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Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It is often claimed that during the American War of Independence, the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam), reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past. [55]
In the Netherlands, his feast day is celebrated on 5 December, the Eve of Saint Nicholas. It is believed that Sinterklaas travels from Spain by boat. His arrival each November is a big event for children. In the days leading up to 5 December, young children put their shoes in front of the chimneys and sing Sinterklaas songs.
For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Anglicized into "Santa Claus" (a name first used in the U.S. press in 1773) [25] but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat.
The tradition of the fève dates back to Ancient Rome: according to UNToday, during the festival commemorating the god Saturn, slaves were freed for a day and a “king” would be selected at random.
This page was last edited on 15 December 2023, at 19:46 (UTC).; Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply.
The picture, painted in the chaotic Jan Steen style, depicts a family at home on December 5, the night celebrated in the Netherlands as the Feast of Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas. Jan Steen and his contemporaries
A person in a traditional Zwarte Piet costume A person in a modernized Sooty Pete costume. Zwarte Piet (Dutch: [ˈzʋɑrtə ˈpit]; Luxembourgish: Schwaarze Péiter; West Frisian: Swarte Pyt; Indonesian: Pit Hitam), also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is the companion of Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas; French: Saint-Nicolas; West Frisian: Sinteklaas; Luxembourgish ...
1900s illustration of Saint Nicholas and Krampus visiting a child. The Krampus (German: [ˈkʁampʊs]) is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (Krampusnacht; "Krampus Night"), immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December.