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Life and Times of Santa
Aired November 28, 2003 - 15:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: At this very moment, across the country, kids are lined up in malls and stores, waiting impatiently for their moment with Santa Claus. We saw a moment like that just a few moments ago live right here. It's been a Christmas ritual for as long as we all can remember, but exactly who is the man behind the jolly old elf with the big white beard?
Award-winning journalist Jeff Guinn has written "The Autobiography of Santa Claus." I guest he had a little himself from Santa himself, of course. And he's about to make some startling revelations about the life and times.
Good to have you with us, Jeff.
JEFF GUINN, AUTHOR, "THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SANTA CLAUS": Thanks very much for having me here.
O'BRIEN: First of all, why this book?
GUINN: I think that all of us take so many our Christmas traditions for granted. And that includes how Santa Claus got that name and why he comes on December 25. It's time to try to present the history. And, certainly, his perspective is the best way to do that.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go through those first two issues. The name, where does it come from?
GUINN: Originally, Saint Nicholas has was visiting the children of Dutch settlers in the new world. Most of the British colonists weren't celebrating visits from Saint Nicholas or anybody else at that time. The British kids heard the Dutch kids were getting gifts, asked who they were from, were told Saint Nicholas. But the language barriers made it pronounced "Sintni clus," "Sintni clus."
And the British kids thought Santa Claus was bringing presents. So that's a unique name to the new world and to America.
O'BRIEN: So "Sintni clus" to Santa Claus. All right, I'll take that one.
Now, what about December 25? This has something to do with the fact that it is the dark days of the years, but there's more to it than that, isn't it?
GUINN: Well, there is.
When the Roman Empire accepted Christianity as its religion of choice, previously, they had been celebrating Mithraism and had used the birth of Mithras as December 25 on their calendar. So, when they were going to switch over to Christianity and Jesus, December 25 was a convenient date for them. That's who we go ti.
O'BRIEN: There you have it.
OK. Now, what about this Italian custom, which a lot of us don't fully understand here? Most everywhere else, Santa Claus is a guy.
GUINN: Well, in Italy, Befana, an old woman, brings gifts. She brings them, by the way, on January the 6th, which is Epiphany. One of the big questions about Santa is, how does he get around the world in one night? And the answer is, there are three, December 6, which is Saint Nicholas Day, December 25, and January the 6th.
O'BRIEN: All right, now, finally, before we let you get away, why the North Pole? Why the elves? Why the workshop up there? Labor cheap?
GUINN: No, Santa always wants to be what children expect him to be. And a cartoonist named Thomas Nast in the 1850s started drawing him living at the North Pole. He needs the privacy, obviously. And it's a good place to work.
O'BRIEN: Isn't Thomas Nast the one who drew Boss Tweed and all of that in New York? That's interesting, that he got into Santa, too.
GUINN: Well, very much so. And he's the one that gave us Santa as an elf. And later on, only Coca-Cola commercials finally revealed he was a full-grown man, quite full-grown.
O'BRIEN: Ah, Coca-Cola gave us the full-grown man. All right, the roly-poly red-suit guy comes from the fizzy sugar water. All right, go figure. Thank you for all those little tips.
Impress your friends. Get this book and you'll know an awful lot about Santa Claus. It is entitled "The Autobiography of Santa Claus," as told to by Jeff Guinn by the man himself, of course.
Thanks for being with us. Merry Christmas to you.
GUINN: Same to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 28, 2003 - 15:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: At this very moment, across the country, kids are lined up in malls and stores, waiting impatiently for their moment with Santa Claus. We saw a moment like that just a few moments ago live right here. It's been a Christmas ritual for as long as we all can remember, but exactly who is the man behind the jolly old elf with the big white beard?
Award-winning journalist Jeff Guinn has written "The Autobiography of Santa Claus." I guest he had a little himself from Santa himself, of course. And he's about to make some startling revelations about the life and times.
Good to have you with us, Jeff.
JEFF GUINN, AUTHOR, "THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SANTA CLAUS": Thanks very much for having me here.
O'BRIEN: First of all, why this book?
GUINN: I think that all of us take so many our Christmas traditions for granted. And that includes how Santa Claus got that name and why he comes on December 25. It's time to try to present the history. And, certainly, his perspective is the best way to do that.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go through those first two issues. The name, where does it come from?
GUINN: Originally, Saint Nicholas has was visiting the children of Dutch settlers in the new world. Most of the British colonists weren't celebrating visits from Saint Nicholas or anybody else at that time. The British kids heard the Dutch kids were getting gifts, asked who they were from, were told Saint Nicholas. But the language barriers made it pronounced "Sintni clus," "Sintni clus."
And the British kids thought Santa Claus was bringing presents. So that's a unique name to the new world and to America.
O'BRIEN: So "Sintni clus" to Santa Claus. All right, I'll take that one.
Now, what about December 25? This has something to do with the fact that it is the dark days of the years, but there's more to it than that, isn't it?
GUINN: Well, there is.
When the Roman Empire accepted Christianity as its religion of choice, previously, they had been celebrating Mithraism and had used the birth of Mithras as December 25 on their calendar. So, when they were going to switch over to Christianity and Jesus, December 25 was a convenient date for them. That's who we go ti.
O'BRIEN: There you have it.
OK. Now, what about this Italian custom, which a lot of us don't fully understand here? Most everywhere else, Santa Claus is a guy.
GUINN: Well, in Italy, Befana, an old woman, brings gifts. She brings them, by the way, on January the 6th, which is Epiphany. One of the big questions about Santa is, how does he get around the world in one night? And the answer is, there are three, December 6, which is Saint Nicholas Day, December 25, and January the 6th.
O'BRIEN: All right, now, finally, before we let you get away, why the North Pole? Why the elves? Why the workshop up there? Labor cheap?
GUINN: No, Santa always wants to be what children expect him to be. And a cartoonist named Thomas Nast in the 1850s started drawing him living at the North Pole. He needs the privacy, obviously. And it's a good place to work.
O'BRIEN: Isn't Thomas Nast the one who drew Boss Tweed and all of that in New York? That's interesting, that he got into Santa, too.
GUINN: Well, very much so. And he's the one that gave us Santa as an elf. And later on, only Coca-Cola commercials finally revealed he was a full-grown man, quite full-grown.
O'BRIEN: Ah, Coca-Cola gave us the full-grown man. All right, the roly-poly red-suit guy comes from the fizzy sugar water. All right, go figure. Thank you for all those little tips.
Impress your friends. Get this book and you'll know an awful lot about Santa Claus. It is entitled "The Autobiography of Santa Claus," as told to by Jeff Guinn by the man himself, of course.
Thanks for being with us. Merry Christmas to you.
GUINN: Same to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
