Let's have a festive thread about the history of Santa Claus and Christmas,
All contributions on the subjects are welcome but a couple of provocative questions to get us going.
Is Christmas really a pagan festival rather than a Christian one?
Did the Coca-Cola company really invent the modern depiction of Santa?
>>458396
>Did the Coca-Cola company really invent the modern depiction of Santa?
I would be interested to see if this was true. The color coordination sure would make sense
>>458512
According to Coca-Cola themselves the colours aren't their doing but their advertising played a significant part in the creation of the jolly, fat Santa we see today.
http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/faq/rumours/is-it-true-santa-is-red-because-of-coca-cola/
>>458396
>Is Christmas really a pagan festival rather than a Christian one?
How Christmas is celebrated is pagan, obviously Santa/Odin and shit isn't Christian
I think the real question here is "Do you beleive Santa Claus exists?" or are you a filthy Santatheist
>>458543
Can't I believe there is some allegorical deeper truth in the Santa Claus myth?
The christmas celebrated in nordic countries is directly subverted from the norse tradition of Jól, anglicized as yule, that was celebrated during the winter solstice. It lasted three days, during which animals were slaughtered and the blood spilled over the guests and the walls of the longhouse. After the sacrifice, toasts were drunk first to Odin, Freyr and Bragi, then to basically whomever and whatever. There was a great feast with mead, fish, bread and the most coveted dish of all, pork.
After celebrating for three days the norsemen returned home to their dreary wintery existences to await spring.
The king of the norwegians, Haakon the Good, was raised in England to be a proper christian and dutifully proceeded to get utterly scandalized by the paganic ways of his folk. After an awkward Blot (the name of the Jól-feast) he tried to instill Jesus as the main recipient of toasts and feasting. He didn't have the balls to actually denounce the feast as pagan and forbidden, instead easing the idea of eating and drinking to celebrate Christs' birth, and gradually the idea took hold. He also moved the day of celebration to the 25th of december.
>>458769
Also here in Finland we had the tradition of the Nuuttipukki (Knut Bock, or basically Knut Claus) where after xmas, the 7th or 13th of january, young men would wear animal skulls or large hats and furs turned inside out, and terrorize the local populace by demanding beer on the pain of vandalism and horrible singing. Although people were annoyed and even scared with the nuuttipukkis, they recognized the tradition and often let the men in and served them the leftover beer.
After the wars in 39-45, the tradition changed with children going door to door and singing for candy, instead of hungover men looking and smelling like an expired santa extorting alcohol from hapless neighbours. It's still practiced in some places in western Finland.
>>458396
>Is Christmas really a pagan festival rather than a Christian one?
Pretty much every faith has some sort of celebration near the end of December, especially in norther areas where the solstice represents the change in seasons towards the time of plenty.
>Did the Coca-Cola company really invent the modern depiction of Santa?
Yes and no; Santa was already a wandering old man who gave out presents but Krampus was also his traveling companion in the Germanic tradition; the jolly fat guy with an army of elves is pretty much all advertising.
>>458789
Sounds pretty neat to be honest with you family
>>458797
Aye thought I might try and get a posse together this January and try to revive the tradition. Might be we just get thrown into a drunk tank and charged with disturbing the peace, but hey, we might also get free beer.
>>458512
The American Santa Claus is an Americanized version of the Swedish version.
Haddon Sundblom, who designed the red Santa-Clause and came from a Swedish-speaking family, took inspiration from what was basically gnomes.
>>458769
> Be Swedish
> Actual have a in the flesh Muslim from Somalia as a neighbour
> He and his kids celebrate Christmas (Jul) because they don't see it as a Christian nor religious holiday, but a Swedish one
He celebrates Midsummers eve as well desu.
>>458823
I think that's kinda cute and could be a sign of the integrating well. Atleast they aren't burning cars in Malmö or smth.
>>458829
True.
>>458789
Why are you Mongoloids so barbaric? Does the blood of the Khanate flow that strongly in you?
>>458844
Define barbaric. Do we not top the charts in PISA-tests and living standards? Is that not due to good education, which usually follows civilization?
No but really fuCK VITTU SUOMI FINLAND PERKELE VIINAA TÄNNE HETI, SAUNAAN JA SIITÄ HIRTEEN
Sinterklaas meesterras.
>>458396
Santa wears a redcoat because in the Old German Days of yore when Yule festivities were commonplace the druids put fly amanita Red mushrooms on their robes.
No one knows the true origin of Christmas or the Yule week.
It truly began in Rome, but the Romans derived it from someone else who likely derived it from someone else.
It was Christian before it was pagan.
The Pagans simply partook in feasts, no real worship, till it became sol invictus day within the Week then it became Christmas weak with christianity.
It was never a "pagan" holiday.
>>459040
>weak
"week"
Xmas bump with a ribbon on top
