Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century saint and Greek bishop in Myra (modern-day Turkey). Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus (whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas).
Note: Merry Christmas!
Krampus is a demonic beast-like creature from the folklore of Alpine countries thought to punish bad children during the Yule season, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards nice ones with gifts. Krampus is said to capture particularly naughty children in his sack and carry them away to his lair. The history of the Krampus figure stretches back to pre-Christian Germanic foklore.
Note: Happy Christmas Eve! Hopefully Krampus the holiday devil doesn’t show up on your street dragging rusty chains and bells.
Father Time is an elderly bearded man who carries an hourglass or other timekeeping device (not unlike the Grim Reaper or Chronos). On New Year’s Eve, this personification of time passes his duties to an allegorical Baby New Year. The annual ritual is depicted in the stop-motion children’s special Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1976.
Note: After the passing of a few more grains of sand we shall have a Happy New Year!
The wife of Santa Claus, the North American Christmas gift-bringer. Santa Claus emerged in the 1820s from a number of European folklore traditions, but Mrs. Claus had no such precedent. She is a literary creation of James Rees (1849) and was popularized in a poem by Katharine Lee Bates (1889). Also see The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974).
A plump, jolly figure in North American culture that emerged in the 1820s. He reflects an amalgamation of the Dutch Sinterklaas, the English Father Christmas and Christmas gift-bringers in other traditions. The contemporary Santa Claus was modeled after historic 4th-century saint and gift-giver Saint Nicholas (AKA Saint Nick), a Greek from Asia Minor.
Note: Merry Christmas from Kris Kringle!
A fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. Known as Santa’s ninth reindeer, he is depicted as the lead of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward. He stars in the stop-motion Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964.
Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve! I will be spending mine in a dirty Amazon jungle town in Peru.
A fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He appeared as the main protagonist in the 1957 children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and the 1966 TV special. The devious, anti-holiday spirit of the character led to the usage of term “Grinch” to describe a person opposed to Christmastime celebrations. He is an icon of the winter holidays.
A sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, autumn colors and fern-like patterns on cold windows. Though unconnected to Christianity, he is sometimes hijacked for modern secular Christmas entertainment, such as Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, a 1976 Rankin/Bass production.
Welcome to the winter solstice (the original reason for this holiday season). Today is the shortest day of year.
Yukon Cornelius is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. He is an eccentric arctic prospector who leads the audience to believe that he’s searching for either gold or silver, but is actually seeking peppermint.
The Abominable Snowman of the North (AKA Bumble) is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. He is a gigantic white-furred yeti/monster with long fangs and a hairless blue face, lips, hands and feet.
Hermey is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. Hermey the Misfit Elf prefers studying dentistry to making toys, making him a social outcast among the other elves.
This character is based on “Frosty the Snowman” – a popular song first recorded by Gene Autry in 1950. The most famous version of Frosty is the animated children’s Christmas special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1969. Frosty comes to life and says “Happy Birthday!” when a magical top hat is placed on his head.
Heat Miser is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1974. Heat Miser is a blustery hothead who controls Earth’s hot weather and possesses the supernatural power to melt objects at will. His arch-nemesis is his stepbrother Snow Miser, and their mother is Mother Nature.
Who is Heat Miser’s father? See yesterday’s Snow Miser commentary on this important paternity case.
Snow Miser is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1974. The icicle-covered Snow Miser controls Earth’s cold weather and possesses the supernatural power to freeze objects at will. His arch-nemesis is his stepbrother Heat Miser, and their mother is Mother Nature.
Since the Miser Brothers are identified as stepbrothers, did Mother Nature adopt one or both of them? Or, if she is the biological mother of both (making them half-brothers), then how promiscuous was she? I figure Snow Miser’s father has to be either Father Winter or Jack Frost. And I can’t think of a likelier paternal option for Heat Miser than the Devil; Mother Nature might be more hardcore than we thought if she’s into sex that kinky. In 2008, Warner Bros. exacted some Rankin/Bass revisionism with A Miser Brothers’ Christmas by portraying the naughty Miser Brothers as fraternal twins who have a malevolent brother North Wind.
A wooden nutcracker carved like a toy soldier that comes to life. This character is featured in the famous two-act ballet The Nutcracker, which was scored by Russian composer Tchaikovsky and premiered in 1892. The libretto is adapted from the 1816 story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann.
The lovable protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. Good ol’ Charlie Brown made his first appearance in 1950 and failed at almost everything he did until Schulz’s death in 2000. Cursed with self-doubt, insecurities and frequent bad luck, Charlie is often taken advantage of by his peers.
Watching A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is an annual holiday tradition. Dance!
A Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee who got knocked up by God as a teenager. Nine months later she popped out an appropriated sun god named Jesus.
Time to switch things up. Now begins a series of characters that aren’t based on college sports mascots. First is the central figure and namesake of Christianity who was born from the Virgin Mary.
Astronaut Jesus – No. 397
Astronaut Jesus was conceived in 2004 by Argentine design collective Doma. A limited edition, five-color silkscreen poster exclusive to Andr8id was printed in 2004 and a matching vinyl toy was manufactured by adFunture in 2005. The visually striking toy is a 9.5″ (24 cm) figure with a removable helmet and a swiveling right arm. Doma is best known for their visual designs and installation arts.
I am amused by the concept that Jesus has been in outer space overseeing the world and will one day return to fix our problems. It would be fun to have my own Astronaut Jesus figure, but only a few hundred exist in the world, so I’m not holding my breath. After the original run of 500 Astronaut Jesus figures, six small limited edition runs were manufactured in different colors during 2005 and 2006, including a hot-pink flocked Wooster Collective Edition.