Santa Claus or Santa Claus whoever before. Santa Claus or Santa Claus: who are we going to for the New Year? So which character is older?

Where did Santa Claus come from

Santa Claus has been with us for a very long time. Sometime before
appearance of Christianity in Rus', our ancestors believed that the spirits of the dead
protect their family, take care of the offspring of livestock and good weather. Therefore, in order to
to reward them for their care, every winter people gave them gifts. On the eve of the holiday
the village youth put on masks, turned inside their sheepskin coats and went from house to house,
caroled. (However, different regions had their own peculiarities
caroling.) The hosts gave food to carolers. The meaning was just
the fact that carolers were the spirits of ancestors who received a reward
for tireless care for the living. Among carolers there was often one
"man" dressed the worst of all. As a rule, he was forbidden
speak. It was the oldest and most formidable spirit, it was often called
just Grandpa. It is quite possible that this is the prototype of the modern Grandfather
Frost. Only today, of course, he has become kinder and does not come for gifts, but
brings them himself.

According to another version, "great-great-grandfather"
modern Russian Santa Claus was the hero of Russian folk tales frosty or
Frost red nose, master of weather, winter and frost. Initially, he was called Grandpa
Crackling and represented as a little old man with a long beard and stern as
Russian frosts in temper. From November to March, Grandfather Treskun was the sovereign master
on the ground. Even the sun was afraid of him! He was married to a despising person - Zima. grandfather
Cracker or Santa Claus was also identified with the first month of the year - the middle of winter
- January. The first month of the year is cold and cold - the king of frosts, the root of winter, its
sovereign. It is strict, icy, icy, it's time for snowstorms. Among the people about January
they also say this: a fireman and a jelly, a snowman and a cracker, fierce and fierce. Later at
Santa Claus has a granddaughter Snegurka or Snegurochka, the heroine of many Russians
fairy tales, snow girl. Yes, and Santa Claus himself has changed: he began to bring children
gifts under New Year and fulfill secret desires.

It is difficult to say unequivocally where the Russian Santa Claus lives, since
there are many legends. Some argue that Santa Claus comes from the Northern
poles, others say from Lapland. Only one thing is clear, Santa Claus lives somewhere
in the Far North, where it is winter all year round. Now many children are confident
will be called the birthplace of Santa Claus Veliky Ustyug.
But this is just a tourist project that has grown from a fantastic idea into an all-Russian brand. In old Russian
the city of Veliky Ustyug since December 1998 at the initiative of the Government of Moscow
and administration Vologda region conceived and implemented the project "Great
Ustyug is the birthplace of Father Frost.

And also, more recently, on November 18 in Russia officially
celebrate the birthday of Santa Claus. The date of birth of Santa Claus, they say, was invented by the children themselves, since it was 18
November on his patrimony (as it is now considered) - in Veliky Ustyug - in his own rights
real winter sets in, and frosts strike.

Origin
Santa Claus

Sometimes you can hear that the prototype
Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas. But this misconception. Origin
The Russian Santa Claus is fundamentally different from the European Santa Claus. If
Santa Claus was real historical personality which was erected for good deeds
to the rank of saints, then the Russian Santa Claus is rather a pagan spirit, a character of folk
beliefs and fairy tales.

The prototype of Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, who
lived at 4
century. WITH early childhood he was distinguished by love for his neighbor. The glory of his deeds was
great, so as a young man he was appointed bishop. He settled in
the city of Izmir in Greece (now it is the territory of Turkey). Saint Nicholas was rich
and helped the poor in every possible way, and always did it secretly - putting gifts in
window.

And somehow
times, wanting to help a poor family that had three daughters, and whose father, because of
poverty decided to sell them into slavery, St. Nicholas threw them at Christmas
three bags of gold coins. (This went on until they
accumulated enough dowry to get married.) But one day
all the windows in the house were locked. Then Saint Nicholas threw
bags of gold in a pipe. The gold coins he tossed into the chimney fell into
drying socks hanging by the stove. So now Catholics put gifts in
socks hanging by the fireplace.

However
Saint Nicholas became famous not only for his secret gifts, but also for miracles,
who worked both during life and after death.

saint
Sailors and fishermen considered Nicholas to be their intercessor. He provided patronage
kidnapped and ruined children: found them and brought them back to life. There was
the legend that on the feast of St. Nicholas the bishop distributed gifts, but only
obedient children, and punished naughty ones.

