The St. Nicholas Family

It's the busy season!
You know me as Santa, but I am known by many names in many lands.
I am well over 100 now and my time as Santa is coming to an end, and as I am old and ready to retire my son rises to fill my boots. I will still deliver presents for a while after I retire, but when I do my son will be the chief Santa of our clan.
You may wonder if I am real. I assure you that I am. You may also wonder how I do such a big job every year. I have a lot of help. The St. Nicholas family is very big, and I have the job of "Santa" spread out not only to me, but many family members. I hope I can explain some of this to you, so you understand my true story and know me for who and what I really am. I will tell you some of our history, since so many of you have so many questions all the time. It all started in the 3rd century in the land you know today as Turkey. We are descended from Nicholas, was born in Patara, a village in Lycia, in the Byzantine Empire. Our family was wealthy, and raised with a strong belief in God.
Nicholas was very giving and caring. He became a Bishop, and even went to prison for being a religious man under Diocletian, the Roman Emperor of the time. When Constantine came to power, Nicholas was freed, and appointed by him to the Council of Nicaea in 325.
Nicholas worked his whole life giving to the poor and needy, and died December 6th. in the year 343. That day is celebrated as St. Nicholas Day, like Christmas is, in many parts of the world.
Nicholas had a son with a Celtic woman while he was living in Greece, and her tribe migrated to the Northern shores of the Black Sea. Their son's name was Kringle. When Kringle grew up and was old enough to travel he sought out his father, and his natural love and generosity were refined by his father's teaching and love, and Kringle took Nicholas as his last name. When Nicholas became a Saint, the family added St. to the surname. When Saint Nicholas died he was buried in Myra, a "relic" called "manna" formed around his body. Kringle took some of this from Nicholas' grave to bring home. This "manna" had special powers which included healing and health, and when Kringle was caught in a freak winter storm, it was this same "manna" that he had collected that saved him and restored his strength and saved his life.
Kringle's mother (we don't know what her name was) came from a family of grain keepers and bakers, and back then our tribe was nomadic, never in one place very long. The St. Nicholas family baked and lived doing good works for generations. David St. Nicholas was the first of us to leave gifts and food and money in shoes. The act of giving to others which was started by Nicholas became a family tradition. Back then shoes were often left by front doors, making the job of giving in secret an easy one. The practice kinda stuck, and changed into leaving gifts in stockings by fireplaces as time went by. That is how that tradition you know today started.
Our family calling of helping the less fortunate and poor progressed into a way of life. The traditions of baking rebuilt our family fortune, much of which was given away by the original Saint Nicholas. More and more the family grew, and the "manna" saved from the grave of Saint Nicholas was cultivated and grown and baked into the pastry and cookies the family baked. No one knows who started using a little manna in our baked goods, but we know it was came about because the manna had saved Kringle.
Eating baked goods with manna in them kept our family healthy and we began to have longer and longer lifespans. Also, a popular pastry our family made became known as a "kringle", and the name is now a common nickname for Santa.
Every eldest son was bestowed with special family secrets that you would call "magic", which he would share with his wife and pass on generation to generation. Our family kept very private, and did good deeds in secret, giving gifts and food to those who suffered. This task became our family's mission. Myths and legends developed over time because of our family and the things we did.
Christopher V became known as Sinterklaas. He was the first of us to make being "Santa" a family business. Eventually we were found out by a mean king who sent out his troops to destroy us, so our family fled first to Belgium then north to Koruatunturi, Finland, and we later traveled to Dalecarlia, Sweden. Everywhere we went legends grew, and were continued because family members would always split off and stay behind. Christopher V had a brother named Peter, who moved to Russia, where he became known as Ded Moroz. Peter was the first "Santa" to dress in red. The Santa suit today has its roots in robes like those of priests from old times and from Peter's bright robes he did his Santa work in.
