This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Ununnilium: Coal, not mentioned anymore? There's not been an appearance of Santa I've seen *without* bringing up the prospect of coal. Black Peter, okay, the only time you ever hear about him (at least in America) is programs on the history of Christmas.
RedBeardSean: I think the reasoning behind coal was something like, "it's a gift, as it will help heat the house, but the fun factor is zero. Be good."
BT The P: I always heard that Santa's monstrous sidekick distributed switches to the parents of the bad kids, at least in some of the old Germanic stuff.
Caswin: What was wrong with the Polar Express Santa?
Morgan Wick: My guess (before actually reading the section in question): the Uncanny Valley.
Wow. This site is not for kids if the idea of Santa being real is pretty much shot all to hell in the first paragraph of the article. I know it fits in with our style and I'm not asking for any changes, I'm just... wow. On behalf of TV Tropes Wiki, I sincerely apologize (which I never do) to any parents whose kids' childhoods were forever ruined by this page.</Morgan Wick>
Ace Of Scarabs: Neil Gaiman did a really good short story about Santa being a man cursed with immortality and forced to send gifts to the children of the world in frozen timelessness, sobbing as he went about it.
