The Man

The tale of a jolly man who watches children year-round and surfaces in December has long been regaled. Though it's changed slightly over the hundreds of years -- like children getting chocolate and candy instead of dates and nuts -- the gist of the Santa Claus legend has stayed the same. His appearance has changed somewhat, and the details are vague, but the children of today knew the basics.

"He probably keeps his belly fat and drinks milk and cookies in bed," Hannah Taylor, first grade.

"He wears a red shirts and his shoes are red," according to Elsie Harris, 4. She was under the impression Santa had red hair, though most of the other believed him with white hair.

"I think he, um, he has black shoes and he wears red clothes and his beard is white and he's really, um, fat... because he eats a lot of cookies." said Emily Harris.

Lauren Beasley, 7, estimated Santa to be 100 years old and said he wears a suit. "It's big and red and white and black."

The Job

Santa Claus is a figure that appears in almost every store window and every other commercial during the November and December months. Other than being a spokesman for soft drinks or car lots, we asked area children just what exactly the old man does for a living.

"He brings presents," Lauren B. said firmly. "On Christmas Eve."

"He comes to every house in the whole world," said her brother Brendan B.

"He rides in a sleigh with his really big sack of toys for the girls and boys that are good and he puts coal in the boys and girls that are really, really naughty," Emily H. said.

While most of the kids affirmed they had been nice this year, Emily said you can never tell if you're going to get a toy or coal.

"You just have to see," she said with a shrug.

The Stops

Don't expect a knock on the door on Christmas Eve. According to sources, Santa usually slides down the chimney and never when children can see.

The usual description of Santa Claus pins him as a hefty fellow with "a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly," some people report. The Santa Panel agreed that he uses magic to shimmy down the chimney and he also sucks in his stomach on the tight squeezes.

For the most part, "he uses magic, like dust to go down," Lauren B. said.

If a house does not have a chimney or perhaps the child lives in an apartment, she said Santa still finds a way in. "I think he uses his magic to get in, like through the window."

Regardless of how he gets into the home, once there, Santa has treats of his own waiting. The Santa Panel all said they leave cookies for the Big Guy.

Brendan B. leaves him chocolate chip cookies, even though his own favorite cookie is a sugar cookie. He also leaves carrots for the reindeer, but they don't get any milk.

The Transportation

According to calculations by a Swiss engineering company, Santa has to visit 2.5 billion homes, assuming he gives a toy to boys and girls of all religions and that everyone's a believer.

By staying just ahead of the sunrise and working against the earth's rotation, the Jolly Man would have roughly 48 hours of darkness to deliver all the gifts. Apparently, this can be done via sleigh and reindeer.

Lauren B. wasn't sure how many reindeer pulled it but she named off a few: "Blitzen, Dasher, Dancer, Donor, Cupid, Comet, Rudolph and Vixen."

Emily H. said the reindeer can fly because of magic and that it took eight of them to pull the sleigh with Santa and the toys.

"They're brown and they're white on their tummies," she said. "And Rudolph has the red nose, and he's probably the best, the unique one."

But the deer don't have to pull the sleigh through snow to get Santa around.

"It goes up in the air," Taylor V. said. Probably faster than any car, she said. "I know how they get up in the air. Santa has a magic rope and he slaps them with it and they go off in the air."

She knew how they flew, though how Santa and the sleigh got down remained unsolved by Taylor V.

The Lists

For a man often branded as all-knowing, all-seeing, the guy still needs some things spelled out for him. For that, you make a list.

"I have a list but I don't remember what I wrote on it," Taylor V. said, but she has not sent the list to Santa.

"I haven't wrote all my stuff on it yet. On chistmas night I'm gonna put it soemwhere where Santa can get it," she said. "I think I'll put my list right by the cookies so he'll see it."

Some people send the list in advance, though to give Santa and his elves time to work on the items. There is a North Pole, Alaska, but the town is actually about 1,700 miles south of Earth's North Pole. Some Finnish towns tout their city to be the home of Kris Kringle, but none of these has been confirmed.

Sending a letter to Santa with no address, no zip code and no idea of postage cost seems nearly impossible. Yet somehow, year after year, children write and toys are delivered.

"He's in good with the postal service," explained Kit D. "And if a family moves, Santa knows."

"He just stops by the post office or the post office knows how to get to the North Pole," he said.

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Santa Panel

~North Pole operations experts weigh in on popular ideas about the Christmas legend: