<P> In 1937, Charles W. Howard, who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established the Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously - run such school in the world . </P> <P> In some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman . Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner . </P> <P> The 1956 popular song by George Melachrino, "Mrs. Santa Claus", and the 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the popular imagination . </P> <P> Seabury Quinn's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas . Other modern additions to the "story" of Santa include Rudolph the Red - Nosed Reindeer, the 9th and lead reindeer immortalized in a Gene Autry song, written by a Montgomery Ward copywriter . </P>

Where did the tradition of santa come from