1/3 of adult Canadians 'personally believe in Santa'

[Jeff]

Canadians belief in Santa very strong: poll

Dec 21

Yes, Virginia, a whopping eight million Canadians believe in Santa Claus — and that figure doesn’t include children.

According to a national survey that asked adult men and women if they put faith in the Fat Man, nearly one-third of Canucks “personally believe in Santa.”

Middle-age Canadians were more likely to profess their allegiance to Old Saint Nick (37 per cent) than those older or younger than themselves (32 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively).

The Ipsos Reid survey, commissioned by CanWest News Service and Global National, polled 1,000 Canadians to shed light on the ways in which grown-ups view Santa.

Carl Anderson, often called the world’s foremost Santa expert, says the man in red is divisive for the same reason all robust cultural symbols can inspire opposing reactions.
“Santa resonates at a far deeper level than most people realize,” says Anderson, a University of Texas psychologist. “That’s why there’s always a great uproar when, every year, somebody takes it upon themselves to let children know he’s not real.”

“It’s part of what the whole Santa practice represents, which is, in a nutshell, hope,” he says.

link

Our Supreme Court isn't helping...

[annie aronburg]

The United State's Supreme Court Justices are going to be soooo jealous!

Annie

[FourthBase]

98% of the 1/3 believe in answering poll questions tongue-in-cheek?

[Et in Arcadia ego]

98% of the 1/3 believe in answering poll questions tongue-in-cheek?

[judasdisney]

Public opinion polls show that more than half of Icelanders believe in Elves.

The film Huldufólk 102, which is a great documentary if you get a chance to catch it, describes Icelanders' eyewitness experiences with "Elves" that sound suspiciously like "classic" humanoid and abduction experiences. Icelandic "elves" have a dark side. Among Icelandic superstitions is the belief that you should never leave one person alone while the rest go to church or to a restaurant, because they could be abducted and harmed by the Elves.

There's a less-informative article here about how seriously Icelandic custom has grown around the belief in Elves.

A Lonely Planet mp3 Podcast on the topic can be found here.

The Elves in question do not appear to be contractors for or employees of Santa.

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

I just had some eggnog so I'll get all egg-heady. *urp*

Carl Anderson, often called the world’s foremost Santa expert, says the man in red is divisive for the same reason all robust cultural symbols can inspire opposing reactions.
“Santa resonates at a far deeper level than most people realize,” says Anderson, a University of Texas psychologist.

There's an incredible number of social reinforcers in the Santa story people pick up as toddlers. No wonder people answer a poll that way.
The power of conditioning, group consensus, and social validation is also in play almost as much as it was in Jonestown.

>Santa is a serious behavioralist model. Action = reward.

So answering 'no' to the question, "is there a Santa?" would both indict parents, schools, churches, merchants, etc. as all frauds and deprive children of what is supposed to be personal validation for being 'good.' Answering 'no' is giving a lump of coal to everyone and everyone wants to think of themselves as generous.

>Santa's great for having something friendly to look forward to coming out of the sky and into the house besides nuclear missiles, napalm, and boogiemen.

>Santa's great for friendlying-up the status of old white males with loot, especially when that's the post-WWII US anchor for social cohesion and obedience to authority.

>Santa's great for capitalism, not just for hyper-consumption and retail profits, but for validating the myth that rich and poor get what they deserve, an important class message for social stability in the face of vast disparities of income in the US.

>Santa's great for subliminal color psychology used to reinforce support for the Republican party, too. Warm Republican red Santa is opposed to cold Democrat blue Jack Frost (Martin Short) on one Christmas movie poster this year.
Hey, it's Disney. What a surprise.


>'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,' the claymation TV special, hit the air in December, 1964, a time when concerns about exposure of Project Paperclip and the Gehlen Organization had CIA scrambling to minimize the potential damage to kid's psyches and gave them aburdities like 'Hogan's Heroes.'
So I've wondered whether the reindeer was used to cover for Arthur Rudolph.

*urp* I think this eggnog was spiked....

[Sepka]

I certainly believe in elves (and the other Good People) as objectively real, as something that exists apart from man, and perhaps existed before us as well. Santa's a trickier call, but I'd probably have answered 'yes' to the poll. If there isn't a Santa, there ought to be, and at this point it's probably safe to say that we've built ourselves one from hope and desire.

[KeenInsight]

I certainly believe in elves (and the other Good People) as objectively real, as something that exists apart from man, and perhaps existed before us as well.

