Being a people person, Santa Claus has never liked to work alone. He has always had helpers – a few of them not so nice but it’s ok they can help Santa to deliver gifts.

How many elves does Santa have?

In Christmas days produce toys and other gift items for nearly 2 billion children, Santa Claus maintains a staff of more than 100 million elves who work in shifts in day-night. Residing in pleasant suburbs on the outskirts of the pole, this close-knit community appears to be related to the 19th-century Scandinavian elves known as nisser – tiny, pointy-eared characters with bright red caps.

Where do elves come from?

Long before joining Santa, the nisser was the unseen farmer’s helper and also the household trickster. Norse myth described two kinds of elves first is the beautiful Light Elves, or Ljosalfar, who lived on high with the God Freyr, and dwarf-like Dark Elves, or Dopkalfar, who lived underground or in deep forests. 

Who is Santa’s favorite helper?

His beloved wife, of course. In the frosty Arctic Circle, Santa finds his lifelong companion indispensable. As a chief operating officer of a diversified global enterprise, Mrs. Claus oversees product development at Claus Co. – as well as the all-important Elfin Resources Department. Following last year’s completion of the much-heralded 100 Year Strategic Plan, Mrs. Claus founded the Top of the World Preservation Society to help reverse global warming now threatening the polar ice cap. A dedicated environmentalist and children’s rights activist, Mrs. Claus holds advanced degrees in theology, anthropology, and aeronautics. Her interests include cooking, knitting, reindeer husbandry, Victorian-era dress, and yoga. She has been very happily married to Santa for as long as she can remember.

Are all of Santa’s helpers friendly?

Not by a long stretch. Way back when, kids weren’t so well behaved as they are now, and grown-ups were not quite so tolerant. Santa Claus picked up some slightly scary companions to help him discourage crying, pouting, hitting, and tattling. Children in Holland used to worry about visits from Zwart Piet (Black Peter), the Moorish servant who accompanied Sinterklaas, threatening to whip the naughtiest Dutch children with switches and cart them off to Spain.

Black Peter, or Zwart Piet, is still alive and well in Holland, too, though he’s taken on a more lighthearted and clownish personality. Typically portrayed by white people in blackface, Black Peter’s popularity has prevailed despite some Dutch discomfort about racism.

According to Dutch legend, Black Peter is a Moor – one of the dark-skinned Muslims from North Africa who had ruled Spain during much of the Middle Ages. The legend likely springs from the abiding Dutch misapprehension – gleaned from Dutch sailors – that Nicholas was a Spanish saint.

Can anyone be a Santa’s helper?

Most definitely. Christmas is the season of giving and Santa is but one of its countless contributors. Americans give more than $100 billion a year to charity, most of it during the winter holidays.

Many nonprofit groups have learned to seize all the Christmas moment – none quite so well as the Salvation Army. Seeking money to underwrite free Christmas dinners for poor families in the 1890s, the charity dressed jobless men in Santa suits and sent them into New York streets to solicit donations. In the century since, many Santa look-alikes have shown up to help – in department stores, parades, even in TV commercials. Some are listeners; others are givers. All are reminders of the obligation to reach out during the holidays – not only to friends but also to needy neighbors. Every town in America – in the world – has food shelves that need filling, lonely people who need visiting, troubled children who need friends and defenders. Not even electric socks can match the warmth generated by Christmas generosity. All of the people can help Santa to deliver gifts, happiness.