Therefore, on
feast of Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church celebrates December 19 (on
new style), and Catholic on December 6, children always receive gifts from
Saint Nicholas.

Of course
the climate in Greece is different from ours, therefore no fur coats and hats St. Nicholas
did not wear.

European settlers who settled in America in VII and
XVIII centuries, they brought with them the legends about St. Nicholas. One of the first
churches built in what was then New York was Sinter Klaas or Sint Nicholas,
later known as "Santa Claus".

A modern image of a good-natured fat man Santa Claus
appeared in the United States relatively recently, on Christmas Day 1822. Exactly then
Clement Clark Moore wrote the poem "The Coming of Saint Nicholas" in which
The saint appeared as a cheerful and cheerful elf with a round, tight belly,
testifying to a passion for delicious food, and with a smoking pipe. As a result
reincarnation, St. Nicholas got down from the donkey, acquired eight deer and, in
He had a bag of gifts in his hands.

The first image of Santa Claus was drawn in 1862 by cartoonist Thomas Nast. IN
for 24 years he painted him for the cover of the popular Harper's magazine
weekly. The artist settled Klaus at the North Pole (and not in Lapland).
The covers were incredibly popular. Santa Thomas Nast had
one drawback - it was black and white.

The red fur coat was given to the fabulous grandfather in 1885 by the publisher Louis Prang. He
brought the Victorian tradition of Christmas greetings to America
postcards made in the technique of color lithography. So Santa Claus changed
furs, in which Nast dressed him up, on a solid bright red outfit.

Finally, in 1930, the Coca-Cola Company came up with a clever publicity stunt to
their products were not forgotten either in summer or in winter - an artist from Chicago depicted
Santa Claus in red and white colors of Coca-Cola. So born modern look
Santa Claus.

As you can see
Santa Claus (originally originated as a good elf) and Santa Claus (originally
who was simply Frost - the patron saint of winter) have little in common with the Holy
Nicholas. They are united only by love for children, and the custom of giving gifts.

However, the modern image of Santa Claus is so widely represented in advertising and souvenirs.
products that our children are completely confused and mistakenly call him Grandfather
Frost. Let's learn to distinguish between them.

Differences between Santa Claus and Santa Claus

The most important difference between the Russian Santa Claus is his constant companion granddaughter
Snow Maiden. It is understandable: alone and on far north, where there are only seals
yes penguins, you can die of longing! And with the granddaughter it is more fun. Image
Snow Maiden is a symbol of frozen waters. This is a girl dressed in white clothes (or
colors reminiscent of frozen water). Headdress of the granddaughter of Santa Claus - eight-beam
a crown embroidered with silver and pearls.

How is our Russian Santa Claus different from overseas Santa Claus, and what do they have in common?

Who is better, Santa Claus or Santa Claus?

New Year 2016 is coming soon. Shops are the first to be transformed for the holiday and shopping centers. Well, this is understandable - it is necessary to stimulate the population to purchase, outfits , delicacies and champagne. We are starting to think about how and what we need to invite Santa Claus or Santa Claus to our children. Stop! Are Santa Claus and Santa Claus the same character? Or is it completely different fairy-tale heroes? What do these grandfathers have in common? How is our Russian Santa Claus different from overseas Santa Claus?

Let's figure it out together.

1. PLACE OF BIRTH

Since 1998, at the state level, it has been decided to consider permanent residence Russian Santa Claus city of Veliky Ustyug in the Vologda region. It is currently the official residence Santa Claus.

motherland Santa Claus- Finnish Lapland, which is located far in the North beyond the Arctic Circle. There he lives permanently with his hardworking assistants - fabulous gnomes.

2. APPEARANCE

Father Frost- not yet very old, handsome, strong, of a heroic physique, a tall old man. He has straight white hair and a long beautiful snow-white beard to the waist, sometimes to the very ground. Santa Claus has a red nose from the cold and rosy cheeks. It has a booming bass.

