Nice Santa

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

After giving everyone the creeps with mean Santa and Krampus, here's the 1950's jolly Santa we grew up with, right out of the famous Night Before Christmas poem. A big improvement, although he still does a good job of frightening little children.


St. Nicholas evolved into modern Santa Claus during a time of cultural transition in America. He started to show up with gifts on Christmas Eve instead of December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. Our domesticated Christmas with cozy families, decorated trees and gifts was an invention of Victorian times. Before that, the mid-winter season was characterized by raucous, drunken mobs roaming the streets and frightening the upper classes. Coming after harvest when work was finished, this was the time when workers and servants had leisure to party and demand more.

But by the 19th century, a new understanding of family life and children was also emerging. Childhood was coming to be seen as a stage when sheltering, training and education were needed. And so the season was tamed, turning toward commercialism and home activities. St. Nicholas began to fit the changing times. Santa was portrayed by artists in a variety of styles and sizes, but by the end of the 1920's a standard American Santa emerged. In 1931, Haddon Sundblom began 35 years of advertising that cemented Santa as an icon of commercial culture. Some say Coca Cola actually created the American image of Santa.

And the rest is Madison Avenue history. Santa didn't just drink Coke. After a long, hard day of chimney diving and sleigh flying, even an icon like Santa Claus needs to kick back and enjoy a fine smoke.

HO, HO, HO-- cough, cough, cough.
Happy Holidays!

Scary Santa

My grandmother Anna was born in Germany in 1903 and my grandfather Herman in 1900. This means our great-grandparents lived during the Victorian era, 1837-1901. And if that doesn't make a person feel old, nothing will.

Anna was sweet to us and we called her "Dutzie." My grandfather Herman looked strict so we were in awe of him, although I don't ever remember hearing a harsh word. In those days, a stern glance was all it usually took to make kids behave. But back when Anna and Herman grew up, their 19th century parents used tried-and-true methods like fear and guilt, including scary traditions at Christmas-- namely the German St. Nicholas. He carried a switch, and if you weren't good, guess what you got instead of a toy and an orange in your stocking?

When I was young, the highlight of the year was Christmas Eve at my grandparent's Pennsylvania farm. There was a little tree up on a table decorated with lights, lead tinsel and some ornaments Dutzie had brought over from Germany. It would look simple in our excessive modern world, but back then it was pure magic. She liked to tell us about the German St. Nicholas to make us appreciate just how good kids had it in the 1950's.

This is how I imagined her sinister "Santa." But there was worse. In many European traditions, Father Christmas had companions who accompanied him on his rounds. In Austria and Bavaria, St. Nicholas left the task of punishing bad children to Krampus, a classic devil with horns and a monstrous tongue. He swats naughty children with switches before dragging them to a fiery place below.

Naughty or nice, the choice is yours...

Grabbed by the ears...

Stuffed in a basket...

Ow!

And off you march in a long line of bad children...

There were plenty of horrific images to scare kids into behaving before Christmas, and the idea of a kindly Santa is a modern invention. More on that later...

Home

No, this isn't our house but it could be on our street, where a few ambitious neighbors go all out at Christmas. The Colorado weather was bright, cold and dry, so Seattle's dark dampness felt like a chilly wet blanket when we left the airport terminal last night. Never mind-- after a day of trudging down concourses and flying in crowded planes, driving those last few blocks felt like heaven. And it seemed like Christmas popped up on our street while I was gone. I was thinking how much fun it will be taking Nova out for evening walks to see the lights. Then I realized our house doesn't have a single decoration up, tree bought, card addressed, package wrapped or box packed. Time to get busy around here. But first, there's a mighty pile of laundry with my name on it:
(Just because you know how to build airplanes, doesn't mean you can operate a washing machine ;-)

Down, then up again

The long trip back to sea level starts this morning. It was a very special visit, but now it's time to go home. I arrived here in Cripple Creek with a blizzard at my heels, but head back down to Colorado Springs under blue skies on a brilliant morning. I just checked the weather, and see that Seattle has a delightful winter "air stagnation warning" going on. Never mind! I'll be happy to see John's face through the smoggy murk at SeaTac tonight.

Life at 10,000 feet

Double Eagle Casino
Cripple Creek

The Double Eagle Hotel is the "Bellagio" of Cripple Creek. I'm in a warm, quiet room on the second floor, but beneath me there's a flashing gambling casino, open 24/7. The sun is just coming up behind the mountains in a cloudless sky, and although the temperature is 5 below zero it's going to be a beautiful sunglasses required day up here.

The Cripple Creek webcam is on top of this hotel, so click here and hit refresh for a live view of town. The link should work-- don't let yourself get overly-stimulated viewing the downtown action :-)

Gambling (or I should say gaming) changed Cripple Creek forever in 1991 when Colorado voters allowed the town to establish legalized gambling. High tech casinos sprang up behind the original building fronts on Bennett Avenue, which were carefully preserved for historic atmosphere. This gives the disorientating sensation of walking through an old brick storefront into a jangling, banging, ringing, miniature Vegas-style casino. Outdoor lights are prohibited on the facades, except at Christmas (below) when the casinos go all out for a few weeks.

Bennett Avenue Casinos during the holidays

4 below zero

Cripple Creek, Colorado

This morning the temperature in Cripple Creek is minus 4, and the Weather Underground predicts it will warm up to a blistering 2 degrees today, with a 70% chance of "precipitation." That will probably be in the form of snow, ya think?

Of course all the locals and the few hardy visitors in town are snugged up in warm houses and rooms. Still, this is the type of extreme cold that gets a person's attention. And rightly so-- as my brother said on the phone yesterday, there isn't any margin for error and a simple goof out in the elements can have dire consequences.

Not to sound so gloomy. I'm fine, other than the typical high altitude complaints, and won't be straying more that a few populated blocks in any direction today. Blue sky and blinding Colorado sunshine is promised for tomorrow, which should be a magnificent and welcome sight on all this fresh snow.