It has been a long tradition in the United States that children, before they go to sleep on the 24th of Decemeber, leave a small plate of cookies and milk for Santa Claus on a table next to the Christmas tree . Because, as I am sure everyone here knows, Americans unwrap presents on the morning of the 25th of December, not like us on the 24th. But few people know how this tradition of milk and cookies began. If you want to know, keep on listening!

Hi and Welcome to the advent edition of my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. In this edition, I bring you a new short Christmas-themed episode every day of December until Christmas. If you want to read the transcript of this episode, click the link in the description!

Today, we will answer the question of why American children leave milk and cookies for Santa Claus.

According to one theory, it is said that the tradition of leaving milk and cookies goes back to the 1930s – the era of the Great Depression. At that time, the economic situation in the world, and especially in the United States, was very bad and it was hard to keep PACE with the rising prices. Many parents tried to teach their children the importance of giving to others over the holiday. Cookies are a very popular item in the US, especially during Christmas, so it is no wonder that they chose this to leave for Santa.

This tradition was later adopted by many countries- for example in Britain, children leave mince pies – pies filled with minced meat- for their Father Christmas.

Not in the Czech Republic though, we keep everything to ourselves.

And now you know.

Source: 

„Santa’s Milk and Cookies: The History behind the Popular Christmas Tradition.“ New York Post, New York Post, 25 Dec. 2020, nypost.com/2020/12/25/santas-milk-and-cookies-the-history-behind-the-tradition/.