talkmagic.co.uk

For once, Greedo's come up with one that I like

19.....my road

20. An advert for fizzy pop.

21st..



from the excelent site...

http://www.santaisscary.com/

Was this not on Russell Brands Christmas Ponderland the other evening?

I love how scared that little girl looks, can you imagine her reaction to a clown?

22. a pair of magic knickers.

www.magicknickers.co.nz

Edit: go on admit it, How many of you thought this was a magic trick and went off to see the website ?

Discombobulator wrote:22. a pair of magic knickers.

www.magicknickers.co.nz

Edit: go on admit it, How many of you thought this was a magic trick and went off to see the website ?

I thought it was something to do with the Mormons.

23.

The end of an urban myth.

Popular belief has it that the red and white santa we all know and love,

( all, except those who have been naughty, and only get Coal)

was invented by the Cocacola company in 1930 for an advertisment campaign .

this is an urban myth.

the image bellow from 1890 shows, he was in red way before Coke.

I believe the idea is that Coca-Cola made the red and white santy the standard, and prior to his incorporation, he came in all manner of colours.

I thought that the red Father Christmas came from Europe and that in Britain before the 1800s he wore green.

Mr_Grue wrote:I believe the idea is that Coca-Cola made the red and white santy the standard, and prior to his incorporation, he came in all manner of colours.

nope.Urban myth once again. Even Coke themselves on their web site state that what they popularized, was his body shape.( he was pictured as being everything from a tall thin man, to a dwarf) The red and white came from the traditional European image of St Nicholas.
and indeed, it's this image that i get my santa from.
i wear the long robes of Nicholas, over the red knickerbocker style suit, because the image can be related to, by many children from countries that celebrate St Nicholas night, as well as sinterklaas.
( though i dont wear the bishops mitre)
Incidently its thought that the red comes from the red robes worn by a bishop some 300 years ago.

and the green image.. Thats derived from the Pagen myths, of hern the hunter, and the green man, and you can find links to him, in tudor times.

24.

In Iceland, there are 13 Santas, or Yule Lads, that live in the mountains. They are called Jólasveinar in Icelandic and in the old days they were nasty and teased and stole from people, but throughout the years they have adapted the more universal characteristics of Santa Claus. Each one has his own name according to character and they come to town one by one, 13 days before Christmas, the last one arriving on December 24th and then the first one leaves on December 25th. Now a days, they leave little presents for the children who have behaved good all year. The children leave their shoes on their window sills and the Jolasveinar but in it little gifts. Any children who have been naughty get a potato or some other reminder that good behavior is essential, especially around Christmas.


The first one to arrive is the yule lad Stiff Legs, (Sheep-Cop-Clod): He loves to suck milk from the sheep, but his stiff legs make that very difficult. In Icelandic he's called "Staurfotur".


The Second to arrive is the infamous Gully Gawk, (Gully Guy): Has a taste for the froth on the milk and keeps close to the cows.


The third is the yule lad Shorty, small and nimble and smacks his lips over the leftovers in the cooking pans, especially if they are burnt or gone bad.


Then there is Ladle Licker, (Fence-Post-Pal), so thin he resembles the ladles which he licks the food from.


The fifth to arrive is Pot Scraper, he snatches the unwashed pots from the kitchen and scrapes the insides with his fingers and tongue and leaves them quite clean.


Number six is Bowl Licker, very cunningly finds bowls that have been left unattended and finishes all food from them.


The seventh to arrive is door Slammer, he gets his kicks from slamming doors and making noise, using every chance he gets to disturb peoples sleep


Then the number eight is curd Glutton (Skyr Gobbler), dairy products are his favorite and if stored in closed containers he simply breaks through the lid with his fist.


Ninth to arrive is the great Sausage Snatcher, (Sausage Swiper), very skilful when it comes to climbing up into the rafters to steal sausages where tha hang after being smoked.


Then there is the not so popular Window Peeper, (Peeping Tom), he flattens his nose against every window to glimpse something to steal or at peoples actions inside.


The eleventh to drop by is Sniffer, he has a huge nose and sniffes out his favorite food, fried bread, wherever it is being made.


Twelfth of the Christmas boys to drop by is Meat Hook, he has a long pole with a hook on the end to put down the chimneys and into the meat hung on the rafters.


And the last to come is Candle Beggar, he loves candles of all sorts and can't make up his mind whether to eat them or watch their lovely light.

Merry Christmas!

facinating stuff.

Thanks Gunnar!

25. Santa holding his velvety sack bursting with gifts whilst placing a surprise in a hung up stocking