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St. Nicholas is called Svaty Mikalas and is believed to climb to earth down from heaven on a golden rope along with his companions: an angel and a devil. St Nicholas visits, and brings good children gifts along with the angel, and for those children who are bad, the devil is said to come with switches. St. Nicholas carries a basket filled with strudl and traditional Czech pastries, which are enjoyed throughout the season. Sweets are a favorite! Vánoèka, Christmas bread, is in his bag. This bread has a few magical powers. Feeding a piece of vánoèka to the cows on Christmas Eve will ensure that there will be lots of milk all year, putting a few vánoèka crumbs in front of the bee hive will make sure that the bees will produce enough honey during the following year, and throwing a piece of vánoèka into the well will ensure good quality of the water.

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In Poland Santa is known as Swiety Mikolaj (St. Nicholas). Santa is carrying a star staff just like the Gwiadorze, or star carriers. They wander through the towns and villages until Epiphany. Some of the Gwiadorze sing carols, others recited verses or put on Szopke, puppet show, or Herody, nativity scenes. A traditional food found in Poland is Oplatek which is piece of bread pressed with a holy picture on the surface. People carry Oplatek from house to house and wish their neighbors a Merry Christmas. As each person shares the bread, they would have to do two things: forgive any hurts that have occurred over the past year and to wish the person all the happiness in the coming year.

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Santa Claus was born in United States in the 1860's. He had a white beard and a big belly, so he was named Santa Claus as this was the Dutch word for St Nicholas, Sintaklaas. Santa is carrying a toy Reindeer, named Rudolph. This reindeer represents the many songs of the season and one of the children’s favorite is “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. He also carries a brand new doll for a good little girl. Dolls have been placed under the Christmas tree for thousands of girls each year by good old Santa Claus.

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St Nicholas is called Samiclaus in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. He appears not on Christmas Eve or Day, but on December 6, when children awake to find the shoe or boot they put out the night before filled with mandarin oranges, nuts and cookies. Samiclaus is carrying the traditional tree. The evening of December 24 is a family celebration in Switzerland. This is the evening on which children get to see the decorated and lit tree in its entire splendor for the first time, complete with wrapped gifts underneath. A long thick coat keeps Samiclaus warm through the heavy snow as he visits the many villages between mountain valleys.

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The Slovakian Santa is dressed in a heavy fur coat which shields him from the cold winds as he traverses the Carpathian Mountains delivering his gifts. The coat is embroidered with traditional Slovakian designs. His hat resembles the style worn by many Slovakian's. The mountainous part of Slovakia has vast forests and pastures, used for intensive sheep grazing. Father Christmas has chosen to deliver lambs to farms throughout the country. What a wonderful gift, something to help farmers prosper throughout the year, by selling wool.

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The Dutch celebrate the coming of Sinterklaas Avond or St. Nicholas, whose generosity and kindness are well known, on December 5th, St. Nicholas traditional birthday. Then on December 6th they celebrate his feast day with family celebrations, after which everyone prepares for Christmas Day, December 25th. Other celebrations include December 26th, New Year, and Three Kings Day on January 6th. In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas is known as Sinter Klaas. Dutch children are told that he sails from Spain on his feast day, December 5. They fill their shoes with hay and sugar for his horse the night before his coming and awake to find their footwear filled with nuts and candy. Sinter Klaas simultaneously arrives at every city or village in the Netherlands. Suspicious children who understand the impossibility of simultaneous sightings of Sinter Klaas discover that this grand event unfolds with the help of hulp-Sinterklazen, people who help Sinter Klaas by dressing up like him. Sinter Klaas tours the villages accompanied by another helper, Zwarte Pieten or Black Pete, who hands out sweets to the children. Sometimes Sinter Klaas appears in person in the children's homes. He questions the them about their behavior during the past year. The people of Twente, east Holland, carry out an Advent ceremony in which special horns are blown to chase away evil spirits and announce the birth of Christ. Most horns are homemade, carved out of one-year-old saplings, and are three- to four-foot long.

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This spunky, twinkling handsome man is the Irish Santa! As a very generous soul, he spreads special Christmas joy through the land of lush vegetation, known as the "Emerald Isle". His purse is filled with tradionally wrapped gifts and never seems to empty itself out no matter how many presents he delivers. A book of Irish poems and proverbs is tucked under his arm and a bone and burl pipe swirls its inviting aroma around him, alerting people of his arrival. A warm but cozy tweed coat and hat keep him warm as does the long knit scarf which wraps around his neck. Once is considered especially lucky to have encountered the Irish Santa.

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