Santa Claus- a man at a very respectable age, he is not tall, and he has a rather large tummy. Santa's hair is curly gray, his beard is white, curly, to the chest. Santa Claus wears glasses and smokes a pipe. He is very handsome and ruddy-cheeked from the cold. Santa speaks in a loud low voice.

3. OUTERWEAR.

Father Frost dressed in warm clothes fur coat white fur inside, covered with brocade fabric of blue-blue, white-silver or red. The fur coat is belted with a long sash.

Santa Claus always dressed in a short light red jacket trimmed with white fur, belted with a black leather belt with a large metal buckle.

4. HEADDRESS.

On the head Santa Claus a warm fur hat is put on, shaped like an old boyar or royal hat. IN classic version the lapels of this hat should be embroidered with precious crystals and pearls. In general, a rather expensive headdress.

At Santa Claus on his head is a light red cap with a fur coat.

5. GLOVES

Father Frost hides his hands in warm fur mittens. In the classic version, mittens should be three-fingered.

On the hands of Santa Claus light black gloves

6. PANTS

At Santa Claus his trousers are not visible from under the long fur coat, but it is assumed that his trousers and shirt should be white linen.

Santa Claus always wears red pants made from the same fabric as the jacket.

7.SHOES

Modern Father Frost shod in Russian felt boots, most often white, embroidered with intricate patterns with silver thread. In the classic version, Santa Claus appeared in red leather boots with heels, with pointed toes bent to the top, embroidered beautiful patterns. Remember what boots Ivan Tsarevich had from a Russian fairy tale? So Santa Claus had the same ones when he was younger, and now at his age it's time to keep his feet warm.

Santa Claus invariably shod in black leather boots.

8. STAFF

Father Frost leans when walking on a long carved staff, decorated on top with a precious knob or a star. With this staff in winter, Santa Claus freezes everything he sees fit: rivers, lakes, seas, in general, everything around. Many times it happened that in a hard time, when enemies attacked Rus', Frost came to the aid of Russian heroes. Remember the story: this was the case during the wars with the Teutonic Knights, with Napoleon, and even with the Nazis.

In the hands of Santa Claus a long stick bent to the bottom with a hook. The stick is usually painted with red-green stripes. In my opinion, this is just a stick that Santa leans on when walking, and no magic.

9. TRANSPORT

Father Frost walks or skis, or arrives in a sleigh pulled by a trio of snow-white horses, personifying the three winter months.

Santa Claus moves across the sky on a sleigh harnessed to a reindeer team of nine deer. All deer have proper names, but the most popular name is Rudolf, and it is he who is the first in the team.

10. HOW IT ENTERS THE HOUSE

Father Frost enters the house through the door.

Santa Claus secretly descends into the house through the chimney.

11. SATELLITES

Our Santa Claus on the New Year's holiday, he is always accompanied by his constant companion - granddaughter Snow Maiden.

Santa Claus comes at Christmas almost always alone, sometimes accompanied by one or two gnomes.

12. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

And our Santa Claus, and y Santa Claus one main responsibility is to give children gifts for New Year and Christmas. Only Santa Claus gives a gift to a child personally or secretly puts it under a decorated Christmas tree, and Santa Claus puts gifts in socks, which the children hung by the hearth especially for this.

13. PROTOTYPES OR TYPES

prototype Santa Claus there were Slavic pagan gods - Karachun, Treskun, Studenets, a blacksmith hero who bound the earth with frost in winter.

These pagan gods were quite evil and cruel, but over time they united, kinder and turned into a kind, strong, brave, cheerful, fair and generous, our beloved Santa Claus.

And the prototype Santa Claus was the Christian Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Santa - saint, Claus - Nicholas), known for secretly and completely disinterestedly helping the poor who had children.

Well, she seemed to tell everything she knew about Santa Claus and Santa Claus. The conclusion is this: it is impossible to say which of them is better and which is worse, they are both very good and loved. These are the two best and most beloved grandfathers in the world! Happy New Year to you and Merry Christmas!

Since 2005, the official birthday of the Russian Santa Claus celebrated November 18th. This date was not chosen by chance: it is believed that on this day in the homeland of Father Frost - in Veliky Ustyug - frosts come and winter sets in. At the same time, the age of the old man is not precisely known; moreover, there are several versions of the birth of this character.

