Reply #24: In Germany and Holland, St. Nicholas brings small presents on [View All]

December 6, which is his feast day according to the Roman Catholic calendar.

In Latin American countries, it used to be the Three Kings who brought presents on January 6, as Cleita has said.

The idea of St. Nicholas-->Santa Claus came over here with the original Dutch settlers in New York. The name Santa Claus is a mangled version of the Dutch word for St. Nicholas.

Clement Moore, who wrote The Night Before Christmas in the 1820s, was an Episcopal bishop in New York City and therefore familiar with the customs of the Dutch-American community. He popularized the figure of St. Nicholas nationwide.

Today's popular vision of Santa Claus, the fat man in the fur-trimmed red suit, was created by New York cartoonist Thomas Nast (who also created the elephant and donkey symbols for the two political parties) in the late nineteenth century.