As the family grew, more and more the legend of "Santa" spread. Most of my branch of the family lives in Greenland, deep in a mountain under the ice, which is where toys are still made and we make much of our equipment. My sons and daughter Kristen and I live in upper Canada, near the magnetic North Pole, and that is where my father, my children, and I were born and raised. We have family homes all over the world, but out headquarters is here in the islands of the far Canadian North. We are near the "Eye of Christmas". Only a few Nunavut Eskimos know where we are, and a few scientists who we know can keep our secret. I come from the direct line of first born sons, but our family is so big, and I simply rule over our clan.
Our family is in almost every land in the world, and we have secret locations all over the world. Our investments made us very rich, and while we used to make all of our own toys and treats, now only some of our toys are hand made at our workshops. Our secrets of science have given us the ability to hide, often in plain view. Many of our toys are made world-wide, and we own stock in or outright own many toy-making companies. I travel the world, yet mostly stay in North America, every year. Several times a year our family meets to plan for Christmas. It is like a convention and family reunion all in one and you would never know it because we blend in so well. We don't only plan for Christmas. We also work toward world peace and to end hunger world-wide. In some ways we run how we operate like a business. There is much to do and many decisions to be made. It is a big responsibility, but we all enjoy it.
In some places in the world "Santa" comes by horse, reindeer came later when we first moved to Finland. Do reindeer "fly"? No, but they can "jump" great distances, and through science we developed a way to "reflect" gravity and the sleigh and team are shaped to create lift, so one jump can take a sleigh great distances. Years back we also learned how to "bend" or "traverse" time. Think of it this way. If you run your hand through mud, it is resisted and goes slow, through water it can go faster, and through air even faster. We just found a way to make how we move have less resistance, so while time passes the same way, we pass through it faster, but don't age faster, so what feels like hours as we slide through it doesn't age our bodies. This also makes us go so fast that no one can see us.
I was born in 1896. I will retire in ten years or so, but my eldest son does about 20% of all my work now. I was trained and taught by my father when I was 26, and that was in 1922. I took over as Santa in 1935. Dad still helped for years, and passed away at the age of 172 in 1971. He made toys until 1966, and we are still going through his notes making toys he designed. There are 96 Santas. I have four sons, and my eldest will be the chief of the clan when I retire, but my four boys, my daughter Kristen, and nephews Michael and Paul are the Santas for most of America and Canada, and some of Mexico. Each Santa has their own section of the world they take care of, and are responsible for. Many people have created many stories about "Santa", but the truth is hard to explain, and we like it when people think of magic and love this time of year. There are just so many stories about Saint Nicholas and Santa, and there is a bit of truth in all of them, but we simply cannot go public with our secrets and continue to do the good work we do.
To hide our identity where some of us live in plain view, we use the maiden name of the women our men marry. If one of my sons gets married and decides to live say down the block from you, his last name might be St. Nicholas, but would more likely be the last name of his wife. The St. Nicholas family is big and we are all over the world, and we all work to make the world a better place. Christmas is magic, because the myth, and reality, of what Santa is and what our family does makes the world a better place and brings love and happiness to many people.
The world needs hope, and peace, and a time to remember family and friends. So remember as Christmas comes to share what is best about life, and remember those who are less fortunate than you. I wish I had the magic to end starvation and war and so many other evils in the world. I can't. But I can bring gifts, and hopefully the lesson that we all are the family of man.
This season can give hope, let people recharge themselves so they might be better and fight the fight for equality and kindness and peace. The gifts I give are given so you might learn the lesson of Saint Nicholas, which is that when you give to others the best in you, from the heart, you get back so much more.
Love is the greatest gift, and you only get love when you give love.If you can carry Christmas in your heart every day, you will understand why my family has done this thing for 1,700 years.
May love and peace fill your heart and family all the year long.

