Before 1823, when "A Visit from St. Nicholas/'Twas the Night Before Christmas" was published in the Troy Sentinel, the world was divided into various Christmas denominations. Everyone wrote to a different gift giver, and while no one gift giver was more popular than the others combined, I think the most popular one was Christkind.
en.wikipedia.org
The German/Slavs/Brazilian amongst us might know Christkind. He's the Baby Jesus, perpetuated by Martin Luther who apparently really loved Christmas. He was supposedly the trope codifier of the Christmas tree, but what he was a real big believer in was that "salvation based Christianity." Where you could be decadent and indulgent, but you could still go to Heaven as long as you believed in Jesus.
When they say "Put Christ back in Christmas," this is the kid they're talking about. We get the name "Kris Kringle" from Christkind. But that all changed in the 19th century when Santa Claus managed to unite the warring faiths and become the main guy for Christmas.
Christkind - Wikipedia
The German/Slavs/Brazilian amongst us might know Christkind. He's the Baby Jesus, perpetuated by Martin Luther who apparently really loved Christmas. He was supposedly the trope codifier of the Christmas tree, but what he was a real big believer in was that "salvation based Christianity." Where you could be decadent and indulgent, but you could still go to Heaven as long as you believed in Jesus.
When they say "Put Christ back in Christmas," this is the kid they're talking about. We get the name "Kris Kringle" from Christkind. But that all changed in the 19th century when Santa Claus managed to unite the warring faiths and become the main guy for Christmas.
