlands, (that sounds a lot bigger than it is, although it's still impressive on a horse) and pop down a present through the chimney; although if the house is lacking one, he has a key to the front door too - he's just a bit of a traditionalist. And often he's also nice enough to drop some presents for the parents too, 'cause they were kids once, too. After this exhausting night, he leaves the next day, and goes off to Spain, to rest and prepare for next year.
Now of course, this is more or less the current version of it all. Earlier on, bad kids got threatened to be taken away to Spain, or they were given a Birch rod, (which presumably is meant to serve as a subtle hint, but in my eyes a really bad kid wouldn't mind one) or of course, they simply get no presents. However, recent studies in child psychology have deemed this less desirable, opting to reward instead of punishing, and these traditions have been gradually faded out. It was almost the same for Black Pete, which has been said to be a racial prejudice, with him being a black man under the command of a white man. But while an experiment with other-coloured Petes has been done, this didn't seem to be all that either, and Black Pete seems to survive. This is also so, because there are several reasonable explanations that don't involve any racial prejudices, and people calling that being too politically correct isn't going to work either.
Now you might wonder, so what do Santa Claus and Sinterklaas have to do with each other? Well, Santa Claus was probably based on Saint Nicholas. Current theory holds that Dutch settlers in New York combined Sinterklaas with Father Christmas, and Santa Claus was born. Ironically, Sinterklaas is a fading tradition in the Netherlands, and Santa Claus is a growing one.
Well, that about wraps it up ... Remember, guys - sing your songs, and some peppernuts might just sugar up your shoe.
Sidenote: This is about the Dutch version of Sinterklaas; other versions of him exist in other European countries, but none are as prolific as this one.
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