The Slavic deity is considered the prototype of Santa Claus: the lord of cold and frost. The image of this spirit is reflected in Slavic fairy tale folklore, where it is referred to as Frost, Student, Treskunets, Morozko, Zyuzya. Slavic peoples imagined this deity in the form of an old man with a long gray beard, who runs through the fields and causes bitter frosts with a knock. Considering that Slavic mythology was formed in the process of separating the ancient Slavs from the Indo-European community of peoples in the II-I millennium BC. e., then the age of Santa Claus can exceed 2000 years.

However, Santa Claus known to us is not only the lord of winter and frost, but also a kind old man who brings gifts to children. A similar image is shown in the fairy tale "Moroz Ivanovich" Vladimir Odoevsky 1840, in which the literary processing of the folklore and ritual Frost is given for the first time. Moroz Ivanovich is described as a gray-haired old man who lives in an ice house and sleeps on a featherbed made of snow. He covers the winter shoots with snow, as if he shakes his head - frost falls from his hair. If we take into account the hit of the image of Santa Claus in literary tradition, then its age is a little less than 180 years.

Author of works on the history of Santa Claus in Russia, philologist Elena Dushechkina writes that the image of Frost, created by Odoevsky, is still far from the character we know. According to her, it finally took shape only by the beginning of the twentieth century, when, in addition to verbal description acquired a recognizable visual form. By this time, the figure of an old man in a fur coat and with a bag in his hands had become a popular Christmas tree toy, as well as a doll in advertising windows, carnival masks began to be made in the shape of the face of Santa Claus. It wasn't until the 1910s that people dressed up as Santa Claus began to show up at children's parties. If we take into account the time of the appearance of the familiar image of Santa Claus, then the character is just over 100 years old.

Philologist Svetlana Adoneva in his study of the history of the New Year tradition notes that Santa Claus as an obligatory character new year holiday appeared only in the prewar years. This image arose under the Soviet regime, which by the end of the thirties, after several years of prohibition, again allowed Christmas trees. Thus, Santa Claus as an attribute of the New Year holiday has existed for about 80 years.

How old is Santa Claus?

Age determination Santa Claus causes less difficulties than in the case of Santa Claus. Considering that the prototype of Santa is St Nicholas, he is Nicholas the Wonderworker, then the date of birth of the character is taken as the date of birth of the saint: 270 AD. e. Thus, Santa Claus is 1747 years old.

The date when Santa Claus became a hero is also known. literary work. This happened in 1823, when the Christmas poem "An Account of the Visitation of St. Nicholas" was published in New York. Its author writer Clement Clark Moore, wrote a poem for his three daughters, in which he spoke of a cheerful old elf who travels on a reindeer team and brings gifts to children by entering the house through the chimney.

The image of Santa Claus entered popular culture after the American cartoonist Thomas Nast created an illustration with this character for Harper's Weekly. On January 3, 1863, this magazine featured an image of a bearded old man dressed in a suit painted in the colors of the American flag. It was a political cartoon that reflected the events civil war. Santa Claus in his traditional costume and carrying a sack of toys can be seen in Nast's later 1880s illustrations.

In the early 1890s, homeless people dressed as Santa Claus began to appear on the streets of New York to collect donations. This money was used charitable organization Salvation Army to pay for free Christmas meals to families in need.

So which character is older?

Considering that the exact date of the appearance of the prototype of Santa Claus is unknown, we cannot compare his age with the age of Santa Claus. Concerning literary images, then the description of Santa Claus, close to modern, was given a little earlier than the familiar Santa Claus. The visual image of the old donor was also first introduced to the Americans, and then to the residents of Russia.

Where can you sell cigarette ashes? The story that cigarette ash is highly valued, and pharmacies and some businesses are willing to pay a lot of money for ashes, has migrated from real life to the network. And the gullible Pinocchio is unaware that if cigarette ashes were worth the money that they offer for it, then cigarette manufacturers would simply burn their products! So where did the legend of priceless cigarette ashes come from?
It's all the fault of ordinary human greed and the desire for easy money. And if there are naive people who believe in wonderful and easy ways to earn money, then there are enterprising people who are ready to make money on naive simpletons. Moreover, the scheme used by scammers is very simple: an advertisement is placed for the purchase of completely useless nonsense such as cigarette ash, or some other tempting offer, in general, the main goal is to interest a person in something.

