SANTA CLAUS!

Whether you're stuck dealing with racist Uncle Barry or chilling at home eating Chinese food and watching movies, we decided to get you through the day with a sneaky lil history on the origins of Santa Claus! And it's a pretty intense history tbh. There's pimping out women for cash, children being turned into ham and eaten, and way more guns than you would've thought.Oh, and we answer the question everyone asks in primary school: Was Santa's red and white suit really invented by the Coca Cola company?

We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's this:

This is an excellent documentary about Christmas traditions from around the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crocEiyluyk

Read about the 'real' Saint Nick's life https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas

Check out Santa's appearances in wartime propaganda https://www.history.com/news/santa-goes-to-war

Some more details on Sinterklaas traditions https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/holland.shtml

Here's some detail on how the New York Knickerbockers made Santa a thing in the USA http://historydetectives.nyhistory.org/2018/12/the-new-york-city-origins-of-santa-claus/

Email us your suGISTions! justthegistpodcast@gmail.com

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