96 Fun Facts About Santa Claus

Saint Nicholas, whose legend grew into Santa Claus, led the church of which city in Lycia?

Myra's ruins lie beside the modern town of Demre; Patara, further along the Lycian coast, was Nicholas's birthplace rather than his see.

In the 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', what does the father watch his visitor fill after landing on the roof?

The stockings hanging by the fireplace get filled from his sack of toys; the poem moved the visit to Christmas Eve, and the two share a wink before he vanishes up the flue.

What snack do children traditionally leave out for Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve?

A carrot: children in Britain and elsewhere leave a carrot for the reindeer beside Santa's own snack, a custom now common in the United States as well.

Who is traditionally credited as the author of the 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'?

Descendants of Henry Livingston Jr. have long claimed he wrote it, but no printing with his name has ever surfaced, while Moore put it in his own 1844 collection.

Katharine Lee Bates's 1889 poem calls Santa's wife 'Goody Santa Claus' — 'Goody' is short for what?

'Goody' is the old short form of 'Goodwife', a title for a married woman of modest rank; Bates, author of 'America the Beautiful', put Mrs. Claus on the Christmas Eve sleigh in her 1889 poem.

Which of these is one of Santa's original eight reindeer, as named in the classic poem?

Dasher is the first reindeer called in the 1823 poem's roll: 'Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!' He is one of the original eight named there.

Which company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s, painted by Haddon Sundblom, is credited with fixing Santa's portly, red-suited image?

Coca-Cola's ads from 1931 onward spread the portly, white-bearded Santa in red, though the look itself was already established before Sundblom painted it.

In the 1823 poem, what does Saint Nicholas hold tight in his teeth?

A pipe: 'The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath,' the poem says.

How does Santa Claus traditionally enter homes to deliver presents?

Santa comes down the chimney, as in the 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', where he arrives 'down the chimney' with a bound and leaves as 'up the chimney he rose'.

In the 1823 poem, Santa's belly shakes when he laughs like a bowl full of what?

Jelly: 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' describes 'a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.'

In Alpine folklore, which horned figure accompanies Saint Nicholas to punish naughty children?

Krampus, the horned companion, roams on 5 December, the eve of Saint Nicholas's feast; Krampus runs (Krampusläufe) draw crowds across Austria and Bavaria.

What traditional offering do children often leave for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve?

Cookies and milk are the classic snack left out for Santa in the United States, usually beside the stockings; in Britain he is more often left a mince pie and a glass of sherry.

Italy's broomstick-riding gift-bringer delivers toys and coal on the eve of which feast?

She flies out on the night of 5 January, and her name is widely thought to be a corruption of the Italian word for the feast, Epifania.

In which century did Saint Nicholas, the bishop who inspired Santa Claus, live and die?

Nicholas lived mainly in the 4th century: tradition dates him to about 270–343, with his death on 6 December 343, the date now kept as his feast day.

The Finnish name for Santa, Joulupukki, literally translates as 'Christmas' what?

The figure grew out of the Nordic tradition of men in goat costume roaming villages at Yule; radio programmes from 1927 recast him with a Santa-style suit and a home on Korvatunturi fell.

Which American magazine's 1873 Christmas cover popularised Santa's tiny workshop helpers?

The same magazine had printed the first widely circulated picture of a modern Christmas tree on its 1850 cover.

What kind of magical helpers are traditionally said to assist Santa Claus in his workshop?

Elves are Santa's workshop helpers, an image popularised by an 1873 American magazine cover showing Santa surrounded by tiny elf workers, and by the 1823 poem calling him 'a right jolly old elf'.

What is Russia's traditional winter gift-giver, accompanied by granddaughter Snegurochka, called?

In Russia, Ded Moroz, which translates to 'Grandfather Frost,' is the central figure of the New Year celebrations and the gift-giver, often accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka.

Norman Rockwell painted Santa Claus for the covers of which American magazine in the 1920s?

Norman Rockwell's Santa Claus covers for The Saturday Evening Post, several of them in the 1920s, helped fix the warm, grandfatherly Santa before the soft-drink ads of the 1930s.

In France, what is the equivalent Christmas gift-giving figure called?

In France, Père Noël, also known as Father Christmas, is the gift-giving figure during the holiday season.

Santa is said to keep a list sorting children into which two groups?

Naughty and nice: the 1934 song 'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town' has him 'making a list and checking it twice' to find out 'who's naughty and nice'.

The historical Saint Nicholas was a bishop from which modern-day country?

The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, was an early Christian bishop born in 270 AD in what is now Turkey.

Canada Post delivers children's letters to Santa's North Pole workshop using which one-of-a-kind postal code?

