Early Santa memories

  • 14.12.2021

Every Finn has their own memories of their beloved Santa Claus. No one memory is better than another and there is no one true image or memory of Santa Claus.

The stories that we received from various parts of Finland through the collection of traditions emphasise partly a great respect for the expected dignitary of Christmas, but especially a slight fear of childhood years. This fear is often ”innate” and above all a reflection on whether one has been kind or at least kind enough during the year. After all, that's the first thing Santa Claus asks children when he visits their homes on Christmas Eve. In the past decades, Christmas celebrations in homes have emphasised a kind of ”devotion” and the traditions of each family and family. Christmas is first and foremost a family celebration, a time when several generations come together. The Christmas church, tree-harvesting and decorating, the Christmas sauna, the declaration of Christmas peace, visits to graves, the Christmas meal - these are the main Finnish Christmas traditions. And, of course, Santa Claus and gift parcels.

Was he the real Santa Claus?

I remember Christmases since I was about 5 years old. Santa was grumpy-voiced, big-skinned, big-footed and scary. The red outfit softened the look a bit. Santa had shovels or wellies on his feet. He wore a fur hat on his head, reading glasses on his nose. In his hand was a curved stick. Santa Claus talked funny and funny and his long, light beard waved. He had poor eyesight and hearing because he was so old, at least 100 years old... He was dragging a sled full of parcels behind him. When Santa Claus arrived, I was red-faced with excitement. On Christmas Eve, I checked to see if the elves were peeping through the windows and if there were any foreign shoe prints in the snow. You could hear Santa Claus coming. He made a loud noise. His steps were heavy. There was a rattle outside. The sweetest and creepiest thing was to sit on Santa's lap, if I dared. If you were good, you got presents.

Päivi, Sodankylä

Be nice!

From childhood I remember two mysterious creatures. One was Santa Claus living on the Korvatunturi and the other was the Easter witch nesting on Mount Kyöpelinvori. I learned to know that Korvatunturi is in Savukoski, on the border between Finland and the Soviet Union, and across the border lives Santa's colleague the Frostman. Both Santa and the old man are old. Santa's companion is a muori, who commands the elves while Santa is away. There are lots of elves and more are born without a pole, when the elf puts cones in a pot to boil. Santa's traditional vehicle is a sleigh pulled by a reindeer. Sometimes there are several reindeer. The first reindeer is called Peter the Red Riding Hood. The second is Rudolf Ruskeakuono. The colour of this muzzle is due to Petteri's sudden stops. Ever since I was a child, I was taught that if you are kind, Santa Claus will bring you presents. The guardians of goodness are a bunch of Santa Clauses, or elves, who peer around corners and sometimes come out of the bushes or from just behind a tree. I haven't seen any real elves, but gingerbread elves are tasty and paper-cut ones are nice to look at. There are definitely elves, though. I once tried to buy shares in a company called Joulumaa from a bank. They were out of stock. I asked who had bought them and was told it was the elves. This proves that an elf is not a creature of legend. During the war, I don't remember Santa Claus visiting us. Then, after peace came, presents appeared on Christmas Eve and it was said that Santa Claus had brought them. It was only in the first grade of primary school that I remember that at the school Christmas party in Kangasniemi, a man in a red coat with a white beard and a walking stick was stalking into the classroom. I think Santa Claus gave each child an apple, a bun and a biscuit as a Christmas present. ”Santa needs to be sung to,” said the teacher. We little bright-eyed ones did sing, since we couldn't count or read everything. At home that Christmas, I got new trousers made of old cloth, "taylor-made". My father went to the tailor on New Year's Eve to pay for them. He gave me five hundred marks and got two hundred and fifty marks back. The same night the money was halved in value, so the tailor made no money from making those trousers. The next Christmas in Sippola, Pekka, a neighbour, came knocking at the door on Christmas Eve with his coat turned down and a stick in his hand. I knew Pekka by his smell when he smelt of Illodin. I had picked up that mouthwash for him the day before at the cooperative store when they refused to sell it to Pekka. For Christmas, I received soft packages like a sweater and socks. One hard package contained a flat flashlight. It was a great joy when we only had oil lights in our house. I could make my cheeks look red when I shoved the light bulb into my mouth in the dark.

