town, Spencer county, southwestern Indiana, U.S. It lies 38 miles (61 km) east-northeast of Evansville. Laid out in 1846, it was jocularly called Santa Claus after the preferred name, Santa Fe, was found to be that of another Indiana community (and because it was the Christmas season). Its post office annually remails hundreds of thousands of pieces of Christmas mail with the Santa Claus postmark. The town contains Holiday World, a theme park with amusement rides and displays of toys from many countries. The town is located in an agricultural area that produces corn (maize), soybeans, and dairy and beef cattle. Local manufactures include television cabinets and office furniture, and nearby industries produce steel, machine tools, and chemicals. The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, to the west of town, commemorates the childhood farm home of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln, Abraham) and is the burial site of his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Lincoln State Park and Lincoln City are nearby. Inc. town, 1967. Pop. (2000) 2,041; (2005 est.) 2,283.

legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas (Nicholas, Saint), a 4th-century Christian saint. Father Christmas fills the role in many European countries.

The Dutch are credited with transporting the legend of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) to New Amsterdam (now New York City), along with the custom of giving gifts and sweets to children on his feast day, December 6. The current depiction of Santa Claus is based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast (Nast, Thomas) for Harper's Weekly beginning in 1863. Nast's Santa owed much to the description given in Clement Clarke Moore (Moore, Clement Clarke)'s 1822 poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas." The image was further defined by the popular Santa Claus advertisements created for the Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola Company, The) from 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblum. Sundblum's Santa was a portly white-bearded gentlemen dressed in a red suit with a black belt and white-fur trim, black boots, and a soft red cap.

Santa Claus is said to live at the North Pole with his wife, where he spends the year making toys with the help of his elves. There he receives letters from children asking for Christmas gifts. On Christmas Eve he loads his sleigh with toys and flies around the world, drawn by eight reindeer, stopping at each child's house; he slides down the chimney and leaves the gifts, refreshing himself with the milk and cookies left for him by the household's children.