H0H 0H0 is read aloud as Santa's famous laugh; the United States Postal Service instead suggests 123 Elf Road, North Pole, ZIP 88888.

In Alpine folklore, Saint Nicholas's horned companion punishes misbehaving children with what?

The horned companion carries a bundle of birch rods, called Ruten, to swat naughty children, and in some tellings stuffs the worst offenders into a basket on his back.

Before red became standard, England's Father Christmas was often drawn in a fur-lined gown of what colour?

Before the widespread adoption of the red suit, Father Christmas (a figure merged with Santa) was sometimes depicted in green robes, particularly in Victorian illustrations.

Which city in Lapland is home to Santa Claus Village and Santa's official main post office?

Rovaniemi's Santa Claus Village sits on the Arctic Circle just north of the city, and its Santa Claus Main Post Office, a working Finnish post office, receives letters from well over a hundred countries each year.

Whose satirical 1809 History of New York pictured Santa Claus as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor?

The book was a parody of New York's Dutch heritage, and much of its Santa was a joking invention that the famous 1823 poem later borrowed.

Mrs. Claus debuted in the 1849 story 'A Christmas Legend', by a missionary based in which US city?

Philadelphia-based missionary James Rees's 1849 story 'A Christmas Legend' brought a weary old couple to a house on Christmas Eve, the first mention of Santa's wife; later writers gave her a name and personality.

The name 'Kris Kringle' for Santa Claus has origins in which language?

German: 'Christkindl', the Christ child, became 'Kris Kringle', a common variant of Santa in parts of the United States by 1845.

Thanks to the three bags of gold legend, Saint Nicholas is patron saint of which trade?

The story is sometimes told with three gold balls instead of bags, which is why three gold balls became a symbol of both the saint and the pawnbroker's shop.

Which US state's town of Santa Claus is home to the Holiday World theme park?

Indiana: the town of Santa Claus in Spencer County is home to Holiday World, which opened in 1946 as Santa Claus Land, and its post office receives thousands of letters to Santa each year.

In Icelandic lore, which ogress is the mother of the Yule Lads?

Grýla, a mountain ogress said to boil naughty children in her cauldron, is the mother of the Yule Lads; her household also keeps the child-eating Yule Cat.

Which Reformation figure promoted the Christkind as gift-bringer to steer Protestants from Saint Nicholas?

Martin Luther promoted the Christkind so Protestant gift-giving moved from Saint Nicholas's day, 6 December, to Christmas; Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt is opened by a young woman playing the Christkind.

Belsnickel, the crotchety fur-clad gift-bringer, survives in which US community's folklore?

The Pennsylvania Dutch kept Belsnickel from the early 1800s; the Harper's Weekly cartoonist who shaped the American Santa drew on the Belsnickel of his own Palatinate childhood.

Which actor won an Academy Award for playing Kris Kringle in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street?

Cecil Kellaway turned the part down and it went to his cousin Gwenn, who took Best Supporting Actor; Attenborough played Kringle in the 1994 remake.

Through what part of the house did Saint Nicholas toss bags of gold to provide three poor sisters' dowries?

In one of his best-known acts of kindness, Saint Nicholas secretly tossed bags of gold through a poor family's window to provide dowries for their three daughters.

Which organisation runs a 'Santa tracker' every Christmas Eve, a tradition dating to 1955?

NORAD Tracks Santa began after a 1955 Sears advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper invited children to telephone Santa; the number connected to the air-defence command (then CONAD), which played along.

In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas arrives each November by steamboat from which country?

Spain: Sinterklaas sails in from Spain on his steamboat in mid-November, then rides a white horse, named Amerigo on Dutch television until 2019 and Ozosnel ('oh so fast') after that.

In what year was the name 'Santa Claus' first used in the American press?

1773: a New York newspaper that December reported a celebration of 'St. Nicholas, otherwise called St. A Claus', three years before the Declaration of Independence and half a century before the 1823 poem.

The red-nosed ninth reindeer was created in 1939 as a promotional booklet for which department store?

Montgomery Ward copywriter Robert L. May wrote the red-nosed reindeer's story as a 1939 giveaway booklet, and the store handed out 2.4 million copies that first Christmas.

Which gift-bringer visits homes in Berlin and Hamburg on Christmas Eve?

The Weihnachtsmann ('Christmas man') brings presents on Christmas Eve in Germany's Protestant north, often played by a relative knocking at the door, while the Christkind brings them in the more Catholic south.

Which New York newspaper first published 'Twas the night before Christmas' in 1823?

The Troy Sentinel printed it anonymously on 23 December 1823 after a family friend sent it in; the author acknowledged the poem only when he put it in his own 1844 collection.

