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Depending on what stage of life you are at, if you happen to be reading this, you probably have been through anywhere from 20 to 70 of these things. I am referring to Christmas, what a young Chuck Brown -- until his blanket-toting shape-shifter, Linus, set him right -- complained was the most overtly commercial of all our observances. If, like Linus, you think you have it cased, you may want to think again. Here are some odds and ends about the origins of the Christmas tradition, and the two chaps most often affiliated with the festive spirit, which may just turn you on your earmuff. For starters, as almost nobody seems to be aware, the late J. Christ was, in fact, not even born on Dec. 25. Jesus was born in the autumn, probably about six months before John the Baptist, his cousin twice removed. As Luke 2:8 records, at the time of Jesus' birth, "There were in the same country shepherds abiding in their field, keeping watch over their flock by night." I don't know about you, but I know of no (not personally at least) shepherd who tends to his wool-bearing flock in the deep-freeze of late December. This rather startling tidbit of holiday information, of course, requests the inquiry, how on Earth, or any where else for that matter, did we come to observe the birth of the most popular saviour in the world at least three months out of schedule? It is quite simple really. You see, it all began as a well-placed intention by the early Christian church to Christianize their heathen, pagan brothers at a time when today's most wide-spread and enduring faith was just beginning to catch on. The most immediate precursors to the Christmas celebration, and the most popular at the time -- both occurring in late December -- were the ancient festival of Saturnalia, a celebration of the god Saturn, and something called the festival of Sigillaria in which drunked-up Romans bestowed gifts on one another, especially their children. A foresighted church father at the time, Pope Liberus in 353 A.D., then decided to proclaim the 25th of December as the day of the Nativity -- the birth of the Messiah -- in an effort to popularize the rising religion. Thus, in this way have we been observing it so ever since. That takes care of that, but what of that other kindly bearded superstar of Christmas fame, the still very much misunderstood S. Claus. Well, as most people know the legend of Santa Claus, like that of Count Dracula, is based on an actual historical figure -- St. Nicholas, a bishop in fourth-century Turkey who is said to have had a peculiar penchant for tossing toys and such in the windows of unsuspecting, and probably rather surprised, wee ones. The legend of this neurotically generous patron saint spread throughout Europe. It was the Dutch version, however, the legend of a character called Sinter Klaas, a gaunt figure on a horse that is American Santa's most direct predecessor. It was, believe it or not, that mega soft drink giant of mega soft drink giants, the Coca-Cola company, that finally gave us the familiar, morbidly obese old duffer in a red suit, black boots and beard that we know and love today. In 1931, Coke hired an artist named Haddon Sundblom to produce a series of advertisements featuring Santa, based on Clement Moore's 1822 poem A Visit From St. Nicholas, and the likeness of one of the artist's close friends, holding a bottle of everybody's favourite holiday mixer. And the rest is history.
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