Sinterklaas
My family and I lived in Rotterdam, Netherlands in the
early 1960’s, while I worked as a process engineer at my first oil refinery,
Caltex Pernis. My daughter Suzanne was born in Holland, and we spent 2 ½ very
pleasant years there. Work-wise, among other things, I redesigned and old
thermal cracker to process crude oil, that ran quite successfully.
A uniquely Dutch custom in Holland is “Sinterklaas daag”
on December 5, when Dutch children receive gifts in their wooden shoes. “The
Dutch “Sinterklaas" is not our “Santa Claus”, but many people draw the
analogy. Of course, our American kids put out their Dutch wooden shoe and got
gifts and candy on December 5, and also had “Santa Claus” bring them more gifts
on Christmas Eve.
I’ll quote part of a Dutch article explaining
“Sinterklaas”, “Zwarte Piet”, their annual trip from Spain and some of the
Dutch tradition around them.
“Sinterklaas is a children’s festival, celebrated in The
Netherlands and Belgium on December 5th. Sinterklaas comes from Spain in his
steamboat with many helpers, called ´Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes)´. On this
boat, they transport many presents for all children who behaved well throughout
the year. Once arrived on the mainland, Sinterklaas gets off the boat to ride
his white horse.
Every night until December 5th, children put their shoes
near the chimney in the house, sing songs and leave behind food for Amerigo,
the horse of Sinterklaas. If they are lucky, Sinterklaas will pay a visit and
surprise them with presents in their shoes. But the children never see
Sinterklaas, as he is on the roof, together with Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet is
the one to go down the chimney to make sure the right present ends up in the
right shoe.
On December 5th, Sinterklaas visits many children in
their house. The kids may then thank Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet, and get a lot
of candy and more presents. On December 6th, Sinterklaas returns to Spain.
Is Sinterklaas the Dutch Santa Claus?
Absolutely not. This is the most common misconception
about the holiday. Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are two separate persons and are
both acknowledged in The Netherlands. Although present-giving during Christmas
is becoming increasingly popular, Santa Claus as a personality really cannot
compete with Sinterklaas.
What is the origin of Sinterklaas?
According to the legend, Saint Nicolaas was a bishop who
lived in Myra, the present-day Demre in Turkey, around the year 300.”
Unfortunately, identity politics has caught up with
“Sinterklaas” and particularly “Zwarte Piet”, for his blackness and
subservience to a Caucasian boss. It’s not only the anti-cultural leftists in
America who are ruining harmless, quaint historical customs in the name of
their concept of “social justice”. This form of identity politics cancer
afflicts the whole world.
This is a more extensive article on the customs and
origins around “Sinterklaas”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas?
Ray Gruszecki
December 5, 2020
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