Santa

Title: Santa

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Eric is a sophomore at Dartmouth College. He is from Plymouth, Minnesota and is Lutheran.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: Almost everyone who celebrates Christmas has a Christmas story that they believe in. These are typically told to children around the holiday times in order to create a festive mood and make everyone excited for Christmas. As the kids grow up, they begin to lose their belief in these legends because they start to realize that there parents were the source of the gifts. However these legends remain a large source of the classic Christmas symbols and festive decorations for all ages even though the legends are no longer believed to be true.

Cultural Context: The “Father Christmas” figure varies greatly between different cultures – changing primarily due to religious and geographical differences. In the United States it is typically Santa, though people from other cultures who have parents from other cultures may also believe in a different legend.

Item:

Eric shared his Santa legend with me. His version of the legend consists of a large fat man wearing red suit with a white beard bringing presents. Santa comes in through the chimney and brings the presents in the middle of the night.

Collector’s Comments:

This is the classic Santa legend that people in the United States are very familiar with. This has also permeated into other cultures versions of the Christmas legend, but is most commonly associated with the figure of Santa.

Collector’s Name: Alec Vaules

Tags/Keywords:

Dartmouth Folklore Archive