To some, the legendary Santa Claus can be seen as a child’s best friend, serving as a good role model for kids every holiday season. But what do you really know about Santa Claus? Where did he come from? Why does he only like milk and cookies? There truly is more to him than how he is depicted in our culture today.

Santa Claus – also known to some as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Khris Kringleor, Father Christmas – originated in the culture of the Western world. He was said to bring gifts to the homes of children who were well-behaved.

The image of Santa Claus only became popular in the United States because of the influence of an 1823 poem. As a result, that image of Santa Claus was reinforced in radio, song, books, television, films and advertising featuring the gift-giving man.

Santa Claus, of course, has a long list that categorizes children according to their behavior: bad or good, naughty or nice. If you’re naughty, you get a lump of coal and if you’re nice to get a toy. He has elves that work for him in the North Pole and he’s married to a Mrs. Claus that keeps him comfort even after he travels around the world in a sled pulled by reindeer.

If you knew about Santa Claus when you where younger you believed in him for the longest time until you realize that your parents were really the ones buying you all those gifts. To that, I think it’s just a way to get children excited about Christmas so they can leave the milk and cookies because that’s what he likes and hope they get that present they wanted on Christmas Day.

Recently, I interviewed five-year-old Jai Martin on what he had to say about Santa: “I love Santa Claus he brings me gifts he works at the North Pole and I took a picture with him it was fan I love Santa Claus.”

Now of course, we all know that the Santa Claus Jai was referring to is just an old man pretending to be Santa Claus, but that comes to show the power of a child’s imagination and how believing in even the most whimsical things like Santa Claus can help us spread joy and happiness to everyone, especially during the holiday season.