Merchants from which Italian city carried off most of Saint Nicholas's bones from Lycia in 1087?

Bari's merchants took the bones from Nicholas's tomb in 1087 and built a basilica for them; Venetians collected the leftover fragments during the First Crusade, and modern studies found both sets belong to one skeleton.

What does Santa Claus traditionally leave for naughty children instead of presents?

A lump of coal is the traditional token for naughty children, a joke on stockings hung by the coal fire; Italy's Befana likewise leaves lumps of sweet black 'coal' (carbone dolce).

On an 1863 Harper's Weekly cover, Santa Claus wore a suit patterned on what?

'Santa Claus in Camp' (3 January 1863) dressed Santa in the Stars and Stripes for Union troops; in the same drawing he dangles a puppet labelled 'Jeff', a jab at Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

What is the common greeting or catchphrase associated with Santa Claus?

'Ho Ho Ho!' is Santa's deep, jolly trademark laugh, echoed in the 1823 poem's picture of a round belly that shook when he laughed.

Which New York paper first ran the 1897 editorial 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus'?

The Sun printed Francis Pharcellus Church's unsigned reply on 21 September 1897 to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, who had asked whether Santa was real; it became the most reprinted editorial in English.

A 'Santa Claus rally' spans the year's last five trading days plus how many in January?

Two: Yale Hirsch defined the rally in his 1972 Stock Trader's Almanac as the last five trading days of December plus the first two of January, a seven-day span in which the market has risen about three-quarters of the time.

The Santa Claus melon's Spanish name, piel de sapo, translates to what kind of skin?

Toad: 'piel de sapo' is Spanish for 'toad skin', after the melon's mottled green rind; the English name Santa Claus or Christmas melon refers to its long keeping quality, lasting 'until Christmas'.

Two days before Christmas 1927, Marshall Ratliff held up the First National Bank of which Texas town dressed as Santa Claus?

Cisco was Ratliff's own former home town, so he wore the Santa suit to avoid being recognised; the raid set off one of Texas's biggest manhunts.

Which US state's city of North Pole elected a councilman legally named Santa Claus?

Alaska: North Pole, near Fairbanks, put Santa Claus, born Thomas Patrick O'Connor, on its city council in 2015; he had changed his name in 2005 for his child-welfare campaigning and ran in Alaska's 2022 congressional special election.

SantaCon, the mass Santa-costume pub crawl, began in 1994 in which city?

San Francisco's Cacophony Society staged the first event in 1994 as 'Santarchy', street theatre mocking Christmas consumerism that was never meant to be repeated.

Which city's Santa Claus Parade, one of the world's oldest, dates from 1905?

Toronto's parade, sponsored by Eaton's department store for decades, began in 1905 by simply collecting Santa at Union Station and delivering him to the downtown store.

Who wrote illustrated letters 'from Father Christmas' to his children from 1920 to 1943?

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote them for his children, in envelopes with hand-drawn North Pole stamps and starring the accident-prone North Polar Bear; they were published as The Father Christmas Letters in 1976, three years after his death.

In Baum's 1902 book, the infant Santa is adopted by Necile, what kind of being?

Necile is a wood nymph of the Forest of Burzee who raises the foundling; the Oz author gave Santa an earned immortality and a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho.

Which year saw 'Old Santeclaus with Much Delight' first put Santa's sleigh in print?

1821: the anonymous New York picture book The Children's Friend showed Santa driving a reindeer sleigh, dressed him in red and had him arrive on Christmas Eve rather than on the saint's feast, two years before the famous poem.

Who directed Santa Claus (1898), the British trick film called the first Christmas film?

George Albert Smith shot it in Brighton in 1898; its double-exposure view of Santa on the roof while the children sleep is thought to be cinema's earliest example of parallel action.

In the 1959 Mexican film Santa Claus, Santa lives in space and fights a demon named what?

Pitch: Lucifer threatens the demon with a diet of chocolate ice cream if he fails to ruin Christmas, and the film found a cult following after Mystery Science Theater 3000 mocked it in 1993.

In The Santa Clause (1994), Scott Calvin becomes Santa after the old one falls off what?

His roof: a startled Santa slips off Scott Calvin's roof on Christmas Eve; putting on the suit binds Scott to the 'Santa Clause' printed on a card in its pocket, and Tim Allen played Scott.

In Elf (2003), Buddy falls for an employee at which New York department store?

Gimbels: Buddy takes a job in the toy department of Gimbels, the long-closed New York store revived for the film, where he falls for Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) and famously yells 'Santa! I know him!'

