Santa

If you flip through the pages of holiday history, you won’t find a character who’s traveled quite as far—geographically, culturally, and mythologically—as Saint Nicholas. From a soft-spoken bishop in ancient Asia Minor to the red-suited global superstar known simply as Santa, his transformation is one of the most fascinating journeys in festive…

Every December, long before the first snowfall settles or the holiday lights flicker on, the name Saint Nicholas quietly slips back into our conversations. Even if you don’t celebrate his feast day,…

If you ask ten people what Christmas means to them, you’ll probably hear ten different stories. That’s the beauty of this holiday: it’s a mosaic woven from centuries of tradition, belief, folklore,…

Christmas may be one date on the calendar, but the way the world celebrates it is anything but uniform. Walk down a snowy street in Vienna, a sunlit plaza in Mexico City, or a lantern-lit alley in Manila, and you’ll find the same holiday spirit dressed in entirely different traditions. That’s the beauty of Christmas around the world — it adapts,…

The Man, the Myth, the Red Suit: Who Is Santa Claus, Really? A special holiday investigation Every December, one man manages to visit roughly 92 million homes in a single night, drink an estimated…