I'd like to wish this OB a happy Sinterklaas

It's a celebration my country has held since the spanish wars in Europe.
It was first, long ago, a bed time story to scare the little children. In it a scary Catholic Pirate went to Holland on his ghost ship to kidnap bad children and take them away to hell.

Well after a hundred years the story changed when poeple discovered you could raise you're kid without treaths to their lifes too. Saint Klaas was born.
Instead of a bloddthristy pirate, he slowly was transformed into a nice Saint that arrived in our harbor dressed in red robes of a priest to give presents to those who were good, together with his army of friendly Piets, black man dressed in spanish conquistador robes.

That Story has still lived on to this day in my country:
every 21 november a man in red robes appears in our harbor with his piets and stays in our country till 5 december to shower us with gifts and candy.

When you put you're shoe next to the fireplace at the evenings, the next morning it's filled with candy.

Friendly piets march through the streets with presents.

And on 5 december, when everyone is fast asleep. Sinterklaas himselfs rides over the roofs on his horse and drops down presents and poems for all the children who have been good down the chimney.

Then he returns to his hide-out in spain, and craft more toys for next year.


don't you think that all has a striking resemblence to another certain man, dressed in red robes, with a pretty similar name who has started all of this a lot later?

Well, hope that clears up the mystery to you about Santa's origins......

Sweet. Now I know why everyone really loves santa (besides presents) He's a pirate! Everyone loves Pirates! Like Johnny! Anywho, Thank you for wishing me a happy Sinterklaas. I hope you (will?) have a happy one too!

Well, he's not really a pirate anymore these days. He's a long white bearded and moustacheshed gentleman carrieing bishops clothes in red and a metre long staff with a great book about who's been naughty that year.

I wonder why the American version changed so much........

I don't think they liked the Idea of : Great white man with black underlings. :tongue:
Oh well, luckely there are still little poeple to pick on as elves :laugh:

The Ol' Santa was a pirate? Now that's shocking...Wait, but that beard is one prove...

Only one problem, Merauder. :sweatface: Saint Nicholas or "Sinter Klaus" lived during the 4th century, and has been popularly honored since the 6th century.

Also, he's arguably the most popular and represented saint, (In fact, he's the patron of so many things - including children, of course.) so I don't believe your Sinterklaas is the same as Santa Claus, but your story's amusing. But I hear in the old days he came with a little devil with him to punish little kids just because he was too nice to do the punishing himself, so there's a consolation for ya.


Coca Cola! seriously. The jolly, fat, white-bearded man in a red suit and cap and an unusually large belt is an image invented to promote coke in the yuletide season. but that doesn't mean he was a pirate before then. :sweatface: He was just Saint Nicholas.

O yah, Happy Sinterklaas to you! It sounds like fun - poems down the chimney! :)

That was because they changed the pirate into a Saint after a while.

Saint Nicholas was indeed honored for a very long time, but nly as a patron for mainly the fleet. It didn't become a childrens festival after the spanish wars. The story about the pirate and the Saint merged into Sinter klaas after a while:

Saint Nicholas wasn't spanish at first. He now is in the festival thanks to the stories influence: the piets in Spanish get ups, the " pepernoten" we get as candy: (pepernoten can be translated as peppernuts, pepper and other spices were a rare commodity in the imperial era, ussually shipped by the spanish)
and Saint Nicholas doesn't reside in Spain.

Indeed sinterklaas is about Saint Nicholas, but the stories and spanish influences can't be denied.

Allthough we cannot be a 100% sure, there is strong proof that Santaclaus is a "descendant" of Sinterklaas. Dutch Kolonists brought Sinterklaas over to America, but he was relatively unknown at that time. Old tekst and pictures are recovered in America about dutch settlers celebrating a holiday revolving around a hybrid sinterklaas. For decades this was unknown, but indeed after a while, commercial businesses like Coca Cola created american holidays recovered from old european festivals: easter is a celtic costum for instance.

Sinterklaas was also salvaged and bent into Santaclaus from the Dutch settlers. The small similarities to even big ones like the similar names are undeniable.