Merry Christmas!

Christopher St. Nicholas X
(Santa Claus)

I got this letter not long ago.... My answer follows it.

Dear Santa,

My name is Alex and I am nine years old. I hope that you will have a good time for the rest of the time that you are still Santa Claus. Merry Christmas, you are the best Santa yet and you are cool. Thank you for everything that you do, I will try to remember and learn from your example. Do you make your toys by hand or by machine? Are your reindeer really named Comet, Dancer, Prancer, Cupid, Blitzen and so on? Thank your family for me, too.
Love, Alex

Merry Christmas to you Alex!

In answer to your question, we still make some toys by hand, but the vast amount of toys that need to be produced have made us turn to factory production and some outsourcing to meet demand. We own rights to and have designed many toys, and even own a few toy companies, although for reasons you can understand I can't let anyone know what or where. The St. Nicholas clan has also made many inventions through the years, and the wealth we make from rights to certain products pays for our yearly Christmas toys, and many toys are also donated by many companies which we distribute.
As far as the names of my reindeer and of Santas of generations past, the answer is both yes and no. In 1822 a man named Clement Clark Moore wrote a poem titled "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas". You know it as "Twas The Night Before Christmas". In that poem he named eight reindeer.
Back then, my father was the main Santa and we used four reindeer, except in the West, where four horses pulled a bright red wagon. Back then, there were only twelve Santas world-wide. In Finland there was a Comet, there was a Prancer in Canada, and in the 1,700's there was a Cupid in Greenland, but he had passed on by the time the poem was written.
My father did eventually name his personal team after all the named reindeer in the poem (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen) (and it's Donder, not Donner), but reindeer have three full names, much like dogs and horses and people do. So the poem, which is part truth and part imagination, became more ture in later years. There have also been two horses that pulled wagons or sleds named Prancer, one named Dancer, and one Vixen.
These days those names are usually found as middle names more often than first names. Rudolph, however, is a story of pure fiction, although some reindeer do have it in their name here and there, and one reindeer born in the 1950's had a bright pink nose, and of course my father and mother insisted he be named Rudolph.
My dad loved the story. I appreciate hearing from you.
Much love to your family, and remember always to do and be your best.

Merry Christmas,
Santa


Thank You to everyone who has been sending me mail and is concerned about the ice up here melting. Christmas Village isn't too far away from The Eye of Christmas which is near 75.26' North by 110 West in the Queen Elizabeth Islands north of Victoria Island.
The first outsider to visit us besides the Nunavut Eskimos was the British explorer Sir William Parry from 1819 to 1820, because he was iced in and trapped in a place he called Winter Harbour.
My father found his party and left them supplies until the conditions got really bad and they were invited to spend time at Christmas Village until they were able to proceed again. We still get visitors, but they are usually scientists, and are sworn to keep our secret.
The first Christmas Village was right in the Eye of Christmas on Melville Island. We are still nearby, living hidden in the base of a mountain. We have watched for some time as the ice melts around us. The St. Nicholas family hopes you children will work to protect our earth, which is the one present besides being good that you could give back to me that would mean the most.
Our island has very little vegetation, mostly hummocks of mosses, lichens, grasses. Our only woody species, the dwarf willow, grows like a dense twisted mat. But we have a diverse animal population of Polar Bear, Peary Caribou, musk ox, lemming, Arctic Wolf, Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, and Ermine.
In 2003 a Grizzly Bear and grizzly tracks were discovered by an expedition from the University of Alberta which is the most northerly report of grizzly bears ever. Our island has natural gas deposits, but we use geothermal energy.We also have very rare birds and geese that breed on our unique island.
Canada has given us a postal code of H0H 0H0, and our correct mailing address is as follows:

Christopher St. Nicholas
1 Gingerbread Way
Christmas Village, Melville Island
Northwest Territory or Nunavut Province
Canada H0H 0H0

But you must understand that I get a lot of mail, and check many sources to insure I know who is naughty or nice.
So again, Thank You to those of you who have sent letters of concern about global warming and if we are okay up here. Since we are hidden underground we are safe, but I do have concern for the vast wildlife we share this land with.
Your efforts are welcome and appreciated.Be good and keep the Spirit of Christmas alive every day!

Santa! (Chris)

This is a letter Kristen recently answered

My name is Timmy from St. Paul, MN. I want to know how do you get all the toys into one sled?

Hi Timmy!

We have lot's of help from different unions and companies, and toys are stored right in plain view in railway cars and big rig trucks, and sometimes warehouses.
The UTU, ARU and TWU unions help out in rail delivery of toys, and the Teamsters and OOIDA unions help out in trucking. They store in container boxes all the toys for an area, and each Santa meets up with them to reload the sleds and wagons we use.
Each Santa uses a different kind of delivery vehicle. My father Chris, who is the head Santa, still uses a sled. I have an old style milk truck that uses alternative fuel myself, and one of my brothers who does the Southwest likes to use a horse drawn wagon.
If it wasn't for our technology and the help of many, many people we could never get the job done. In some remote areas, some people who dress up and play Santa actually do it for real on Christmas Eve. There are just too many kids for one Santa to do the job in one night.
We now keep a data base and try to find out the best toy for each child. No one wants to spoil children, but try to give something that will be appreciated and make kids happy.
We are very busy with this years operation. I am taking a break so thought I'd reply for Dad. I hope you have a very good year!

Love and Best Wishes,

Kristen St. Nicholas