Holidays as result of trade of fun ideas

Christmas has become a bit of a global holiday in its American form, with Santa Claus living at the North Pole with a toy workshop run by elves, and on Christmas eve he distributes gifts around the world via flying sleigh and reindeers.

This funny figure has its roots in the veneration of St. Nicolaus, a bishop who lived 2000 years ago. Children in Germany put boots out on the night of December 5, and find them stuffed with sweets and nuts the next morning.

The Dutch took their version of the good bishop Sinta Klass to New York, and then he got transformed to the Santa we know today, with an outfit that is rumored to owe its existence to Coca Cola.

Most children don’t worry about such niceties. They’re fascinated by a time of festive decorations, lights, and of course, the prospect of gifts. Some grownups see this just as an orgy of commercialism, but people have adapted and adopted festivities for centuries, if not millennia. In an interconnected world, ideas for having fun are traded as well.

Happy holidays!