So that would mean Lord of The Rings could have really happened!?

Just kidding... . I've read elvish and 'little folk' eyewitness accounts and all I can say is that they are intriguing.

[annie aronburg]

If there isn't a Santa, there ought to be, and at this point it's probably safe to say that we've built ourselves one from hope and desire.

At a certain time in my life, among a certain crowd, it was not uncommon to discuss people in terms of whether they were a "good pixie" or a "bad pixie". Perhaps it was an Oregon thing, I don't know...

http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/pixieland.html
http://theimaginaryworld.com/pixiekitchen.html

As I've learned more about the rainbow of beings on the autism spectrum I've wondered how many elves of lore (and yore) might have had William's Syndrome.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=0 ... 96be0f7f6f

From the occasionally dubious wiki:

Williams syndrome (also Williams-Beuren syndrome) is a rare genetic disorder,occurring in fewer than 1 in 7,500 live births. It is characterized by a distinctive, "elfin" facial appearance, along with a low nasal bridge; an unusually cheerful demeanor and ease with strangers, coupled with unpredictably occurring negative outbursts; mental retardation coupled with unusual (for persons who are diagnosed as mentally retarded) language skills; a love for music; and cardiovascular problems, such as supravalvular aortic stenosis and transient hypercalcaemia. The syndrome was first identified in 1961 by Dr. J. C. P. Williams of New Zealand.

The last part simply means they are easily heart-broken.

The clip Jeff posted a few months back of the woman in Nova Scotia (?) recounting her "little people" experience was one of the most moving things I have encountered here, which is saying something.

I've never seen a little person, but I have been a few places where they hang out. You have too.

So Satan Old Nick, I mean Santa St Nick, good Old Saint Nicholas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas
patron saint of, well, practically everything! Children, sailors, ships, prisoners...
from the infallible catholic.org

It is the image of St. Nicholas more often than that of any other that is found on Byzantine seals; in the later middle ages nearly four hundred churches were dedicated in his honor in England alone; and he is said to have been represented by Christian artists more frequently than any saint except our Lady. St. Nicholas is venerated as the patron saint of several classes of people, especially, in the East, of sailors and in the West of children. The first of these patronage is probably due to the legend that during his life time, he appeared to storm tossed mariners who invoked his aid off the coast of Lycia and brought them safely to port. Sailors in the Aegean and Ionian seas, following a common Eastern custom, had their "star of St. Nicholas" and wished one another a good voyage in the phrase "May St. Nicholas hold the tiller". The legend of the "three children" gave rise to his patronage of children and various observances, ecclesiastical and secular, connected there with; such were the boy bishop and especially in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, the giving of presents in his name at Christmas time. This custom in England is not a survival from Catholic times. It was popularized in America by the Dutch Protestants of New Amsterdam who had converted the popish saint into a Nordic magician (Santa Claus = Sint Klaes = Saint Nicholas) and was apparently introduced into this country by Bret Harte. It is not the only "good old English custom"which, however good, is not "old English", at any rate in its present form. The deliverance of the three imperial officers naturally caused St. Nicholas to be invoked by and on behalf of prisoners and captives, and many miracles of his intervention are recorded in the middle ages

.

I remember going to my father's office christmas party when I was about four and before it was my turn to sit on his lap, I noticed Santa had the exact same rubber boots as my dad. "Hey!" I said when it was finally my turn to sit on Santa's lap,"you sure do look a lot like my dad!"
Santa smiled and said, "Well, you know, we Irish men do all look alike."
It was another thirty years before it finally dawned on me.

Not that anyone asked, but this is the greatest Christmas ever captured on film courtesy of John Waters and the late, great Divine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iTSxiT2YWQ

Jayne County has fun Christmas memories too:

"We were Methodists, but then my mother started listening to this guy on the radio and joined this religious cult. It was one of these right wing christian religions where earthquakes are coming and its the Second Coming, and all the evil doers will be thrown into this lake of fire.
It alienated the whole family. My father started having an affair with a sixteen -year -old hair dresser. I mean, we couldnt even keep Christmas anymore. Every Christmas my daddy would drag a Christmas tree inside and say, "Decorate the tree, kids."
We'd start decorating it and my mother would come running into the room screaming, "This tree is a symbol of Nimrod and Nimrod fucked his mother"--no she didn't say "fucked" she said, "Nimrod married his mother to keep the Babylonian bloodline pure, and the Christmas tree is the Everything Tree! It's a symbol of the Babylonian Bloodline! It's pagan! It's an abomination!"
And we'd scream and she'd drag it out and my daddy would drag it back in and say,"Decorate the tree!"
And we'd day "Please, we don't wanna decorate the Babylonian symbol of evil."