Risto Nihtilä

Santa's hotline

I was brought up by a single mother, so most of the time my mother and I have lived alone. I don't remember Santa Claus ever visiting my childhood home, but I do vaguely remember Christmas calendars and the character of Santa Claus from some 1970s children's TV programmes. There was also an elf and Santa Claus in a Christmas play at school. Now that I think back on my memories of Santa Claus, I understand why, even as an adult, I like to watch hours of Santa's hotline on TV on Christmas Eve! It's something I missed as a child, so the naive and childish girl inside me likes to listen to the chatter and songs with Santa. I'd watch all the animations on that show if I had time, but a family man has to do all sorts of ”boring” things on Christmas Eve. My own two children, when they were little, were made to believe or not believe in Santa Claus, but they were thrilled as children at Grandma's when the man in red and white beards arrived! He was a friend of the children's grandfather and knew how to have a nice chat with the children, grandma and grandpa and was not at all afraid of dogs running around on their paws. He could sit on the sofa and listen to the joy of the little children.

Helen, Orivesi .
 

 
The above stories have been obtained from the Finnish Literature Society's archive and the Santa Claus Foundation's joint heritage collection 2020-21.The story collections have been edited by Ollijuhani Auvinen. The Joulupukkisäätiö was established in 2000 and its mission is to promote the Finnish Santa Claus worldwide. The Foundation collects traditional material related to the Finnish Santa Claus. The Finnish tradition of Santa Claus is also inscribed on the National Inventory of Living Heritage under the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Convention.

The borrowing of traditional inscriptions is only allowed with the permission of the Santa Claus Foundation. The email address of the Foundation is [email protected]. You can also send your own Santa memories to the email address to be stored for researchers to use.

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by developit // creative
The images and texts are protected by copyright.

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Lapland Troll

The trolls that live in Lapland belong to the Arctic troll family, or polar trolls. You can recognise them by the snow packed in their fur and their fierce growling. They are tough to give snow washes and are therefore feared throughout the Korvatunturi region. However, you can easily placate the Sunbird by giving it a good hug. It will melt the troll's boggart heart and with good luck you'll make a lifelong friend.

Finnish horse

In Finland, we are used to a certain modesty. The Finnish horse, for example, does not boast much about being one of the fastest and most versatile cold-blooded animals in the world. Even though it is. In the Korvatunturi, the abilities of Finnish horses are well known, and they have been considered one of the most reliable working companions for centuries.

One enthusiastic stable elf devoted much of his life to trying to teach a Finnish horse to fly like Santa's reindeer. He was proved to be too heavy for the job - the height record was set by crashing into the chimney of Santa's sauna.

Snowman

The world's tallest snowman was built in the United States. It was over 37 metres high and took over three months to build. 

The world's smallest snowman was built on the Korvatunturi. It was built by Hjalmar Metriparta, head of the Tonttuversta's miniature department, by stacking three snowflakes using specially made tweezers cooled to absolute zero. 

In his excitement, however, he threw the snowman away without a trace before anyone saw it.

Niila the dog

A happy and playful puppy, whose best friend is Palle-poro. Nilla, with her beady eyes, prefers to sleep next to a warm stove. Nilla wears a collar around her neck. Nilla loves snow!

Palle-poro

Teddy is Santa's trusty sidekick. On Christmas Eve, when things get busy, Palle makes it to every corner of the world with Santa Claus. Palle's favourite food is apples. He can draw beautiful patterns on snow with his horns. Palle is also musical and loves to dance to Christmas carols. He wears a big bell around his neck.

The reindeer, by the way, is a semi-wild domestic animal related to the deer that grazes in the fells. You may not have known that all reindeer are naturally able to fly. But neither do the reindeer themselves. So the biggest challenge for the reindeer trainers at Korvatunturi is to get the reindeer to realise their flying skills themselves. Learning to fly is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Korvatunturi. The training technique is passed down by tradition through whispering alone.

Ensio

Ensio an "easy" guy with a heart of gold who doesn't stand up straight but stands up when help is needed. Whether it's an almond stuck in Santa's throat or some other humanitarian crisis, our good guy is eager to be there with a first aid kit on his back, ready to save the day. On rescue missions around the world, he's accompanied by his trusty Alaskan malamute, Nöpö, whose sharp muzzle and snow shovel-sized paws come in handy, especially when searching for lost skiers in the snow.

