Who appeared earlier Santa Claus or Santa. Who is better, Santa Claus or Santa Claus? Where does Santa Claus live?

At present, as well as for many millennia, the symbols of the New Year are Santa Claus, and of course Santa Claus. These two old men, at first glance, do not differ from each other, but there are still some differences.

Santa Claus is also characterized by such names as Frost - cracker, Frost - Red or Student. Since ancient times, everyone knew him as the harsh god of winter, who ruled the world from November to the end of March. In addition, this character was a hero remarkable strength, as a result of which everyone was very afraid of him and only worshiped this creature. If we talk about Santa Claus, the fate of such a character is much more complicated.

Currently, organizations where you can do it provide all the information about the history of these heroes. But you can find out on your own.
So, here, Santa Claus was first called Saint Nicholas, who lived not far from Phoenicia. This character was the patron of children who were lost or abducted. If the child was obedient, he always gave him gifts, but he punished the disobedient representatives of infancy. After some time, the Church of St. Nicholas was translated into the English style "Santa Claus".
But the main differences between these characters are not only this.

Santa Claus: appearance characteristics.

Santa Claus, as well as his colleague Santa Claus, wore a red coat. But, Santa Claus often wore a green robe. We saw Santa Claus in a short jacket, which is always intercepted by a wide belt. And Santa Claus is always depicted in a long fur coat, the edges of which touched the ground. In addition, no one has seen Santa Claus in glasses, as well as in a cap, which can be seen with Santa Claus. Another difference is the beard. The American staff either does not have it, or has it, but it is very small, but our Santa Claus always has a long and thick beard.

Nowadays, ordering Santa Claus to school can be done very easily. In addition, you can choose the attire of such a character, because he can portray both Grandfather Frost and Santa Claus.
Another big difference should be noted boots, which are always dressed on it. In most cartoons, you can see that Santa Claus moves on a troika with bells, and Santa Claus rides deer across the wide sky. Moreover, Santa Claus has a wonderful companion - the Snow Maiden, which cannot be said about Santa, because he is always alone. The Snow Maiden was born from the snow, and she is always with her grandfather. Santa Claus puts gifts under the Christmas tree, and Santa only goes down the chimney and puts them in special socks.

But, both the first and the second character bring only joy, fun and joy to our homes. positive emotions. They fill people's hearts with happiness and a festive atmosphere. These characters have been living for a huge number of years, as a result of which they never cease to please us, and we are always waiting for them to visit us. And the children are looking forward to the New Year to receive gifts from the kind, cheerful, and also sweet Santa Claus.

From the dullness and monotony of our life, we so want holidays ... Any! Well, at least some! There would be only an occasion to hang out and stick out, speaking in modern youth jargon. That is why we are omnivorous - we celebrate everything and everything: both Valentine's Day (is it possible to turn the day of the death of the holy martyr Valentine into jokes, kisses, squeezing dances, etc.?), And frankly satanic Halloween (with sacrifices , even human ones!), and St. Patrick’s Day (an Irishman, about whom we don’t know anything at all) with an invariable parade in the center of the capital of our vast Motherland ... Thank God, at least the gay parade was given a “thump” (yet?!) In this sense we practically keep pace with Europe (the blue dream of many, many of our former and current compatriots), without thinking about where, in fact, where we, such fools, are being led and can be taken by the local “uncles and aunts”?

IN last years the months of December and January became the leaders in reckless riotous fun: the country plunges into a festive hangover for as much as three whole weeks - from Catholic Christmas to our "Old New Year". It has almost become the norm. How he became ordinary, indispensable and almost his half-dwarf-half-grandfather, who, if he has not yet completely supplanted our Santa Claus, is already in full swing on a par with him: he smiles slyly from the windows of shops and cafes, invites you to visit New Year's and Christmas performances and youth parties, promises cheap shopping at various sales ...

So who is he, this ubiquitous and rather annoying old man, who is not clear with whose light hand called "Santa Claus"? Why do we celebrate New Year V last week Christmas post? Who invented our Santa Claus? When and who was the first to celebrate the New Year? Why are we still behind the "Americas and Europe" in time? Who brought the first Christmas tree to Russia? Who…

Stop! Let's talk about everything in order.

calendar confusion. Who is to blame?

