St. Nicholas, Santa Claus,

The Story and Legend of St Nicholas as told through an 1873 article on Christmas.

For over twenty five years, the Vaillancourt family has been making Santas. The recipe is simple, take an historic collection of chocolate moulds, add an apparent love of the holidays, involve the entire family and the results are apparent.

Krampus -- the evil spirit accompanies St. Nicholas on his special day. He brings new meaning to "you better be good".

Terrific vintage-look pieces for every holiday, I was particularly excited with the Halloween designs. The collection of reproduction Halloween was well researched and nicely done. It should appeal to collectors of both vintage and new Halloween folk art. Vintage Halloween is rapidly becoming out of reach for many collectors and the Bethany Lowe collection can easily satisfy the "need" for the vintage look, but at very affordable prices.

Another Roadside America great article.

Antique Santas are very collectible as evidenced by the prices at antique shows and shops. It pays to do a little research if you are looking for the very old pieces. Some of the materials used to make the antique Santas include bits of cotton batting, paper mache, chenille, twigs and die cut scraps. There are also old glass light bulbs, tin toys and blown glass ornaments.

From Coyne's & Co, the Bavarian Heritage Collection of Santas are gorgeous and, although they are inexpensive, these Santas have the look of the much more expensive pieces.

Thomas Kinkade Night Before Christmas Sleigh from the Bradford Exchange

Coca-Cola Santa Celebrates 75 Years

As a long-time Santa collector, I am always looking for something unusual. This beaded tapestry not only is different, it's beautiful and might inspire me to even try my hand at beading.

From your Collectibles Guide -- What I did with all those little Santas I kept finding at flea markets and garage sales.

Find out more about Pipka and the wonderful Santas she creates.

It doesn't matter how what you call him, he is still revered by children all over the world. And everyone is still a child when it comes to Santa Claus and Christmas collectibles. Santa Museums and even a town named Santa Claus pay homage to our favorite person. Many collectors display their Santa collections year-round, and why not, it certainly makes a happy home when Santa can smile at you everytime you walk into a room.

He's not the jolly happy guy we see today, these Santas a little scary lookiing.

If you're a Santa collector, it's not just about figures. There are numerous ways to collect the chubby guy or in the case of vintage Santas, the stern-faced St. Nick. Toys, paper, pottery, fabric, metal, chalkware, glass or plastic, he's been produced in just about every material there is.

Learn about Elaine Roesle and her snow children and St Nicholas Collection