As a selfless elf, he always wants to put good things into circulation, which is why he has set up the Little Monkey First Aid School, teaching the children of the world the all-important first aid skills of a girl and boy. As well as wound cleaning and plastering, there are courses on everything from doing good to helping your neighbour make snow to making coffee for lonely grandmothers.

Fredrik

The Porvoon riverbank is an ancient settlement area. Several hundred years ago, a merchant ship sailed down the small river with a ship's elf named Fredrik Flodbåt on board. Fredrik is attached to his hometown of Porvoo and its warm, friendly inhabitants, whom he likes to playfully tease every now and then, if not every now and then. His best friend is the cat in the cathedral. From his home in the bell tower, he can see every nook and cranny of the city. The elf's role model is the Runeberg family itself. He thinks it is wonderful that Porvoo has been home to a family whose words and art have remained alive in the hearts of all. True to his role model, he wears glasses on his nose, even if he doesn't need them when he is sharp-sighted.

The elf spends a lot of time in nature and for this former riverside elf, the Pelling Archipelago is the most beautiful place in the world.

Lampertti

Smile every time you step on board, because so does Lampertti the ship's elf! Sailing at sea makes his eyes light up like the anticipation of Christmas Eve, as the merrily crashing waves carry him off on incredible adventures. Lampertti has dipped his miter in the Red Sea, anchored his ship in the fabled port of Atlantis and disappeared a few times with his boat into the Bermuda Triangle.

Lampert's favourite pastime is also pedalling in a Christmas balloon - with a swimming ring, flippers and his best friend Harri Hylke, of course. The open sea, the joyful chatter of the seagulls and the sea wind blowing tiny fireworks into his beard always make Lampert sigh with happiness, because the sea is his home and adventure is his calling.

Morning

The dawn was comforting people and reducing the fear of flying for the first time back in 1909 when those great giants of the sky, airships, made it possible to fly like a bird in the sky. Morning is a philanthropic elf who loves the human bustle of the station and can best be spotted from his favourite spot in the arrival hall, where tears still well up in his eyes every time he witnesses the emotional reunion of grandparents and grandchildren on the eve of Christmas.

The days at the station are busy, with Aamu scurrying around with a walkie-talkie in his pocket attaching loose luggage tags. In the run-up to Christmas, Aamu likes to assist Santa himself in choosing and wrapping last-minute presents. At night, the station is more serene and this is when Mamu patrols the terminals, tucking in sleeping backpackers and waking sleep-deprived passengers for their onward flights.

Veikka

Veikka is an elf that most of us have unknowingly come across somewhere in the world. He's always on the move, but his weathered face is often covered by binoculars, a sun visor, ski goggles or a sleep mask made from a Christmas red blanket. But you can still recognise Veika for his exceptional sense of adventure and his ability to guess all his fellow travellers' favourite holiday destinations - sometimes even correctly!

Veikka has travelled the world a hundred and one times, and has captured a thousand and one sights on his camera memory card, from the Eiffel Tower to the famous limestone mound of Kheops. But his favourite destination is Joulusaari, which broke away from the Korvatunturi when the continental plates moved a long, long time ago. The island still has a small but hardy reindeer population, and special almonds used in Christmas porridge are grown on the slopes of the tropical fells. Veikka always brings them back to Korvatunturi as souvenirs.

Konrad

You may have noticed that many train carriages have small hatches in the wall or ceiling that the average passenger never gets a peek behind. They give access to the secret service routes of the train wagons.

In fact, each train is staffed by three to five real elves. Their responsibilities include checking train schedules using star maps, waking up dozing passengers at the right stop and looking after animal passengers.

Train elves live a nomadic life. The oldest of them all, the legendary Konrad "Konnari", who has travelled every single stretch of Finland's 6,000-kilometre railway network. Konnari's favourite route is Oulu-Rovaniemi, especially in winter frosts and when it's brown. Konrad's favourite motto is "Now things are on track".

