The annual Winter Holiday Season, the month of December mainly, is the time of the year when nonprofit groups see a significant increase in giving. On average, approximately 40% of the year’s donations are received in December, but that percentage can range as high as 80% depending on the nonprofit. For example, Teach for America recorded 80.2% of its donations in December (2012).
If you apply the 40% multiplier to the $500,000,000 nonprofits receive annually, December’s impact is $200,000,000. December is important not only to the nation’s economy but to the personal economy of nonprofits!
However you slice the Winter/ Christmas/ Hanukkah seasonal pie, its enormous. Would it not be nice to know where at least one of the Holidays originated- our current Christmas?
It seems like the origin had much to do with a fellow named Nikolaos of Myra, aka “Saint Nicholas”, 270-343 AD, living in what is now modern day Turkey. There are several stories of his giving, from helping poor women in need of a dowry to assisting with getting people fed during a famine. Saint Nicholas was also known as the “Lord of the Sea”- a Christianized Poseidon. He was widely celebrated and revered.
The “Feast of Saint Nicholas” is held on December 6th, and on the eve of his feast day a candle would be lit and meat would be abstained from. He is also credited as being the source of the popular “orange” citrus fruit being linked with our Christmas celebration in many areas of the world.
Are you seeing a tenuous link here, blurred somewhat by 1700 years, or so?
Along comes the Dutch Sinterklaas, a “traditional figure based on Saint Nicholas” according to Wikipedia. He, along with his trusty sidekick and companion Zwarte Piet helped distribute gifts to support the Saint Nicholas holiday, December 6th.
Sinterklaas is the sterner, more rigid, predecessor to the jolly, modern-day, Santa Claus figure.
But Sinterklaas was no loner. Instead of an elf or two, he had Zwarte Piet. Piet was the younger assistant to Sinterklaas and the more able-bodied of the Christmas duo.
Presumably Piet was invented to overcome any objection regarding an aged, overweight man, being able to do as much work as he was credited with in just one night. As an interesting aside, Piet was frequently depicted as a black Moor (from Spain) and sometimes the bag he carried was said to not only be used to deliver presents but to take away the bad children to the back-reaches of Spain.
If you really want to “dig in” then you can also find a link between Sinterklaas and Odin, a familiar and powerful God of the Germanic people.
The Reformation in the 16-17th century changed the gift giver from Sinterklaas and Piet to the Christ Child and moved the date to the modern day December 25th.
But in the 1770s the inhabitants of New York City, re-invented Sinterklaas and celebrated with feast day of “St. a Claus” as part of their Dutch history.
I think everyone reading this can take it from there. Sinterklaas was transformed into Santa Claus and a myriad of events occurred over a 150+ year period to create the popular holiday that we now know! Oh by the way, Kris Kringle- Miracle on 34th Street, a 1947 American movie, played by the actor Edmund Gwenn, and that's it!
This blog represents my personal opinion and does not represent the opinion, practices, or values of SignVine or any other organization or person. If you have feedback, please email michael@si