What keepsake from Santa's sleigh does the boy receive at the end of The Polar Express?

A bell: the boy chooses a silver sleigh bell as the first gift of Christmas, one only true believers can hear ring; Tom Hanks plays six roles in the film, including Santa and the Conductor.

Klaus (2019), an Oscar-nominated animated film about a reclusive toymaker, was released by which streaming service?

Netflix distributed Klaus, with J. K. Simmons voicing the reclusive toymaker; the town of Smeerensburg is a deliberate misspelling of a real Arctic whaling station on Svalbard.

In Aardman's Arthur Christmas (2011), elves deliver gifts from a craft called what?

The S-1 is the giant sleigh-ship from which elves deliver gifts in Arthur Christmas; Jim Broadbent voices a bumbling Santa while James McAvoy's Arthur races a forgotten bicycle to a girl in Cornwall.

Which actor plays Santa in The Christmas Chronicles (2018) and its 2020 sequel?

Kurt Russell plays Santa in both films and sings lead on the first's cover of Elvis Presley's 'Santa Claus Is Back in Town', backed by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.

In Violent Night (2022), David Harbour's Santa reveals he was once what kind of warrior?

A Viking: known in his old life as Nicomund the Red, he recovers his war hammer Skullcrusher to fight the mercenaries holding a wealthy family hostage.

Who stars as the boozy mall Santa and safecracker Willie in Bad Santa (2003)?

Billy Bob Thornton plays Willie; the Coen brothers are credited as executive producers, and it was John Ritter's last live-action film before his death in September 2003.

Which town's mayor, Burgermeister Meisterburger, outlaws toys in the 1970 TV special?

Sombertown is the gloomy town ruled by Burgermeister Meisterburger in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town; Fred Astaire narrates as mailman S.D. Kluger, and the Winter Warlock's magic feed corn first lets Kris's reindeer fly.

In the 1964 Rudolph TV special, misfit elf Hermey dreams of becoming what?

A dentist: Hermey, the elf who would rather fix teeth than make toys, proves himself by pulling the Abominable Snow Monster's teeth in the 1964 Rankin/Bass special.

In The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Heat Miser and Snow Miser are the sons of whom?

Mother Nature forces her squabbling sons into a deal: snow for Southtown in exchange for one warm day at the North Pole. The story comes from Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book.

Futurama's Robot Santa, who judges almost everyone naughty, was built in which year?

John Goodman voiced him in his first appearance before John DiMaggio took over, and he can regrow his head if he ever judges himself naughty and it explodes.

In the 1989 Simpsons debut, Homer bets his Christmas pay on which 99–1 greyhound?

Santa's Little Helper: Homer had taken the mall Santa job after Mr. Burns cancelled the Christmas bonus, bet his pay on the 99–1 greyhound, and though the dog finished last the family took him home anyway.

Whose November 1934 radio show made 'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town' an overnight hit?

Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio show in November 1934 and half a million copies of the sheet music sold within a day; J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie wrote the song.

Gene Autry wrote 'Here Comes Santa Claus' after riding in a 1946 parade in which city?

Los Angeles: riding in Hollywood's 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade, Autry heard the crowds shouting the phrase that became the title; his own recording pronounces the name 'Santy Claus'.

Who first recorded 'Santa Baby' in 1953, that year's best-selling Christmas song?

Eartha Kitt recorded it in 1953 with Henri René's orchestra; co-writer Philip Springer considered it one of his weakest efforts, and Kitt was no fan of Madonna's 1987 cover.

Which store commissioned 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' in 1952 for its Christmas card?

Saks Fifth Avenue commissioned the song from Tommie Connor in 1952 to promote its Christmas card, which carried a sketch by New Yorker cartoonist Perry Barlow; 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd's recording was a chart-topping hit.

Johnny Marks, who wrote the 1949 Rudolph song, was what relation to creator Robert L. May?

Brother-in-law: Marks was married to May's sister Margaret; Gene Autry's recording reached number one the week of Christmas 1949, a decade after May wrote the story for a department store giveaway.

Sinterklaas brings Dutch children their gifts on Pakjesavond, the evening of which date?

The 5th: Pakjesavond ('presents evening') falls on 5 December, the eve of Saint Nicholas's 6 December feast; many Dutch families exchange gifts that night rather than at Christmas, with relatives knocking at the door on the saint's behalf.

How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children, one per night, in the run-up to Christmas?

Thirteen (13): one Yule Lad arrives each night from 12 December until Christmas Eve, each named for his mischief, such as Spoon-Licker and Door-Slammer; a naughty child finds a rotten potato in the shoe instead of a gift.

Scandinavia's tomte or nisse expects which dish on Christmas Eve, with butter on top?