Papu

People drink a lot of coffee in Finland. In fact, the most in the world. And a big slice of our country's coffee consumption rests on one, rather small, shoulder. They belong to an elf called Paul the Pot-bellied Gaffebau - more commonly known as Papu. His most famous motto is 'Christmas in white and coffee in black'.

Papu is the official coffee elf of Korvatunturi and a true enthusiast. He has tuned all his elf senses to the development of the perfect Christmas coffee. The right recipe has now been honed for 147 years, and coffee has been drunk in the same amount as one medium-sized forest pond.

The number one customer at Papu Elf is Santa Claus himself, for whom a steaming cuppa is poured every morning straight from Paul's traditional copper pot. Today it was blend number 3008, with a touch of lichen. We don't yet know what they thought of it.

Tuutio

Tuomas Torventöräys, nicknamed Tuutio. Tuutio is 107 years old. His familiar catchphrase is "There are elves of all stripes on the road again". The Korvatunturi is a traditional region where sledges run on the hillside to the glow of the northern lights. Quiet and peaceful. It has always been like this and that's good. But it was Tuutio's love of cars that took him from Korvatunturi to the city. He combined his love of cars with the elves' unerring sense of direction and became a taxi driver. How does he reach the pedals of a car? Tuutio has specially designed stilts decorated with speed stripes, which he received from a grand elf as a Christmas present.

Edison

The Edison elf always carries a computer in his backpack, as he is responsible for the IT affairs of Korvatunturi. Edison's role model is Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux. He is also developing his own computer application called Eartree with milk.

Patrick

Playing number 11, Elf Patrick loves not only hockey but also other winter sports. He loves animals, and is training for a running race to beat his dog in the 100 metres.

Kaamos

A big fan of metal music, Kaamos the elf gets inspiration for his music from Finnish nature and the changing seasons. Kaamos's first hit, Swallow the Norhern Light, topped the Korvatunturi charts for 24 weeks! Kaamos' hobbies also include baking.

Echo

An echo-elf understands animal speech. The animals are the elves' helpers, and Kaiku translates the animals' speech for the other elves. Kaiku can also turn elves into animals, but only one at a time.

Höperö

Höperö is also particularly known for his absent-mindedness. To be on the safe side, the elf celebrates Christmas on the 24th of every month, just to make sure he doesn't forget. He is 350 years old and a scribe by trade. He collects beards in different colours and uses them to keep his beard wavy. He likes to eat Rice Porridge every day to find an almond, because he can't remember ever having found one.

Sparky

At 111 years old, the pink-haired Säihky is a real cheerleader who puts everyone in a good mood. Dancing and singing are among his favourite pastimes. She can play several songs in a skirt while dancing. Säihky likes anything with colours and stripes. They often go hippy-hopping with Palle the reindeer.

Oula

A 193-year-old bearded and snooty elf. Oula is a hard-working elf, but when needed, he can easily be inspired to play and romp around. Oula enjoys sledging, snowmaking and jumping into snow piles. He is learning to play the guitar and loves Joulumuor's black coffee.

Santa Claus's tassels

Santa's slippers are like the embrace of a fireplace - soft and warm. The spruce pattern that decorates them speaks of his love of nature and his connection to the northern landscape.

Santa's boots

Santa Claus' boots have traversed the snowy forests and corners of the world. Their surface carries the memories of thousands of Christmas journeys, and the fir tree pattern speaks of the values that make Christmas magic.

Santa's hat

Santa's cap is deep red and soft as first snow. Its tassel floats like a snowball falling from the clouds, and it carries with it the spirit of Christmas and thousands of stories that whisper softly in the wind to Santa's ears.

Santa's beard

Santa's beard is like a shimmering snowdrift - long, bushy and mysterious like a northern fir forest. Its thousands of curls are like loops woven by the Christmas tree, dancing like snowflakes in the winter weather.

The face of Santa Claus

Santa has a warm smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. Soft furrows and bushy eyebrows tell of centuries of wisdom and stories.

Tuomo

157-year-old beardless elf. Tuomo is very young for an elf, still in his infancy, or rather in his infancy. Tuomo hasn't eaten a tutt for at least a hundred years! He knows how to do a vault when he jumps from the roof to the rivet. Tuomo admires Santa Claus more than anything.