According to scientists, mankind began to celebrate the New Year at the dawn of civilization - five thousand years ago. This custom originated in ancient Mesopotamia: every spring the streets of the cities were filled with noisy processions, carnivals and masquerades in honor of the supreme god Marduk. The Greeks adopted this holiday tradition from the Babylonians, then it passed to the Romans. In 46 BC Gaius Julius Caesar transformed the calendar, which then began to be used by all countries that were part of the Roman Empire. He, of course, began to be called Julian. By the way, the calendar (Latin calendarium) is literally a debt book. Such books indicated the first days of each month - kalends, when in Ancient Rome debtors pay interest. The Julian calendar year consists of 365.25 days. The account according to the new calendar began on January 1 (on this day the Roman consuls took office) 45 BC. Just on this day was the first new moon after the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year). The chronology was then from the "foundation of Rome" - 747 BC.

In 325, at the First Ecumenical (Nicene) Council, the Julian calendar was adopted and Christian Church. In the VI century, the Roman monk Dionysius the Small was the first to propose the so-called "Christ's chronology" (the starting point new era began to consider the Nativity of Christ), which is still used in most countries of the world.

So mankind lived without grieving for over one thousand six hundred years (!), Until in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decided to reform the old calendar (trying to cope with the inevitable calendar errors) and introduced a new, “Gregorian” one, according to which the time count is now the entire western world. The year according to this "new" calendar is 365.2425 days. The difference between the old and new styles then was 10 days.

Recall that a year is a period of time approximately equal to the period of revolution of the Earth around the Sun. Why approximately? It turns out scientists define this period in different ways. The most accurate are the "starry" and "tropical" years. The sidereal year is determined by the apparent annual revolution of the Sun in the celestial sphere relative to the stars, its duration is 365.2564 days. Tropical - in time between two successive passages of the Sun through the vernal equinox, its duration is 365.2422 days. Changes in annual duration for 100 years in days for both calendars are +0.11x10 -6 and -6.16x10 -6 . It can be seen with the naked eye that the sidereal year is much more accurate than the tropical year.

If we compare the Julian and Gregorian calendars with the stellar calendar, it turns out that they differ from the latter by 0.00175 and 0.0038 percent, respectively. Thus, according to strict mathematical calculations, it turns out that whatever one may say, the Julian calendar is still more accurate! By the way, to this day, astronomers use the old style for a number of calculations, and in any astronomical yearbook of the world, the number of days is given according to "Julian" days - JD. The Julian calendar is also used by historians when dealing with long periods of time.

In Mother Russia, with the adoption of Christianity in the 10th century, the Julian calendar was put into use, but the chronology was conducted from the creation of the world. Until the reformer Tsar Peter I appeared on its historical arena. With one stroke of his pen, the year 7208 from the creation of the world became the year 1700 after the Nativity of Christ. And if in the X-XV centuries the beginning of the year in Rus' was considered March 1, and since 1492, under the Grand Duke John III, - September 1, now, having seen enough of New Year's fun in Europe, on December 15, 1699, Peter I issued a decree.

“Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people and count the New Year everywhere from January 1, following the example of all Christian peoples. Along the large travelable streets and noble people in front of the gates, make some decoration from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper, and at least put a branch over the gate for people who are poor (poor). And so that it ripens by the first day of January of this year, and stand for that decoration on the seventh day. And as a sign of that good deed, congratulate each other on the New Year, and do this when fiery fun begins on Red Square and there will be shooting. In honor of the New Year, to amuse children, ride sleighs from the mountains, and do not inflict drunkenness and massacre on adults, there are enough other days for that. From now on and forever this holiday was enshrined in the Russian calendar on the 1st of January.

Time passed, and in the 19th century, more and more often the Russian people, or rather, the most “progressive” part of the intelligentsia (the so-called Westerners) began to try on Western image life. Sooner or later, it came to a new style, which in the 90s of the century before last met with the resistance of most members of the Russian Astronomical Society. "What is the need for this?" asked the scientific community. “To keep up with Europe!” - such was the "iron" argument of the minority, which remained such until 1918.

Well, when in the revolutionary years “the whole world was destroyed to the ground”, the Bolsheviks were not slow to quickly direct our lives into the Western channel, adding 13 days to the calendar by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of January 24, 1918. "Just!" - you say. But these "extra" days led to such confusion ...

