入冬了，先加件衣服一起來讀 #BBC新聞
🎅紅白色聖誕老人的前世今生
The real reason Father Christmas wears red and white
🎄 Why, after all, does Santa Claus wear red and white?
聖誕老人給人的印象，是一個穿著紅白色大衣的老人，但聖誕老人這個形象是甚麼時候開始的？
Many people will tell you that the modern Santa is dressed to match the red-and-white colors of a can of Coke, and was popularized by Coca Cola's advertising in the 1930s.
許多人會說，聖誕老人的衣服在1930年代被設計為紅白兩種顏色，是為了與可口可樂的罐子設計一致。
A good story, but the red-and-white Santa himself wasn't created to advertise Coca-Cola - why, he was touting the rival beverage White Rock back in 1923. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was the one who was invented as a marketing gimmick.
可口可樂公司當時的確有為宣傳可樂創造一個卡通人物，但那是紅鼻子馴鹿魯道夫，而不是身穿紅白衣服的聖誕老人──他1923年就已經誕生，當時是為了宣傳可口可樂的競爭對手White Rock汽水。
🤶 The modern Santa Claus is actually much older, a patchwork character woven together from different sources. These include Saint Nicholas, a 4th Century Greek bishop - who famously wore red robes while giving gifts to the poor, especially children - and the English folk figure "Father Christmas", whose original green robes turned red over time.
現代聖誕老人是用不同歷史人物的故事拼湊而成。這包括一名4世紀的 #希臘主教 聖尼古拉斯，許多神話都記載他身穿紅色外衣給窮人派禮物。另外，聖誕老人的部份特色來自英國神話故事人物 #聖誕神父，他原本身穿綠色外衣，但漸漸變成紅色。
The Santa we know also owes much to the Dutch figure Sinterklaas - also based on Saint Nicholas - whose legend flourished in the once-Dutch city of New York, popular with prosperous Manhattanites such as Washington Irving and Clement Clarke Moore in the early 1800s.
但對現代聖誕老人形象影響最深遠的，是受希臘主教聖尼古拉斯的一個荷蘭神話故事人物。他的中文譯名也是 #聖尼古拉斯，在曾經是荷蘭殖民地的紐約市十分流行，受歐文和穆爾等住在紐約曼克頓的作家歡迎。
🎁 It was in the 1820s, too, that advertisements for Christmas presents became common in the United States.
而在穆爾的同一個年代，美國零售商為了 #清理年末積壓下來的存貨，開始用廣告鼓勵大眾給其他人買聖誕禮物。
By the 1840s, Santa himself was a frequent commercial icon in advertisements. Retailers, after all, had to find some way to clear their end-of-year stock. The gift-giving tradition took firm hold.
到了1840年代，這些廣告經常都有聖誕老人出現，令聖誕節變成一個消費節日的傳統更為根深蒂固。
In Boston in 1867, 10,000 people paid to see Charles Dickens give readings of his Christmas Carol - a story light on biblical details and heavy on the idea of generosity.
1867年的底特律，約1萬人排隊買票，就是為了聽英國著名小說家狄更斯朗讀他的小說 #聖誕頌歌（又譯《小氣財神》），內容主要宣揚無私、慷慨解囊的精神。
想知道《小婦人》中，哪一句名言奠定了現代聖誕節的贈禮傳統嗎？
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