6th December: boots in the windows

Giving gifts on St. Nicholas’ Day was associated to Bishop St. Nicholas. It was originally an urban custom that spread from the bourgeoisie to the peasantry through mediation by village intellectuals in the 1930s and 1940s. Before this, 6 December was not really a favourite holiday for children. It was a long-standing custom in villages that on St. Nicholas' Day, young men, and even married men, put on fur coats inside out, covered their faces with soot and rattled chains to frighten small children and older girls. These scary people were called “alakoskodók”, and this is where the term Nicholas with chains also comes from.

During socialist times, Hungarian poems and children’s songs were written about Télapó (Ded Moroz), but today children look forward to Mikulás (Santa Claus) every year on 6 December. Ded Moroz gave gifts in the Soviet Union. The "socialist" Télapó appeared in Hungary in the 1950s based on his example. His religious references were removed, but a figure who either rewarded or punished children remained.

One thing is for certain: children will clean their shoes on 5 December and put them in the window in the evening. This is because in Hungary, unlike in the Anglo-Saxon world, the big-bearded man does not come down the chimney but through the window. Nowadays, it is also becoming common for children to leave biscuits and a glass of milk for him next to the boots and shoes since he comes from far away and he might be hungry and thirsty. Santa Claus brings small toys and sweets to those who behaved well and birch sticks (virgács) to those who behaved badly.

In Hungary, the krampusz (young devil) is closely connected to Santa Claus, and he accompanies the red cloaked man on his gift-giving journey. The name krampusz comes from the German word "krampen", which means claw, and it embodies the devil, who is the symbol of all evil in Christianity. The Hungarian krampusz is much more modest than the devil though, and he doesn’t want to kidnap children but to put them back in line using the birch sticks.