.jpg)
Today is St. Nicholas' Day, celebrated in Europe with sweet treats and gatherings of family and friends, and on this blog with contributions from bloggers around the world.
It's interesting to see how St. Nicholas, or 'Sintaklaas' morphed over the years from a rather thin and fit fellow tramping through snowy woods with arms full of toys and gifts into rather rotund, jolly 'Santa Claus' who flys around in a sleigh and has a bunch of elves doing much of the work - a moral lesson for all of us on the benefits of excercise? Could be :)
Although he beefed up just a little, Santa still looked like a relatively healthy, stealthy guy on this magazine cover in 1906
By the 1970s ad campaigns he was looking like he certainly consumed the product he was promoting. Maybe Bally's or Weight Watchers should have a Santa campaign and get the old fellow back into better shape :)
Growing up in Australia we celebrate Christmas in the height of summer, so thanks to a song by Rolf Harris ('Six White Boomers') we ended up with an image of Santa's sleigh drawn through the sky by six large, white kangaroos!! Ever wondered what Santa does when all his deliveries are made? He goes to the beach of-course, with those six white boomers finishing the shift, the reindeer seem to have headed for the beach where Santa joined them a little later - proof in the picture below. 
Surf's up Santa!
14 wanderers left comments:
sue, i wasn't aware of the aussi santa version, LOOOVE it!! and thanks so much for sharing some quite amusing historical santa facts. i quite like the chubby version, he looks more friendly than the tall skinny one. wishing you a joyful season!
Love your vintage pictures Sue. It's fun to see Santa transforming :)
So nice santa's! I love the one with the beer ;-)
We laughed here at the kangaroos replacing reindeer - thanks for sharing. Have a good day.
Ros
Thanks so much for these funny images - I loved out loud infront of my monitor... ;o) Have a nice Santas Day.,.
hahaha! Love your santas and the boomer sleigh is the best!
Such a fun post! I learned a few things! Ha! WW-too funny!
What a lot of fun information! Of course it would be summer in Austrailia, but I hadn't thought about it till you mentioned it! Thanks for sharing all of it and for the wonderful music! Happy St. Nicholas Day!
Lots of wonderful images and information, thanks for sharing! :)
Oh...this is sooo fun! Love the images you chose and I just looove your sense of humor! :D Wouldn't mind joining Santa on the beach though after Christmas is over..lol Happy Holidays!
This looks rgeat and so much fun. Hope you had a wonderful day.
Really fun Santa info and I'm enjoying your holiday music selection very much! Thank you!
Happy St. Nicholas Fest!
being a north east usa native of the US i cannot help thinking Santa's in bathing suits somewhat blasphemous :-) certainly Santa cannot be skinny cos he eats all the cookies when he stops at each house - at least he eats our cookies LOL! and Santa is blessed with eternal life and doesnt need to be worried about healthy eating as we mere mosrtals need to :-) can you tell i like my Santa fat and in his red suit? what can i say Sue... ROTFLOL!
too funny!! I loved seeing the pic of Santa at the beach. It must be so weird to celebrate Xmas at the height of Summer. I have never really thought about it because it is always so cold here. I guess you get used to it, but for me christmas would not be christmas if it was hot!! thanks for broadening my horizons.
Post a Comment