Porridge: the tomte expects a bowl of Christmas porridge with a pat of butter on top; in one much-retold tale the butter was hidden underneath, and the enraged sprite killed the family cow before finding it.

Which Swedish illustrator's cards created the jultomte, tying Santa to folk gnomes?

Jenny Nyström, inspired by Viktor Rydberg's 'Little Vigg's Adventures on Christmas Eve', drew the red-capped jultomte on countless Christmas cards from the 1880s, tying Santa to the Swedish farm gnome.

Olentzero, who brings gifts late on Christmas Eve, belongs to which people's tradition?

Basque: Olentzero is the Basque Country's charcoal-burner gift-bringer; one common version makes him one of the Jentilak, giants of the Pyrenees, and his name was first written down in the 17th century as Onentzaro.

What is the Tió de Nadal, which Catalan children beat with sticks so it 'poops' presents?

A log: the Tió is a hollow log with a painted face and a red cap; from 8 December the children 'feed' it nightly and tuck it under a blanket so it will not be cold before the big day.

Which town was declared the official home of Russia's Grandfather Frost in 1998?

Veliky Ustyug, in the Vologda region, was named Grandfather Frost's official home in 1998 on the initiative of Moscow's mayor Yury Luzhkov, and his residence there has received millions of children's letters.

Which playwright's 1616 Christmas, His Masque gave an early portrait of 'Old Christmas'?

Ben Jonson's 1616 masque brought on 'Christmas' in deliberately old-fashioned dress, with a long thin beard and a truncheon, a jab at gentry who had cut back on Christmas hospitality.

In which month do old bull reindeer in Arctic herds typically drop their antlers?

December: mature bulls shed their antlers soon after the autumn rut, while cows keep theirs until they calve in spring; reindeer are the only deer in which females normally grow antlers, so an antlered Christmas Eve team would be female.

Which country named a peak after Santa and declared 2008 its Year of Santa Claus?

Kyrgyzstan: after a Swedish consultancy calculated in 2007 that its territory was the ideal base for Santa's deliveries, the country named a Tian Shan peak after him and declared 2008 its Year of Santa Claus, with a festival in Bishkek.

Which Indian city set the Guinness record for the largest Santa gathering in 2014?

Thrissur's 'Buon Natale' parade in December 2014 gathered 18,112 people dressed as Santa, overtaking Derry in Northern Ireland, which had held the record since 2007 with 12,965 Santas and helpers.

Royal Mail's address for letters to Santa places his grotto in a land called what?

Reindeerland: Royal Mail's address for Santa is 'Santa's Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ', a postcode that sits in no real delivery zone.

The first department-store Christmas grotto opened in 1879 in which English city?

Liverpool: David Lewis opened 'Christmas Fairyland' in his Lewis's department store in 1879 to pull in shoppers, and it is usually counted as the world's first Christmas grotto.

In a late legend, Saint Nicholas revived three boys a butcher had killed and kept in what?

A brine barrel: the butcher planned to sell the pickled boys as pork during a famine; the tale is a medieval addition absent from the saint's earliest biographies.

Legend says Saint Nicholas slapped which heretic during the Council of Nicaea?

Arius: the story of Nicholas striking the Alexandrian priest at the Council of Nicaea is first attested more than a thousand years after his death, and later versions upgrade the open-handed slap to a punch.

Which federal body's recognition of Kris as Santa wins the case in Miracle on 34th Street?

The Post Office: thousands of letters addressed to Santa are delivered to Kris in court, and the judge rules a federal agency has recognised him; Darryl Zanuck insisted on a May release, arguing more people see films in warm weather.

Fans of which NFL team infamously pelted a halftime Santa with snowballs in 1968?

The Philadelphia Eagles, 2–11 going into the season's final game at Franklin Field on 15 December 1968, saw fans boo and pelt fill-in Santa Frank Olivo with snowballs, an incident that became shorthand for the city's sports fans.

In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington has Santa abducted and calls him what?

'Sandy Claws' is Jack's mishearing of Santa Claus; Lock, Shock and Barrel disobey Jack and hand the kidnapped Santa to the gambling bogeyman Oogie Boogie instead.

In How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957), the Grinch's sleigh is pulled by whom?

His dog, Max, pulls the sleigh with a single antler tied to his head; Dr. Seuss published the book with Random House in 1957, and it ran in Redbook's December issue the same year.

In 2008, which country's government formally declared Santa Claus one of its citizens?

Canada: in December 2008 immigration minister Jason Kenney declared Santa a Canadian citizen, saying the status gave him the automatic right to re-enter the country once his Christmas Eve trip was complete.