Joe Biel

everybody when they create their modern version of santa it looks like what a person would look like in their culture and so i think that is another fascinating aspect of how santa becomes essentially a mirror of how we see our idealized self what about some of the other peripheral characters in the story you know mrs claus the elves who where'd that all come from

So a lot of that is a simplified version of other cultures.

In Romania, I believe, is where the story of Santa having henchmen originated.

And then a lot of various Nordic cultures as well, they would have their own versions of that.

And I don't know, it's very unclear when at which point

We, you know, Santa relocated to the North Pole.

That's something that, you know, really probably was codified around 1950 in the United States.

But originally those characters were deeply mischievous.

Even Mrs. Claus was...

Originally, a scarier version of Santa Claus in where Santa was the one that would bring you gifts.

And Mrs. Claus would be someone that would maybe bury you for being a misbehaved child.

But I think that doesn't really...

fit well with the modern idea of, you know, how the holiday works.

So it became that Mrs. Claus took sort of a backseat to, you know, maybe she's like taking care of Santa's business, making him cookies, you know, being cheery.

and the elves shifted from people that were mischievous to also being in sort of an assistant role and similarly you know the modernized reindeer the sleigh all that was you know taken from nordic cultures and made into the version that you know essentially would be codified through cartoons

The presence are more interesting.

So, and this can be directly tied to the mythology of St.

Nick, if he really existed.

So there was, after St.

Nick escaped from, or was released from the Roman prison and came back to Myrrah,