Saturday, November 27, 2010

Kris Kringle

Christmas season is in the air!   In the spirit of Christmas, we usually do Kris Kringle in our country. We exchange gifts weekly following different categories like something sweet, nasty, memorable,  colorful blah blah blah     = )   I don't  know, but I'm very excited receiving and giving presents. It makes me feel special somehow. I also enjoy  looking at people's reactions opening their presents. Some presents are super cool others might be so-so. It's not  the amount of gift  you're going to get but it's the thought that matters the most. Well anyway, as part of my tradition on my blog. I won't stop discovering the origin of different traditions whether special or unusual as long as it's worth knowing.  

What's Kris Kringle by the way?  I know that Christmas history and traditions came from different sources and have evolved throughout generations. Since, it's very entertaining and  worth knowing I tried to collate every piece of information I got on the net.

Kris Kringle originated from Germany and America. It's a name derived from Christ Kindel( Christ-Child). The name Kris Kringle is still popular as the Santa Claus of some Pennsylvania Dutch web pages today. He Carries a tiny Christmas tree and enters the house through a window left open. When he has left the presents, he rings a bell allowing the household to know of his departure. Thus" Kris Kringle" a name deriving from the German Christ Kindel is another name for Santa Claus.

The persona of Santa Claus showed up among the Pennsylvania Dutch in the mid 1820's in the form of Kris Kringle/Belsnickle (Pelz-nickle) which means "Nicholas in Furs"   Belsnickle would travel the Pennsylvania countryside ringing his bell looking for good children to give out his small gifts of cakes and nuts to. If Belsnickle came across a child who had not been behaving in the past year, he would warn the child to be good or else he might give them a smack with his rod. Anyways, whilst " Santa Claus" is more popular over the world, to some people Kris Kringle( Christ Child) has become used as another synonym for Santa Claus.

That's how the story goes guys.  I hope you learned something worth knowing today. Let's have a blast on our Kris Kringle!
Sources:
http://www.stcharleschristmas.com/kriskringle.htm
http://www.santaswarehouse.com.au/history_of_christmas/who_is_kris_kringle.shtml

8 comments:

  1. Interesting! That's a new one for me on Christmas traditions... how does the exchanging gifts weekly work out? When does it start and end? and what do you mean by themes?

    Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, St Nicolas... so many names for the same character! ;)

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  2. @Cris thanks for following. You really made my day =)



    1. The exchanging of gifts usually happens once a week (Weekly basis). It starts on the 3rd week of November and ends a week before your company's Christmas party. ( You can start exchanging gift as early as you want in the month of November. Make sure to create aliases/code names to have an element surprise on the revelation day).

    2. Regarding themes,it's really up to you to make cool categories. It's like playing games lol. Here are the sample categories:
    -Something sweet
    - Nasty
    -Round and soft
    -Cheesy
    -Slimy

    ReplyDelete
  3. My pleasure! Just returning the favour, and this looks like a fun place to hang out! :o)

    So it's an office thing then? That makes more sense now! Definitely makes for some long-lasting holiday fun, I'm envious! ;o)

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  4. Haha =) Try it with your family. I'm sure you would be having lots of fun. Have a great day!

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  5. What a great idea! We do "Yankee Swap" which is a little different but maybe we'll try this one sometime!

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Charlene thanks Ma'am for dropping by =)

    ReplyDelete
  7. what is something cheesy?

    ReplyDelete
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