According to the book , Sinterklaas would arrive on his steamboat from Spain around the 15th of November ; take on the journey on his white horse “ Amerigo ” to give away presents to the “ good children ” and taking off on the 6th of December on his air balloon with the “ bad children ” stowed away in sacks by his servants . On the third edition of this book , Sinterklaas ’ servants would be depicted with new robes that resemble North-African slaves that served the Spanish royalty . According to some historians , Schenkman ’ s Zwarte Piet inspiration could have been originated from the tale of the Princess Marianne van Oranje-Nassau ( member of the House Oranje-Nassau , 1810 - 1883 ), who it is said to have bought a Nubian boy in a slave market in Egypt for 150 gulden ( former Dutch currency also known in English as guilders ); both would later travel to The Netherlands on a steamboat . However , it is quite unclear if this is the actual origin of Zwarte Piet and is currently being debated as it is with the origins the whole tradition itself . There a many other theories and speculations around the story and origin of Sinterklaas which is constantly being discussed between Dutch Scholars and historians .
Even though Sinterklaas has centuries old roots , the celebration around the whole country itself is relatively new . It wasn ’ t until the end of the Second World War that the celebration of Sinterklaas would spread across the southern and eastern provinces of The Netherlands ; probably with the help of media that would promote the celebration on national TV and newspapers . Today , Sinterklaas is celebrated quite differently ; ask any middle-aged or youngadult and they would probably remember their childhood ’ s Sinterklaas events fondly . They would remember the shoes or klompen ( traditional Dutch wooden clogs ) filled with candies the morning after . They would remember how Zwarte Piet would knock on the door and how they ran excited towards to open it , only to see a huge sack full of gifts and candies but Pete however , was never to be seen . They would laugh remembering how they used to exchange gifts and chant some rhyme poems , mocking the ( un ) fortunate gift receivers . The chocolate letters with their name ’ s initials , the marzipan figures , the gingerbread and the Sinterklaas parades on the winter-cold Dutch streets , watching the Sint riding his white horse while a bunch of Petes would throw pepernoten to the public ( and probably the painful experience of having a stone-hard , stone-shaped cookie fall on your head .).
Regardless of today ’ s controversies around Sinterklaas celebration , it is a tradition that shaped the winter season in The Netherlands for many years . Whether the tradition changes or adapts to today ’ s standards of morality or not , it is important to understand and learn about the traditions we celebrate as a whole , remembering always the parts we like about it in order to create new fond memories of a season that is worth living with a warm feeling that contrasts with the cold Dutch winterweather .
Steven Hendrikse