Published 13:36 IST, November 26th 2019
Here's why Santa Clause gives coal to naughty kids on Christmas
Here's why Santa Clause brings coal to naughty kids on Christmas: The association of Santa and coal only started on the turn of the Century with famous stories.
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As Christmas is right around the corner, Santa Claus who normally brings presents for good kids on Christmas brings a lump of coal for those who have not been good. For decades, parents have warned their children that if they are bad then all they will get for Christmas is a lump of coal. The story of Santa Claus did not always have the story about him bringing coal to naughty children.
When Clement Clarke Moore released his legendary poem in 1823 titled "Twas the Night Before Christmas', nowhere in that joyful poem was there any mention of Santa Clause getting coal for naughty children on Christmas. As the poem suggests, earlier Christmas had much more emphasis on how joyful Santa was and how he got presents for children that behaved, not about punishment.
But as per research they will find that further back there are other cultures that use coal as a sort of punishment. According to the tale of La Befana from Italy, the witch appears in early Januaryand in a similar fashion to Clause she enters people's houses through Chimneys and keyholes. Good Kids get candy and toys while naughty kids get coal fro La Bafana.
The concept of coal as punishment in relation to Santa Clause started appearing more and more with the turn of the 20th century.
Read: VIRAL: Sikh Man Dresses Up As Santa Claus, Distributes Gifts & Does Bhangra To Spread Christmas Joy
Why coal?
In 'The Toy-Makers strike, which was written by Ruth Catherine Wood in 1918, she talks about how Santa's elves go on strike and a naughty boy gets a huge doll and a sweet little girl ends up with a lump of coal. Similarly, in Myron Adams' 1912 short story "A Prince of Good Fellows," the fact that a good-hearted boy named Tom receives coal in his stocking leads to confusion.
The reason Santa Clause gives coal to naughty kids is that Santa Clause comes down chimneys and while looking around he finds lumps of coal and then sticks it in the naughty kid's stockings, according to Brian Horrigan of the Minnesota History Center.
12:47 IST, November 26th 2019