21 Interesting Facts About Christmas, Santa Claus and Reindeer

Every Christmas season, the question "Is Santa Claus real or not" is mentioned more and more.

In this video, Nadimec will share with you 21 interesting facts about Santa Claus and the reindeer in his sleigh.

1. The traditional way of decoration is to light candles directly on the Christmas tree.

 

The famous American scientist and inventor Thomas Edition introduced Christmas lights to the whole world in 1880. Few people know that before that, people often used candles to light directly on Christmas trees, this is really dangerous.

 

2. Christmas lights will always get tangled no matter how carefully you store them.

 

This is explained by the scientists that lengths of wire more than 2 meters or more are often more prone to tangles than shorter pieces of wire.

 

3. Santa's reindeer are all "females".

 

The symbolic images of Santa's reindeer have many horns on their heads. According to research, male reindeer often lose their horns in winter while females do not. Therefore, there is a high chance that the reindeer in Santa's sleigh are all females.

 

4. Reindeer can't fly but can swim.

 

Although reindeer may not be able to fly, they can still swim easily in the water thanks to their thick skin.

 

5. Some reindeer have red noses.

 

In the cartoons about Santa and the reindeer, we see reindeer with very pretty red noses and in fact prove to be so. That's because the blood vessels under the nose are actively warming and regulating the body temperature of the reindeer.

 

6. Having to move at a speed of 2,092 km/s, Santa Claus can deliver presents to children around the world on Christmas Eve.

 

If Santa Claus is real, he must also overcome many obstacles and difficulties.

 

7. The theory of quantum mechanics is undoubtedly one of the biggest obstacles that Santa Claus can hardly overcome in the modern world.

 

8. Does Santa Claus come from the North Pole?.

 

Many people think that Santa Claus originated in the Nordic countries near the cold Arctic region. In fact, the image of Santa Claus is depicted after Saint Nicholas, a benevolent saint very much loved in Turkey. In 1809, the writer Washington Irving described Saint Nicholas flying in the air to deliver gifts. In 1823, Santa Claus had a reindeer-drawn sleigh in a myth by writer Clement Clarke Moore (The Visitation of Saint Nicolas). Therefore, people today accept Santa Claus as the incarnation of Saint Nicholas in Myra (Turkey).

 

9. Why the red suit?

 

Santa Claus always wears a red suit and a white beard. Many people believe that this image is due to a Coca Cola advertising campaign in 1930 (the ad shows Santa Claus wearing a red suit, holding a Coca Cola bottle). But the fact that the red clothes are derived from the episcopal vestments of Saint Nicholas in the 4th century.

 

10. Why are there 9 reindeer?.

 

Initially, Santa's flying car consisted of 8 reindeer, arranged in 2 rows. On a Christmas Eve, Santa Claus had difficulty giving gifts to the children because of the cold, foggy sky. Fortunately, at that time, he discovered Rudolph - a reindeer with a glowing red nose. So Santa let Rudolph lead his rickshaw. It was thanks to the reindeer's glowing red nose that helped him complete the Christmas night mission. Since then there are 9 reindeer. According to legend, they can fly because Santa Claus feeds them cornmeal and magic oats.

 

11. Santa does "theft".

 

Why doesn't Santa Claus enter the main door but has to go through the chimney like a thief? Because he only went at night, but everyone slept at night, the doors were locked, only the chimney could get in. Moreover, his flying chariot landed on the roof more easily than on the ground.

 

12. Why do gifts put on socks?.

 

On Christmas Eve, children often hang socks at the end of the bed waiting for Santa to come and give gifts. Why is that? The story goes that when Saint Nicholas (later Santa Claus) was still alive, he loved his three daughters who were old enough to get married, but no boy would marry him because he was too poor. One winter night, he threw three gold coins into the chimneys of the girls' homes, accidentally dropping them on the stockings they had hung by the fireplace. Since then, it is customary for children to hang socks to receive gifts.

 

13. Santa Claus Name.

 

The name "Santa Claus" first appeared in a 1977 New York newspaper article. The name comes from the Dutch version of "Sinterklaas" – a story created to keep the story of Bishop Saint Nicholas alive forever.

14. Does Santa Claus have a wife?.

 

The wife of Santa Claus was first mentioned in the short story "The Legend of Christmas" and was published in 1849.

 

The author of that book is James Rees - a Christian missionary in Philadelphia, USA.

 

In the story, the full name of Santa's wife is Jessica Mary Claus. That name is named after the mother of Jesus - Saint Mary.

 

In addition to the book, the first film with an image of Santa Claus's wife was the 1964 film "Santa Claus conquers the Martians".

 

However, until now, Santa's wife has only appeared in works of fiction and images of Santa Claus's wife are still extremely rare images during Christmas.

 

15. How many Santas are there?.

 

There is only one Santa in the world, everyone else is just dressed like Santa. This helps to maintain the Christmas atmosphere throughout the big week.

 

16. What was the first gift Santa made?.

 

In early 20th-century illustrations, artists depicted Santa as someone who meticulously prepared each gift for children. Santa's first gift was a wooden carving of a beautiful little cat.

 

17. Rudolph the reindeer.

 

Rudolph is one of Santa's most famous reindeer, created in 1939 by a copywriter named Robert L. May. The lovable Rudolph reindeer was later featured in a Montgomery Ward department store Christmas book, given to kids visiting Santa at the store.

 

18. What car does Santa use?

 

Washington Irving is an American writer of the early 19th century. He is best known for his work The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and also the one who got the idea for Santa's flying sleigh. In The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, a collection of 1,819 short stories, Irving recounts his dream of seeing Saint Nicholas flying across the sky in a carriage. His story became so popular in the US and UK that even Charles Dickens admitted to being inspired by Irving when creating the classic A Christmas Carol.

 

19. Origin of the reindeer herd.

 

Santa's reindeer herd originates from the poem "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore, born in 1823. Accordingly, Santa's carriage has 8 reindeer divided into 2 rows. And the reindeer are named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen respectively.

 

20. The reindeer's horns record the dreams of all children.

 

According to legend, Santa Claus chooses reindeer to deliver gifts to children. It is thanks to the reindeer's horn that has the ability to capture and receive all the dreams and aspirations of children around the world.

 

21. Santa Claus only gives gifts to good children, so what about naughty children?.

 

According to many legends on Christmas Day, Santa Claus only goes to the homes of good children and gives them gifts, but naughty children he will usually never come. Therefore, to encourage the children to become more obedient every year, European parents often threaten that: if their children are not obedient, they will not be visited by Santa Claus.

 

In addition, there are many stories of Santa Claus from many other cultures, adapted for screen and comic books. No matter how many strange stories and many other versions of Santa Claus in the world, the most common thing everyone has is the belief that Santa Claus is very kind, above all he always carries a bag of gifts to give to children all over the world.