In the 1950's the Vatican gave permission for St Nicholas remains to be exhumed for anthropologists to study. All measurements were kept and passed onto an anthropologist at Manchester University in 2004 who undertook research to find the true face of St Nicholas. With three dimensional computer aided imaging it unveiled what the the real Santa Claus looked like, with an amazing 70% accuracy they claim this is the most likely picture of the famous man.
Other measurements taken reveal he stood just 5ft6inches tall, had olive skin and a wide square face with a broken nose.
Researchers suggest that St Nicholas may have been a bit of a rebel in his day and may have suffered the broken nose in a bar room brawl. It is a very heavy duty break consistent with being punched, more so than an accidental break by falling over researchers said. It was also confirmed that it would have been correct for St Nicholas to have a white beard as this was very much the fashion for religious leaders back in the 4th century.
We can now see how the modern day picture of Santa Claus really is a caricature created by the artists and populated by television Our personalised letters to Santa all carry the modern day version of Santa.
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