Posts Tagged ‘Father Christmas’
November 25th, 2009
Santa Claus in Shorts?
Ernie Fitzpatrick asked:
That’s no big deal in Hawaii- but Greenland? Now there’s another idea for Al Gore. Talk about an “Inconvenient Truth“, if it be so. But, if the most dire climate forecasts come true the tourism industry in Europe’s far north, already feeling the effects of global warming, may find itself promoting a Santa in shorts and a camel-drawn sleigh. Yuk!
Each year at the end of autumn, residents, shopkeepers, travel agencies, reindeer herders and even politicians in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi — home to Santa Claus’ Village, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Finland — look to the skies in the hopes of a snowy winter.
The past three or four years have been difficult in Rovaniemi. Each year they attract some 300,000+ visitors eager to meet the “real Father Christmas. Real you say? Real!
This December, with only a few weeks to go before Christmas, there are only seven-and-a-half inches of snow on the ground, just enough for snowmobiles and dog- and reindeer sleighs. But the rivers and lakes, which normally freeze over in winter and are used to take tourists on snowmobile or sleigh rides, have not turned to ice yet, and that’s bad news.
Tourism generates some 345 million US$’s of direct and indirect revenue in Finnish Lapland, of which about 60 percent comes during winter. It is an enormous amount of money for the region, hit hard by high unemployment and the rural exodus to bigger towns. And after all Christmas really is about SHOPPING!
Even when America is attacked and our Twin Towers were destroyed, some of the first words by WW Bush we’re, “get out there and spend”.
The village of 2,000 people, located a three-hour drive north of Rovaniemi, has already succeeded in persuading British tour operators to bring planefulls of holiday tourists seeking a winter wonderland to their town. While global warming presents several short-term advantages (lower energy bills, greater agricultural possibilities, a longer summer tourism season), the long-term effects are dire for the region’s fauna, flora and local population. Reindeer herding, the traditional activity and main income for the 70,000 indigenous Sami people spread out across the Arctic, is also at risk.
How will Santa do without back ups?
Sami Ruismaeki is one of Finland’s 7,000 reindeer herders whose livelihood has become more and more precarious. “When it doesn’t rain, there are no mushrooms and the reindeer aren’t able to build up their body fat before the long winter. Then the lichen disappears under the heavy layers of ice,” he said. The reindeer “have to be fed with grain or hay, and we have to bring water from home. It’s not profitable anymore,” he said.
We’re talking mushrooms and lichen- and global warming?
Beats talking about Santa is shorts!
Celine
That’s no big deal in Hawaii- but Greenland? Now there’s another idea for Al Gore. Talk about an “Inconvenient Truth“, if it be so. But, if the most dire climate forecasts come true the tourism industry in Europe’s far north, already feeling the effects of global warming, may find itself promoting a Santa in shorts and a camel-drawn sleigh. Yuk!
Each year at the end of autumn, residents, shopkeepers, travel agencies, reindeer herders and even politicians in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi — home to Santa Claus’ Village, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Finland — look to the skies in the hopes of a snowy winter.
The past three or four years have been difficult in Rovaniemi. Each year they attract some 300,000+ visitors eager to meet the “real Father Christmas. Real you say? Real!
This December, with only a few weeks to go before Christmas, there are only seven-and-a-half inches of snow on the ground, just enough for snowmobiles and dog- and reindeer sleighs. But the rivers and lakes, which normally freeze over in winter and are used to take tourists on snowmobile or sleigh rides, have not turned to ice yet, and that’s bad news.
Tourism generates some 345 million US$’s of direct and indirect revenue in Finnish Lapland, of which about 60 percent comes during winter. It is an enormous amount of money for the region, hit hard by high unemployment and the rural exodus to bigger towns. And after all Christmas really is about SHOPPING!
Even when America is attacked and our Twin Towers were destroyed, some of the first words by WW Bush we’re, “get out there and spend”.
The village of 2,000 people, located a three-hour drive north of Rovaniemi, has already succeeded in persuading British tour operators to bring planefulls of holiday tourists seeking a winter wonderland to their town. While global warming presents several short-term advantages (lower energy bills, greater agricultural possibilities, a longer summer tourism season), the long-term effects are dire for the region’s fauna, flora and local population. Reindeer herding, the traditional activity and main income for the 70,000 indigenous Sami people spread out across the Arctic, is also at risk.
