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Group of German catholics want to ban Santa

The Bonifatiuswerk of German Catholics – a church aid organisation – has begun calling for "Santa Claus-free zones."

The organisation sees Santa as "an invention of the advertising industry designed to boost sales" and as "a representative of consumer society who has little to do with the historical figure of St Nicolas."...

Santa Claus comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, which means St Nicolas, and was introduced to the American colonies in the 1600s. In 1808, the American author Washington Irving created a modern version, depicting him as a jolly Dutchman. In 1863, a German immigrant called Thomas Nast drew a short plump Santa for Harper's Weeklyand gave him his traditional red clothing. The artist Haddon Sundblom then finished Santa as he is widely known today when he drew a larger-than-life grandfatherly figure for Coca-Cola.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)