Santa Claus—otherwise known as Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle—has a long history steeped in Christmas traditions. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red who brings toys to good girls and boys on Christmas Eve, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd century when Saint Nicholas walked the earth and became the patron saint of children. In today's episode, we explore not Santa's early roots, but also the Norse mythology roots as well.  To cap off this episode we discuss Santa in America and the commercialization of the Kris Kringle.

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In Part 2 we discuss the commercialization of Santa and his pagan roots.

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