How will Santa do without back ups?
Sami Ruismaeki is one of Finland’s 7,000 reindeer herders whose livelihood has become more and more precarious. “When it doesn’t rain, there are no mushrooms and the reindeer aren’t able to build up their body fat before the long winter. Then the lichen disappears under the heavy layers of ice,” he said. The reindeer “have to be fed with grain or hay, and we have to bring water from home. It’s not profitable anymore,” he said.
We’re talking mushrooms and lichen- and global warming?
Beats talking about Santa is shorts!
Celine
November 20th, 2009
who is the first thought that santa claus is real?
red-5 asked:
I never think he is real. And I think he is just such a man with 100% Imaginations for kids in the world. But who is the first one says that Santa Claus gave presents to kids, not Their Parents who gave it?
Okay… I’m sorry about my bad grammar. I mean, Who is the first man that told the Kids Santa is the father of Christmas who gave kids presents?
Cameron
I never think he is real. And I think he is just such a man with 100% Imaginations for kids in the world. But who is the first one says that Santa Claus gave presents to kids, not Their Parents who gave it?
Okay… I’m sorry about my bad grammar. I mean, Who is the first man that told the Kids Santa is the father of Christmas who gave kids presents?
Cameron
November 12th, 2009
Dressing Up as Santa Claus? Tips and Pointers
Suie Roberts asked:
When buying your Santa costume there are some things that you need to consider to pass yourself off as an authentic Santa Claus.
Santa is rather a plump fellow with a ‘little round belly, that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly’ – ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. Father Christmas isn’t a heavy drinker, he doesn’t have a beer belly. Obviously he is plump because he eats all those mince pies on Christmas Eve. Anyway, my point is that unless you also over do it on the mince pies, you’re going to have to make yourself plump. The easiest way to do this is to sew tape ties on to the top of a cushion, so that you can wear it around your waist like an apron. You may need to give your new belly a bit of manual assistance to wobble like jelly when you laugh. When buying or renting your costume, make sure that you buy a size that will accommodate your new figure.
Santa is also known for his rosy cheeks ‘His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry’ – ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. Of course being out in the night air so long on Christmas Eve, it’s no wonder that his cheeks are rosy. Make your cheeks and nose rosy by applying some pink blusher. Make a pink circle on each cheek and a smaller one on the tip of your nose. Don’t worry if you feel a little foolish, it will look great when you have the full costume on.
Santa’s boots are very individual, you can’t get away with just wearing black wellingtons. Santa rides on a sleigh, he doesn’t wear boots to keep his feet dry, he wears them to keep warm. Your boots need to appear to be fur lined and they need to have a fleecy turnover at the top of the boot.
Finally, you need to perfect your “Ho, Ho, Ho.” It needs to be in a low pitch and needs to sound happy. Santa’s trademark “Ho, Ho, Ho” isn’t just Santa’s chuckle for when he finds something amusing, but he also uses it when he makes a mistake. So if he leaves sooty foot prints on the carpet “Ho, Ho, Ho,.” If he knocks your Christmas tree over “Ho, Ho, Ho” and with cold numb fingers, Santa is often clumsy.
If you are dressing up as Christmas time, please make sure that you abide by this advice and do not blemish Santa’s reputation, but do have a splendid time. Laugh lots, and hover around the mince pies!
Rachel
When buying your Santa costume there are some things that you need to consider to pass yourself off as an authentic Santa Claus.
Santa is rather a plump fellow with a ‘little round belly, that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly’ – ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. Father Christmas isn’t a heavy drinker, he doesn’t have a beer belly. Obviously he is plump because he eats all those mince pies on Christmas Eve. Anyway, my point is that unless you also over do it on the mince pies, you’re going to have to make yourself plump. The easiest way to do this is to sew tape ties on to the top of a cushion, so that you can wear it around your waist like an apron. You may need to give your new belly a bit of manual assistance to wobble like jelly when you laugh. When buying or renting your costume, make sure that you buy a size that will accommodate your new figure.
