SANTA CLAUS: “Father Christmas, Grandfather Frost, Kris Kringle,
Papa Noel, or as we know him, Santa Claus. He’s celebrated all
across the globe, but just who is he and what traditions did this
popular character establish?”

That’s the question posed by Lauren Sipple, a student at the
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, who reminds us of the various
traditions inspired by this Christmas character, whose current
guise is a red velvet suit trimmed in white fur (one that’s a bit
tight around the waist to accommodate his jelly belly).

The modern Santa Claus combines several old European traditions,
Sipple reminds us, one of which is St. Nicholas, a patron saint
from the fourth century known for his kindness towards children and
generosity to people in need.

“Christkindlein,” the German word for the Christ child (from
which we get “Kris Kringle”) was another early inspiration for the
popular Christmas figure, who was accompanied by Nicolas-like
figures like Pelsnickle, a dwarf-like helper with “furry
disguises.”

Sipple writes that “Pelsnickle” eventually became “Belsnickle,”
a name change that probably took place in the German American
dialect of Pennsylvania during the 1820s.

St. Nicholas also inspired the tradition of the pickle ornament,
according to Sipple. “As legend had it,” she writes, “people began
hiding a pickle-shaped ornament called a ‘gherkin’ on their
Christmas people in Germany to reward the most observant child.

“On Christmas morning, the child who found the gherkin would
receive an extra present from St. Nicholas.”

Sipple said sources say the tradition of the gherkin may have
been based on a Bavarian named John Lower, who came to America
after the Civil War, who was captured by the Confederates and
imprisoned. Starving, he asked a jailer for a pickle and, after his
release, never forgot how it had helped him survive.

After that, he made it a tradition of hiding a glass
pickle-shaped ornament in the Christmas tree – whoever found it
would have good luck for the year.

Sipple said she knows of people who still celebrate this
tradition. Are any of our readers still carrying on this
tradition?

A quick look on the Internet shows us that, sure enough, pickle
Christmas Tree ornaments are for sale.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Never joke with the press. Irony does not
translate into newsprint,” said novelist Erica Jong, 1987 (and
could have been repeated by John Kerry in 2006).