If earlier, according to the old style (by the way, Russian Orthodox Church adheres to it to this day), everything went on as usual, logically and completely, - the Advent Lent preceded the great feast of the Nativity of Christ, after which the next New Year was celebrated six days later - now the main and first in our until recently atheistic country has become in general, an ordinary day of the calendar (very conditional, mind you!), And the Christmas holiday - as if secondary (80 years of Soviet "captivity" were not in vain). Although these holidays are simply incomparable: the day when the Savior was born, and the day the next calendar year begins.

According to the rector of the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir and Olga in the city of Obninsk near Moscow, father Oleg, “the Bolsheviks sought out great way to mock the Orthodox Church, to confuse and disgrace her - have brought our worldly life to the Western standard. As a result, in the middle of the Nativity Fast, an absurd drunken holiday appeared, on which people unworthily have fun and gorge themselves.

People often ask: “Why does our Church not want to switch to a new calendar? Indeed, for the majority of believers, the celebration of the secular New Year is a huge temptation that few people can cope with.” But if we move the dates, the entire church life will be destroyed! This is what has happened to Catholics. Negative consequences on the face. The task of the Church is not to follow people, but to lead them!

And then there are such signs from above, which can only be ignored by a madman. I'm talking about the descent of the Holy Fire. This amazing phenomenon occurs only in Great Saturday- according to our old, Julian, calendar!

This miracle, which testifies that God is near us, takes place in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This temple is built around the cave in which the body of Jesus Christ lay after the crucifixion. Every year on this day, the Patriarch of Jerusalem enters this cave with a bunch of unlit candles, and leaves with burning ones. Sacred fire descends from the sky and kindles them! This fire has some special nature unknown to us - it does not burn in the first minutes, and therefore the people present in the temple try to “wash themselves” with it. I repeat, this miracle happens only once a year - on Orthodox Great Saturday! And this is recognized by Catholics, and Muslims, and all, all, all other faiths.

So it can be said with certainty that we, Orthodox people, we live according to a single calendar with heaven. And if we break away from our dates, the sacred connection between the earthly and the heavenly will be broken.

So think after all this, do we need to “catch up” with the Western world? You should always have the patience to be yourself and not be ashamed of it.”

Only one thing remains to be added to what has been said: indeed, on December 25, the long-awaited Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, was born in the city of Bethlehem. And Christians have been celebrating this greatest and most significant day in the fate of all mankind for over two thousand years now. According to different calendars: Orthodox Church - December 25 according to Julian, the Catholic world according to Gregorian - December 25.

And finally, many Orthodox people still believe that the real New Year comes, as it should, on the night of December 31 to January 1, but according to the julian calendar, that is, from January 13 to 14, according to the new style. This is our good friend - "Old New Year".

"The Forest Raised a Christmas Tree…"

Without what the New Year holiday is not a holiday? Of course, without a decorated Christmas tree. It is interesting that this custom was not at all invented by our distant ancestors, as many people think, although we have a dime a dozen Christmas trees. The same scientists say that the custom of decorating an evergreen tree has been around for more than two thousand years. Its roots, so to speak, go back to the pagan mythology and culture of the Celts, Japanese, Tibetans ... For example, the Celts believed that spruce is a sacred tree, in the branches of which the good spirit of the forests lives; she personified immortality and eternal youth, courage and fidelity because of her evergreenness. Beliefs similar in meaning were also Eastern peoples.

The first decorated Christmas trees appeared in the 16th century on the territory of modern France. As the chronicler wrote, “for Christmas, Christmas trees are set up in houses, and roses made of colored paper, apples, cookies, sugar cubes and tinsel are hung on their branches.” This pleasant custom soon passed to the German neighbors, and then spread throughout Europe. About 200 years ago, magnificent beauties began to be regularly installed in the royal and royal palaces of France, Germany, England, Norway, Denmark and Russia.

Our first Christmas tree appeared thanks to Peter I, a lover of Dutch and German innovations. However, after his death, this decree, however, like many others, was forgotten. Now, on New Year's Eve, the roofs of only ... drinking establishments were decorated. And soon, the people began to call taverns “trees”, and drunkards - “trees”. The “Christmas tree theme” was also reflected in the jargon of drunkards: for example, the phrase “raise the tree” meant to get drunk, “go under the tree” - to go to a tavern, etc.