Surely, almost every active user of Runet knows about the network legend about incredibly expensive coins, which, nevertheless, can be in everyone's pocket. Of course, I want to write about the legendary 10 kopeck coin of 2001.
As befits a modern legend, despite numerous denials, a rumor of this kind stubbornly circulates: "Market the cost of a coin of 10 kopecks in 2001 is from 29,000 to 40,000 rubles. The price depends on the safety of the coin. For example, 10 kopecks in 2001 at the auction went for 50 thousand rubles! And one has only to imagine how much it will cost in a few years! The number of coins is decreasing, the price of the remaining ones will increase every month, so hurry up!!!"

What if there is no corkscrew at hand, but you need to open a bottle of wine? Eat different ways solutions to this problem, below I will talk about them:
Method number 1. The simplest and most effective. In order to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew in this way, you just need to hold the bottle horizontally with one hand, and gently tap the bottom of the bottle with the palm of your other hand.
If possible, wrap the bottom of the bottle with a towel (otherwise the bottle may break!), and lightly tap on the wall. With a successful combination of circumstances, in minutes the wine can already be poured into glasses. It is extremely rare, but it happens that this method takes too much time, so we move on to the next method. Once again I warn you! No need to apply excessive force and knock hard objects on the bottom of the bottle, otherwise the bottle will break.

Method number 2. You can simply push the cork inside the bottle with any object, for example, reverse side forks or spoons, marker, pen, pencil. Attention! Kill…

Who is older than Santa Claus or Santa Claus?

Name: Santa Claus, in fairy tales is referred to as Morozko or Frost the Red Nose.

Appearance: A tall, imposing old man with a snow-white beard to toe. He wears a red or blue fur coat, felt boots and a warm hat. He always holds a staff in his hand, which, in fact, “freezes”.

Character: Previously, Grandfather's temper was quite severe and cool. He not only gave gifts to those who pleased him, but also punished the obstinate - he froze to death with a blow of the staff. With age, Santa Claus became softer, and now it is generally perceived by most of our compatriots as good wizard with a full bag of gift goodness.

Age: Santa Claus is very old. Its prototype was the so-called Grandfather, whom the ancient Slavs considered the common ancestor of all families and the protector of descendants. In winter and spring, Grandfather was honored and offered treats, while he was asked not to “beat oats” (or other topical crops).

Registration: Ancient Grandfather Frost, according to Slavic pagan myths, lived in an ice hut in the land of the dead, which could be reached by passing through a well (by the way, such a transition is described in some Russian folk tales, if you remember). Now Santa Claus lives in the city of Veliky Ustyug, in the east of the Vologda region.

Main occupation: In the old days, when Santa Claus was younger and more energetic, he not only distributed gifts to children and adults, but also played pranks: he spoiled the crops and homes of those who angered him (or did not treat him properly). Now he has become much better and is usually limited to visiting guests on New Year's Eve and distributing gifts. True, sometimes it requires the recipient to sing him a song or recite a poem beforehand.

Vehicle: Moves, as a rule, on foot (in extreme cases - on skis). He overcomes long distances by air - in a sleigh pulled by a trio of white horses.

The main differences from Santa Claus: Santa Claus has a fur coat and beard much longer than Santa's (of course! In Russia, the winters are cold, this is not Europe, and not America!). Santa Claus, unlike his English counterpart, does not wear a belt (only a sash) and does not have any tassels or pom-poms on his hat. His fur coat can be either red or of blue color, while Santa is traditionally dressed in Coca - Cola 's favorite colors . Santa Claus prefers boots, and Morozko prefers felt boots, as they are warmer and more suitable for Russian conditions shoes. In addition, our Grandfather, unlike the Western one, has good vision(does not wear glasses) and leads more healthy lifestyle life (does not smoke a pipe). He always keeps a staff with him, the purpose of which we have already spoken about. And, finally, he invariably has a companion - the granddaughter of the Snow Maiden.
Another important difference is that Santa Claus is much older than Santa, whose modern image, moreover, was not created by the people in general, but specific person- American writer Clement Clark Moore, who described it in detail appearance and habits in his poem "The Night Before Christmas" in the early 19th century.