2021 marks a pretty special bicentennial - 200 years ago, our American version of Santa Claus arrived on the scene in New York, but he wasn’t the brainchild of Clement C. Moore or Washington Irving. For the first time in more than a decade, an up-to-date, documented history of Santa Claus is available. Santa Claus Worldwide shares the real story of the American Santa Claus’s creation and includes a painstakingly researched history of midwinter gift-bringers from all over the globe.
Author Tom Jerman discusses why midwinter celebrations are necessary for our psyche, how pagan celebrations got turned into Christmas holidays, how the traditional appearance of Santa came to be, and the midwinter gift givers who don't fit that traditional stereotype.
