How do you know Santa Claus?

Santa Claus is that white-bearded and red-jacketed old man, who has a very wise look but  also a lot of twinkles and wrinkles of laughter in the corner of the eye. When Santa Claus is at home he has usually a linen shirt, a red waistcoat and feltboots on in the wintertime. When he goes out, he changes the feltboots for leather Lapp boots and puts a warm overcoat on. Woollen socks and a red cap are necessities that he always must have on. When he is going to festive occasions Santa Claus puts on a bright-coloured tailcoat and brushes his beard very carefully. By the way, do you know that Santa’s beard is as long as one and a half younger elf?

In the summertime everybody likes to have lighter clothes on, so does Santa Claus, too.  - But the woollen socks he wants to have also in the summertime.- Very often he has shorts and a flowered shirt, for instance when he goes to fish. Santa Claus’ favourite colour is red. It is the warm colour of Christmas and it reminds the red cheeks of happy children.

You may have seen Santa Claus in some different dress or figure, too.  He can always assess the situation right, and that is why he appears in different figures, depending on the time and place. His appearance depends on the way the different people look at him, too. He is everybody’s Santa Claus, the friendly, timeless ambassador of Christmas.

Facts about Santa Claus                                                       

Santa Claus and Mrs Santa live in Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland. A  great number of elves and reindeer live there, too. Korvatunturi is a peculiar place: you can see it in every map, but it is very, very difficult to know the way there.

There is a large main building in which there are a spacious dining room, a huge library, Mrs Santa’s kitchen, and many other interesting rooms. There is, of course, a present-workshop and a very mysterious present-store, too

Korvatunturi is a suitable dwelling place for Santa Claus, because all children’s wishes can be heard there. That is why it has got its name Korvatunturi. That means: the ear-mountain. Besides, there is much space for Santa’s reindeer and hidden places for the elves. The reindeer and the elves are good friends and helpers of Santa’s. But from where has Santa Claus come to Korvatunturi? That is a secret. Nobody knows the answer. Not even Santa Claus himself. Sometimes, in the long white hours of the nightless Midsummer night, Santa Claus thinks of St  Nicholas, the patron saint of the poor. Two thousand years ago St Nicholas sailed from remote Rome to the North and helped people  - like Santa Claus today.

Some tens of years ago the Finnish Broadcasting Company, in a programme for children, revealed the situation of Santa’s dwelling place. Since that many, many people have wanted to visit there. Santa Claus had nothing against it, but he thought that Korvatunturi is quite a remote and hidden place for so many people to visit. That is why Santa Claus let build his Workshop Village at the Polar Circle, in the fringes of Rovaniemi city. There is also his cosy Chamber where he meets people from all over the world. Santa Claus likes to come by his chamber every day. He wants to meet all people who have come to visit there. 

Santa Claus’ Main Post Office is there at the Polar Circle, too. The communication and traffic services are much better there than in the far-away, outlying area of Korvatunturi. But how is it possible that Santa Claus gets so rapidly from Korvatunturi to the Polar Circle and from the Polar Circle to Korvatunturi? Nobody knows. The great fjelds conceal the secret. Sometimes people have seen him  jump to the sledge of Rudolf  the reindeer. Sometimes he has simply disappeared from his chamber, maybe through the fireplace. There is on the mantelpiece a key, and using that key it may be possible to get into secret tunnels that may lead as far as Korvatunturi. But these are only assumptions.

In every case, there is a lot of mystery and magic in real, genuine Santa Claus.