The tradition of putting up a Christmas tree, but not New Year's, but Christmas, returned to Russia only in the 20s of the XIX century. Although at first it was rather private than public - in the homes of St. Petersburg Germans. Paying tribute to national traditions, a small Christmas tree was placed in the center of the table, candles, sweets, gingerbread, nuts were attached to the branches. was no exception in this sense. royal family: on the initiative of Alexandra Feodorovna, nee Charlotte of Prussia, wife of Emperor Nicholas I, in 1819, a Christmas tree was first placed in the Anichkov Palace. Three years later, this wonderful tradition has already become universal - at first, dazzling lights on a slender green beauty with " Star of Bethlehem"at the top they lit up in the premises of the Ekaterininsky (now Moscow) station in St. Petersburg, and already to late XIX century, the Christmas tree has become the main decoration of urban and village houses everywhere. I will clarify: for Christmas, because the New Year was just a natural continuation of the Christmas holidays. Actually, as it should be.

In the twentieth century, Christmas trees “existed” until 1918, when, as a result of the fight against “opium for the people,” any traditions that retained at least some connection with the tsarist regime began to be destroyed. As a symbol of Christmas, the Christmas tree was even banned for 17 (!) years. Only in 1935 was the first New Year's children's party organized - naturally, already with a new semantic coloring: a festive meeting of the New Year ... Since 1949, this day has been made non-working.

Santa Claus - Saint Nicholas - Santa Claus

In many countries of the world, until recently, Santa Claus was the symbol of the New Year. Each nation called it in its own way, sometimes very funny: Yolupukki (Finns), Deda Mraz (Croats), Noel Baba (Turks), Pere Noel (French).

It seems that this kind old man with a snow-white beard has always existed, but he became a symbol of the New Year holidays only about 200 years ago. The image of Santa Claus took shape gradually, and each nation brought something of its own to it, but its obligatory attributes were a white mustache and beard, mittens and a bag with gifts.

Here, in fact, because of this very bag of gifts, another confusion occurred, which led to the fact that in England and America the traditional Santa Claus began to be called ... Santa Claus. And then in many other countries the same way: Santa Nicholas (in Belgium), St. Mikalaus (in the Czech Republic), Site Kaas or Sinter Klaas (in Holland). All these names are translated into Russian in the same way - St. Nicholas.

Who was this very Saint Nicholas, who is revered all over the world, albeit in an absolutely invented image? The answer to this question is given by his biography, or, in the language of the church, his life.

The future saint was born around the year 270 in the city of Patara, in Lycia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor (now it is the territory of Turkey). His parents were noble and wealthy, but had no children until old age. Through their ardent prayers, the Lord gave them a son, whom they named Nikolai, which means "the conquering people."

WITH young years the boy spent almost all his time in the church, at a more mature age he took the priesthood. When his parents died, leaving Nicholas a rich inheritance, there was no doubt for him that it should be used to help those in need. Such an opportunity soon presented itself.

Nearby lived a once noble and rich man, who now fell into extreme need. Having exhausted all the possibilities for getting out of a difficult situation, he decided on an extreme measure: to sacrifice the honor of his three beautiful daughters. Upon learning of this, Saint Nicholas decided to help them. Three times at night he sneaked up to their wretched dwelling and threw a bag of gold out the window. Soon all the sisters successfully married, the merchant's business went smoothly, and he, in turn, also began to help people.

When Nicholas was elevated to the rank of Bishop of the city of Mira, he remained the same kind, sympathetic and caring. The doors of his house did not close - he equally helped and strong of the world this, and to the poor; He was a father to orphans, a breadwinner to the poor, a comforter to those who weep, an intercessor to the offended...

Saint Nicholas died in 342, but his death did not stop his blessings: countless miracles, one more amazing than the other, did not stop and do not stop being performed for all who call on him holy name.

Special veneration of Saint Nikolaus in Germany began already from the 6th century, in Rome - from the 8th century, and therefore already in the Middle Ages here and in other European countries a good custom was established: on St. Nicholas Day, December 19, to give gifts to children, following his example.