Here's a little celebration of the tannenbaum for everyone on the re-birth of the sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0WMMy4IT9g

I'm looking forward to longer days.

Annie Aronburg

[annie aronburg]

Among Icelandic superstitions is the belief that you should never leave one person alone while the rest go to church or to a restaurant, because they could be abducted and harmed by the Elves.

Anybody seen Cold Fever,Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's Icelandic-Japanese road movie?

There's a funny scene where Hirata is left outside in his car while his travelling companions go inside to eat and be merry that alludes to this superstition. Thing get weirder for him after that and he eventually meets an elf.

Hirata (Masatoshi Nagase) is a successful Japanese businessman whose plan for a two-week holiday in Hawaii changes when his grandfather (Seijun Suzuki) reminds him that he should go Iceland.

Hirata’s parents died there seven years ago, and the seven year death anniversary is a significant event in Japanese culture. Hirata must perform a ceremony in the river where they died - the drowned must be fed by the surviving family members if they are to find peace.

Hirata goes to Iceland - to Reykjavík. His final destination is a remote river on the far side of the island. He decides to purchase an ancient, bright red Citroën DS to make the journey and meets several strange people along the way. These include the mystical woman who sells him the car, that only plays one radio station, a woman who collects photographs of funerals, two American hitchhiker/fugitives (Lili Taylor and Fisher Stevens), who turn out to be armed and dangerous, and nearing his destination, an old man (Gísli Halldórsson) who teaches Hirata how to drink the most potent alcoholic beverage in Iceland.

Annie

[JoseFreitas]

A fat, happy go lucky shaman from the Pole regions, flying through the Axis Mundi World Tree, talking to Elves, pulled by reindeers and high on Amanita Muscariae engendering potlatchs? Heck, I'll believe in him!

[abdulhaqq]

Santa Claus is evil. Think about it:

He's effectively replaced Jesus as the focus of Christmas. For children he seems to act as a commercialized substitute for God.

We tell children that there's an all-seeing, all-knowing man who despenses reward and punishment for their deeds. I have a theory that a child's bitterness about Santa may result in atheism later in life.

Basically what I'm saying is:

1. Santa Claus is a false idol.

2. Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are just pissed about Father Christmas.

[IanEye]

'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,' the claymation TV special, hit the air in December, 1964, a time when concerns about exposure of Project Paperclip and the Gehlen Organization had CIA scrambling to minimize the potential damage to kid's psyches and gave them absurdities like 'Hogan's Heroes.'

Hugh, you are aware of the Bing Crosby Hollywood Palace Christmas special from 1965, right?

Well, since it’s Christmas time…..


















“I see nothing…..”

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,' the claymation TV special, hit the air in December, 1964, a time when concerns about exposure of Project Paperclip and the Gehlen Organization had CIA scrambling to minimize the potential damage to kid's psyches and gave them absurdities like 'Hogan's Heroes.'

Hugh, you are aware of the Bing Crosby Hollywood Palace Christmas special from 1965, right?

Well, since it’s Christmas time…..
.....

Thanks for finding this, IanEye.
Great stills of a surreal Vietnam War Christmas in TV Nazi-ville with a laff track.
And 'Hogan's Heroes' was a Bing Crosby production, too.

Re: 'Hogan's Heroes.'
I think I found where the name might've come from.
The comic strip started in the 1890s called 'The Yellow Kid' took place in 'Hogan's Alley' and that was the original name of the strip. You can see the racist Asian allusion that might've been an inside joke-turned-alliteration with the word 'heroes.'

Merry Christmas Morning in Hogan's Alley December 15, 1895
(the image spreads the page so I'll put just the url)

http://cartoons.osu.edu/yellowkid/1895/1895-12-15.jpg

[Sepka]

The comic strip started in the 1890s called 'The Yellow Kid' took place in 'Hogan's Alley' and that was the original name of the strip. You can see the racist Asian allusion

Hogan's Alley is about an Irish immigrant neighborhood, Hugh. If the characters look vaguely asiatic (and I think they do) that's just the way Outcault draws people. The character's called 'the Yellow Kid' because of the colour of his shirt. It's bright chrome yellow in the colour cartoons.