Santa is also known for his rosy cheeks ‘His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry’ – ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. Of course being out in the night air so long on Christmas Eve, it’s no wonder that his cheeks are rosy. Make your cheeks and nose rosy by applying some pink blusher. Make a pink circle on each cheek and a smaller one on the tip of your nose. Don’t worry if you feel a little foolish, it will look great when you have the full costume on.
Santa’s boots are very individual, you can’t get away with just wearing black wellingtons. Santa rides on a sleigh, he doesn’t wear boots to keep his feet dry, he wears them to keep warm. Your boots need to appear to be fur lined and they need to have a fleecy turnover at the top of the boot.
Finally, you need to perfect your “Ho, Ho, Ho.” It needs to be in a low pitch and needs to sound happy. Santa’s trademark “Ho, Ho, Ho” isn’t just Santa’s chuckle for when he finds something amusing, but he also uses it when he makes a mistake. So if he leaves sooty foot prints on the carpet “Ho, Ho, Ho,.” If he knocks your Christmas tree over “Ho, Ho, Ho” and with cold numb fingers, Santa is often clumsy.
If you are dressing up as Christmas time, please make sure that you abide by this advice and do not blemish Santa’s reputation, but do have a splendid time. Laugh lots, and hover around the mince pies!
Rachel
November 5th, 2009
Yes Virginia, Even in the 21st Century There Is Still a Santa Claus
Jessica Cander asked:
He is a figure known the world over, an endorsement for gift giving, the winter holiday season and cookie eating. At times he is called Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas or Kris Kringle and is arguably the most famous heavyset celebrity – well at least to precede Elvis Presley. Yes, he is the loveable, enduring and jolly old chap we call Santa Claus. In 1897 one little girl from Manhattan, at the urging of her father, took it upon herself to ask the New York Sun Newspaper once and for all if the man in the red suit was the real deal.
Countless numbers of letters are written to newspapers all around the world each year, and few if any, will ever see a moment of fame beyond the readership of their respective dailies. However, over a hundred years ago a simple letter comprised of only the words, “I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so”. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?” would go on to become one of the most enduring symbols of North America’s take on Christmas.
One day in September 1897 (historians speculate that the question arose not in December as one might expect, but in September, because this would have been shortly after the new school year had commenced and children would have already been turning their attention to Christmas) young Virginia O’Hanlon approached her father, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon (who worked for a coroner’s office), with the sort of innocence only the very young are able to possess. She likely asked in a small but inquisitive voice if the rumours of her school chums were correct, was Santa Claus fake? Now not knowing for sure how tense the air got in the room at that moment when Mr O’Hanlon’s only child asked him to debunk or concur with the tale of St. Nick, we can only assume that he did not have the heart to break the truth to her himself. And so the letter (and its reply) that would go to become almost as much a symbol of the Christmas season as Santa himself was born.
Off Virginia went to write a letter at her father’s suggestion, which she mailed herself, to the New York Sun newspaper where its answer was assigned to an ex-civil war correspondent turned newspaper editorial writer by the name of Francis Pharcellus Church. Story has it that Mr Church was not exactly jumping for joy at the assignment, but he took the child’s letter back to his desk and proceeded to write one of the most stirring tributes to Christmas that has ever graced the pages of any newspaper.
Perhaps it was the atrocities of war he had witnessed firsthand, perhaps it was his own desire to believe in Father Christmas, or perhaps it was exactly what he would have said had anyone asked him if Santa was real, but that day Francis Church wrote an earnest, dramatic and nearly poetic response to Miss O’Hanlon’s query. In no short terms he assured her that indeed Santa Claus, or at the very least the unshakable spirit and message of Saint Nicholas’s image were as real as anything else on earth.
Though at the time it ran in the New York Sun it was but the seventh editorial on its page, this candid, lively and touching response would go on to find its way into the hearts and Christmases of millions of people, spanning many generations since the 1890s.
In fact both the letter and its answer are reprinted in oodles of newspapers around the globe every year, a modern tribute and testimony to Virginia’s, Francis Church’s and Santa Claus’s contribution to the timeless beauty, wonder and magic of Christmas.
