Aka Santa Claus and St Nicholas. Nicholas was a 4th century bishop, a rich man who secretly gave gifts to the poor. One beneficiary was a man with three daughters who could not afford dowries to marry them off. Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down the man’s chimney which fell into a stocking that had been hung up to dry. The bishop was persecuted, exiled and imprisoned for his faith. After his death on 6 December, the date became an occasion on which children were given small gifts in his memory and, in some countries, children still open presents on St Nicholas’ Eve, 5 December.
Later, St Nicholas was usurped in popular culture by Father Christmas or Santa Claus. According to legend, FC/Santa travels through the sky on a sledge pulled by eight reindeer adorned with jingle bells to slide down chimneys and deposit presents by the fireplace. The story has endured despite the fact that most homes no longer have chimneys or fireplaces.
In these days of gender sensitivity - when even the archbishop of Canterbury has intimated that God may be gender-neutral - FC/Santa robustly adheres to a masculine identity. This year, councillors in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, have formally ruled that FC/Santa must be a man after a woman controversially offered to play the role in the town’s parade. This could keep lawyers in business for years.