Where I work, trainees have to perform something at what is called the "advent coffee". It's coffee and cake, games, talking, it's not one of those infamous office Christmas parties. Being a Grinch, in my many years there, the only time I attended was when I was a trainee and had no other choice.
As none of us five wanted to own up to playing more than the recorder which was regarded to be not advanced enough, we looked for something else to do and ended up with Christmas traditions in different countries. I picked the USA and talked about Santa, his workshop at the North Pole and his elves.
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| The Workshop of Santa Claus from 1873 GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK |
In Germany, we didn't necessarily have Santa as the gift bringer on Christmas depending on the region, so of course we also didn't have Christmas elves. I'm not sure how the Christ Child managed the job, it's hard to imagine a bunch of angels working in the workshop.
Little supernatural beings have been around in different cultures for a long time, but the Christmas elves of the English speaking world seem to have turned up in the 19th century.
The famous poem from 1823, A Visit from St. Nicholas, called Santa himself a jolly old elf. Different sources claim that Lousia May Alcott has written a book called The Christmas Elves in the 1850s, but it was never published, so nothing is known about how she described her elves.
Nowadays, Santa's Elves are usually dressed in green, red (or both), often with striped stockings, a hat, pointy ears and shoes with bent up tips, and often they have bells on their clothing or shoes.
They have many responsibilities from hiding the workshop from human eyes to tending to the reindeer and of course making all the toys in the workshop. Santa can be glad he has them!
Cat, you've brought back memories of when I was a small child and my mother would take me to visit Santa, sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas. There was always an "elf" or two in attendance to keep the line of children in order and to take our picture with Santa. When asked where the rest of the elves were, we were told that they were back at the workshop in the North Pole busily making toys for boys and girls for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI remember years later as an adult, I was waiting in line at the pharmacy and Santa (in full Santa costume) was in line ahead of me. A small boy around age 3 - 4, ran up to him, tugged on his pants leg and worriedly asked Santa if he was sick. Santa exclaimed, "Oh no, dear boy, I'm picking up medicine for Mrs. Claus, she has a bad cold." The small boy, smiled and exclaimed with relief that he was sorry Mrs. Claus we sick but glad that Santa would be able to make his rounds with the reindeer on Christmas Eve. There wasn't a single person waiting in line who didn't leave the store with a big grin on their face!
What a sweet story! Yes, Virgina, there is a Santa Claus ;-)
DeleteOh! How cool. :D
DeleteMichelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Santa needs to be glad - and grateful! The elves do all the work. :D
ReplyDeleteMichelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
I hope they have a good union! ;-)
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