Brenton
He is a figure known the world over, an endorsement for gift giving, the winter holiday season and cookie eating. At times he is called Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas or Kris Kringle and is arguably the most famous heavyset celebrity – well at least to precede Elvis Presley. Yes, he is the loveable, enduring and jolly old chap we call Santa Claus. In 1897 one little girl from Manhattan, at the urging of her father, took it upon herself to ask the New York Sun Newspaper once and for all if the man in the red suit was the real deal.
Countless numbers of letters are written to newspapers all around the world each year, and few if any, will ever see a moment of fame beyond the readership of their respective dailies. However, over a hundred years ago a simple letter comprised of only the words, “I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so”. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?” would go on to become one of the most enduring symbols of North America’s take on Christmas.
One day in September 1897 (historians speculate that the question arose not in December as one might expect, but in September, because this would have been shortly after the new school year had commenced and children would have already been turning their attention to Christmas) young Virginia O’Hanlon approached her father, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon (who worked for a coroner’s office), with the sort of innocence only the very young are able to possess. She likely asked in a small but inquisitive voice if the rumours of her school chums were correct, was Santa Claus fake? Now not knowing for sure how tense the air got in the room at that moment when Mr O’Hanlon’s only child asked him to debunk or concur with the tale of St. Nick, we can only assume that he did not have the heart to break the truth to her himself. And so the letter (and its reply) that would go to become almost as much a symbol of the Christmas season as Santa himself was born.
Off Virginia went to write a letter at her father’s suggestion, which she mailed herself, to the New York Sun newspaper where its answer was assigned to an ex-civil war correspondent turned newspaper editorial writer by the name of Francis Pharcellus Church. Story has it that Mr Church was not exactly jumping for joy at the assignment, but he took the child’s letter back to his desk and proceeded to write one of the most stirring tributes to Christmas that has ever graced the pages of any newspaper.
Perhaps it was the atrocities of war he had witnessed firsthand, perhaps it was his own desire to believe in Father Christmas, or perhaps it was exactly what he would have said had anyone asked him if Santa was real, but that day Francis Church wrote an earnest, dramatic and nearly poetic response to Miss O’Hanlon’s query. In no short terms he assured her that indeed Santa Claus, or at the very least the unshakable spirit and message of Saint Nicholas’s image were as real as anything else on earth.
Though at the time it ran in the New York Sun it was but the seventh editorial on its page, this candid, lively and touching response would go on to find its way into the hearts and Christmases of millions of people, spanning many generations since the 1890s.
In fact both the letter and its answer are reprinted in oodles of newspapers around the globe every year, a modern tribute and testimony to Virginia’s, Francis Church’s and Santa Claus’s contribution to the timeless beauty, wonder and magic of Christmas.
Brenton
Is Santa Claus Real?
Of course Santa was a real person. He was St Nicholas, the patron saint of giving. St Nicholas was born in 300 AD. He was a holy man, being brought up in a monastery after being orphaned at an early age. He remained within the monastery and rose to the position of bishop.
He obtained his reputation for giving because there are many tales of him giving gifts to the poor and needy and in particular children.
Over the years the European community have embraced to concept of St Nick and customised it to make it their own. Because of this Santa’s appearance sometimes changes, his cloak may be described as different colours but his ‘Giving’ nature remains the same.
It is sometimes considered that Christmas festivities which do not include the nativity misconstrued the meaning of Christmas. However, St Nicholas was a religious man and lived his life according to the holy scriptures of the time and it’s because of this that Santa and the Nativity hold parallels.
The birth of Jesus Christ itself depicts God giving mankind his only son, and the prospect of the gift of eternal life. Additionally the three wise men also came bearing gifts for the baby Jesus.
Although St Nicholas lived many years ago, he still lives on. He lives because he is a major part of Christmas and we all keep Santa alive, and he lives in us every year that we give one another a gift at Christmas time. So when your child asks you if Santa Claus is real, say – Yes.
Visit www.santaspostbag.co.uk for a free special Christmas message to send to your child from Santa, so that they know that the patron saint of giving – Father Christmas himself still lives.
Maddison