Dutch families took the tradition of celebrating the feast day of St. Nicholas with them to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the American colonies, beginning as early as the 17th century. They referred to him as Sinterklaas. That name became Santa Claus to the early United States’ English-speaking majority. The legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents to form the pop culture figure of Santa Claus.
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