Santa’s Obsession with Cookies and Milk

Do your kids leave out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa?  Ever stop to wonder where the tradition of leaving treats for Santa came from?  I honestly hadn’t, until last winter I came across an NPR article trying to chronicle the tradition.  {Seriously, when you get down to it, I don’t think we know WHY we do a lot of the traditions that we do.}

According to the article, cookies, though it’s impossible to know for sure, originated in northern Europe.  Gingerbread cookies, “made with honey and black pepper” started showing up in the Netherlands in the 13th century.  It’s likely that this tradition was brought to American by early settlers and immigrants.

As far as leaving the cookies out for Santa, the earliest record appears to happen right around the Victorian Era.  Hospitality was kind of a big deal during that time, and kids became more of a central theme in the family {where childhood wasn’t as revered in previous generations}.  The idea of leaving out a plate of something sweet for a visitor just came across as good manners–and what better way to teach the kids to be a good host or hostess?

I guess the tradition just stuck.  Hopefully Santa isn’t the next one to fall victim to type 2 diabetes–I would feel at least partly responsible. 😉

~Mavis