Kris Kringle
Country of Origin: Germany & America

he figure of Santa Claus first begins to show up among the Pennsylvania Dutch in the mid 1820s in the form of Kris Kringle, or as he was also known, Belsnickle. Belsnickle is a derivative of the German "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.

Sources for the History of Kris Kringle:

The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum

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