But here's the bad luck: when, after a little over two weeks, then Christmas came with its "gift" traditions - the Magi, who found with the help guiding star The Christ Child was presented to Him as a gift of gold, frankincense and myrrh - again it was impossible to do without gifts.

And therefore, over time, both of these "gift" traditions merged together, eventually becoming an indispensable attribute of the Christmas holiday. And Saint Nicholas turned into ... good wizard giving gifts to children (remember the episode from his life with bags of gold) and fulfilling them cherished desires. And since the 10th century, it was Santa Claus who congratulated German children; in Poland, since the 13th century, scholarships were distributed in schools on his behalf.

Further - more: over time, this Santa Claus simply “crushed” Santa Claus for himself (the New Year is a minor holiday, after all), although he retained some of his details appearance. Today's Santa Claus is a joint brainchild of the Dutch (so to speak, trendsetters of "fashion"), Americans and the British. They tormented him for a long time: either they wrapped him in a cloak, or they gave him the appearance of a slender smoker-chimney sweep throwing his gifts through the chimneys, or they depicted him with lush sideburns, dressed in fur from head to toe ... He painted a beard for him in 1860 American artist Thomas Knight. Then he was dressed in a red fur coat trimmed with fur. The image of a good-natured fat man with an indispensable bag of gifts was invented by the Englishman Tenniel.

And then, somehow imperceptibly, this ubiquitous Santa Claus became (nothing less) a symbol of Christmas! His first appearance in this capacity happened in 1885 in America: at the first Christmas greeting card(following the example of the English) he was already drawn - in a red robe and cap, with white sideburns and thick eyebrows, with a red nose and a bag full of gifts.

Another 50 years later, in 1931, commissioned by the Coca-Cola campaign (needed an unbroken trademark for a new carbonated drink), artist Heddon Sundblom as part of the Santa Claus Drinks Coca-Cola Too! slightly "modernized" the image familiar to everyone. He came up with a kind of hybrid of a gnome with Santa Claus - in a red cap with a white edge and a red short caftan and trousers with a bottle of Coca-Cola, of course. The notion turned out to be very successful - since that time, this half-dwarf-half-grandfather has also been the "face" of this campaign, the momentum of which is only "gaining momentum" from this.

God is with them - with Coca-Cola and its capital ... Another thing is surprising: why does “her face” still bear the name of St. Nicholas and is a Christmas symbol? Isn't this blasphemous?

True, in last days of the outgoing 2006, the media (in particular, the Trud newspaper of December 26) presented readers with a kind of pre-Christmas gift, announcing that from now on in Germany and Austria it is forbidden to use the Santa Claus brand in Christmas symbols - “according to Christian tradition, gifts are distributed on Christmas Saint Nicholas, and not at all an English-speaking grandfather in red robes. It would be nice if this belated undertaking was not limited to only these two countries!

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 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 a warm long fur coat with white fur inside, covered with blue-blue, white-silver or red brocade fabric. 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 put on warm fur hat, in shape resembling 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!

Editorial response 0 + -

Since 2005, the official birthday of Russian Father Frost has been celebrated on November 18. 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.

Q&A Where does he live? real grandfather Freezing?

The Slavic deity is considered the prototype of Santa Claus: the lord of cold and frost. The image of this spirit was reflected in the 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" by Vladimir Odoevsky in 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 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.

The 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. How is Santa Claus different from Santa Claus? Infographic More

Philologist Svetlana Adonyeva, in her study of the history of the New Year tradition, notes that Santa Claus is 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?

Determining the age of Santa Claus is less difficult than in the case of Santa Claus. If we take into account that the prototype of Santa is St. Nicholas, he is also 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 about a cheerful old elf who travels on a reindeer sleigh and brings gifts to the children by entering the house through the chimney. And it's all about him. 7 interesting facts from the biography of Santa Claus Read more

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. What's in the Santa Claus bag? Where did the tradition of giving sweets to children come from?

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.

According to the site

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. The 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 fact that the image of Santa Claus has entered the literary tradition, then his 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 20th century, when, in addition to the verbal description, it 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's tradition, he notes that Santa Claus as an obligatory character of the New Year's holiday appeared only in the pre-war 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 the hero of a literary work is also known. 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 of the 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. The money was used by the Salvation Army charity 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. As for literary images, the description of Santa Claus, close to the modern one, was given a little earlier than that of 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.