Santa's Workshop News

Lea, age 9, asks Baba Noel do you come on Christmas Eve like my Santa, or a different night?, about the Mediterranean Sea, and why Lebanon celebrates Christmas and Eid Dear Baba Noel, My name is Lea and I am 9 years old. I live in Beirut, Lebanon, where we string colored lights along the balconies and my grandmother roasts chestnuts on the stove every single night in December. First, do you come on Christmas Eve like my Santa, or a different night? Second, a geography question: what sea is right next to Beirut? Third, a school question about my country: why does Lebanon celebrate both Christmas and Eid? I left you a few dates and a tiny cup of mint tea. Love, Lea, age 9, Beirut, Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon From the Desk of Baba Noel Dear Lea, thank you for the treat, it was wonderful. Now, your questions. Do you come on Christmas Eve like my Santa, or a different night? I come on Christmas Eve, the same night as my colleague Santa Claus, since our two routes overlap through this part of t...

Antoni, age 9, asks about Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, about the Vistula River, and Krakow's square Dear Santa, Czesc from Krakow. My name is Antoni and I am 9 years old. Every single Christmas Eve, no matter how sleepy I am, my whole family bundles up and walks to church for a service that starts right at midnight, and I always try my hardest to stay awake for the entire thing. My first question is: how is Christmas Eve traditionally observed with that midnight service? My second question is geography: what river runs through Krakow? My third question is from school: why is Krakow's main square considered one of the finest medieval squares in Europe? I left you pierogi, a few different kinds, and a slice of makowiec, a poppy seed roll. Love, Antoni, age 9, Krakow, Poland From the Desk of Father Christmas Dear Antoni, pierogi and makowiec made for a wonderfully filling stop, thank you very much. Now, to explain that midnight tradition properly, and your other questions. How ...

A puzzle-solver in Hartford asks why a Santa Claus rally happens, what the Connecticut River is, and how insurance works A Letter to Santa from Hartford, Connecticut Dear Santa, Hi Santa! My name is Penelope and I am 9 years old. I live in Hartford, Connecticut, a historic New England city by a river. I love reading and solving puzzles. My question is: why is there a thing called a Santa Claus rally? My geography question is: what is the Connecticut River? And my social studies question is: what is insurance, and how does it help people? Thanks, Santa! Love, Penelope (age 9) Santa's Reply Ho ho ho, hello Penelope! A puzzle solver asks a puzzling question, and I am happy to crack it for you. It is not a parade, as some folks first think! A Santa Claus rally is a phrase grown-ups use about the stock market, the place where people buy and sell small shares of companies. It is called that because it happens around Christmastime, in the last days of December into the new year, when shar...

Quem é o Pai Natal? O visitante da noite de Natal Em Portugal, o Pai Natal é a figura que traz os presentes às crianças durante a noite de 24 para 25 de dezembro. A sua imagem — homem idoso, de barba branca, casaco vermelho e saco de presentes — segue de perto a tradição internacional de Santa Claus, embora o nome português mantenha um tom mais formal e tradicional. A consoada em primeiro lugar Antes da chegada do Pai Natal, a verdadeira estrela da noite portuguesa é a consoada, a ceia familiar de 24 de dezembro, tipicamente composta por bacalhau cozido com couves e batatas, seguida de doces tradicionais como as rabanadas e o bolo-rei. Só depois da ceia, muitas vezes à meia-noite, é que os presentes são finalmente abertos. Meias na lareira, sapatos na janela As crianças portuguesas penduram meias junto à lareira ou colocam sapatos na janela, à espera que o Pai Natal as encha de presentes durante a noite. Em muitas regiões, esta tradição coexiste com celebrações católicas mais antigas, ...

Santa Claus Gives Financial Advice and It Is Shockingly Sensible When Haruto from Kyoto wrote to the North Pole asking whether lottery tickets were a reasonable retirement strategy, he did not necessarily expect a response. He certainly did not expect the response to be as thorough, as practical, and as diplomatically delivered as the one Santa eventually provided through  SantaClaus.top . Haruto's letter also asked about elf compensation, reindeer union negotiations, and mall Santas. Santa addressed all of these with characteristic patience. But it was the retirement question that lingered — because it revealed something that careful readers of North Pole correspondence have suspected for years: Santa Claus has quietly developed what amounts to a coherent and sensible personal finance philosophy, accumulated over centuries of observing what actually makes families happy versus what they thought would make them happy when they wrote their wish lists. Santa's Core Financial Pr...

Wer ist das Christkind? Ein Engel statt eines alten Mannes In weiten Teilen Süddeutschlands, Österreichs und der katholisch geprägten Schweiz bringt nicht der Weihnachtsmann die Geschenke, sondern das Christkind: eine engelhafte, meist blond gelockte Gestalt mit Flügeln und einem goldenen Gewand. Anders als der bärtige Weihnachtsmann ist das Christkind unsichtbar. Es klingelt kurz, und wenn die Kinder ins Zimmer kommen, sind die Geschenke bereits unter dem Baum, der Bote selbst aber längst verschwunden. Eine Erfindung Martin Luthers Die Figur geht auf Martin Luther zurück, der im 16. Jahrhundert versuchte, die Verehrung des katholischen Heiligen Nikolaus durch eine christuszentrierte Gestalt zu ersetzen. Ironischerweise hat sich das Christkind vor allem in katholischen Regionen durchgesetzt, während im protestantischen Norden Deutschlands heute eher der Weihnachtsmann dominiert. Der Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt Nirgendwo ist das Christkind präsenter als in Nürnberg, wo jed...