Ponder this - other than getting coal for Christmas¹, Santa Claus just isn’t that scary. I know we all love to browse through the annual re-posting of the kids disturbed by the Jolly Old Elf, but he just doesn’t instill a palpable sense of dread².

You’d better watch out, You’d better not cry
You’d better not pout, I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town.

That’s really not much of a threat. I think this factor leads to my love for the dual nature of the European old (St.) Nick. The Devil coming to get you with his switch and horns and chains and claws? Yes, that the stuff. That should definitely inspire more nightmares than a lump of old coal.

Consider that nugget in the card below, where we get a close approximation to Coots’s and Gillespie’s lyrics above:

Sei nur brav und niemals keck
Dann der Krampus schaut um’s eck

Be only well-behaved and never saucy,
(for) the Krampus is looking around the corner.

He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. Gruß vom Krampus!

And Yes, I know - another post with no cocktails. Hey, this is the “indigo firmaments” part of the blog and it has been ingored a bit as of late. I do promise that by the end of the week I’ll have a new cocktail for you all: The Krampus Swizzle. 5 points for the first person to get the connection.

1. who gets coal anymore? anyone still use Christmas to punish misbehaving kids in contemporary culture? [↩]
2. other than the aspect of reduced gift volume [↩]

Every December Heather and I throw a Christmas cocktail party centered around the germanic tradition of The Krampus. Krampus is a devil figure who accompanies Saint Nicholas. While old St. Nick gives nuts, fruit and candies for the good little boys and girls, the Krampus doles out punishment for the bad girls and boys: A piece of coal for their black little hearts, a beating with a black birtch switchel, or perhaps he’ll dump you in the river. He might even steal you away and take you back to Hell with him.

The same cultural role of the Krampus can be seen in other Christmas-time heavy homologues such as Black Peter, Pelznickel & Knecht Ruprect. Here in the New World, he has diminished and multiplied into Santa’s helper elves. A shame.

There are a wonderful collection of German post cards that feature the Krampus - often warning the sender and recipient from evil and sinful behavior. Gruß vom Krampus (Greetins from the Krampus) reminds everyone that the all-knowing devil sees you when you’re sleeping.

I’ll eventually get to some cocktail recipies centered around the Krampus in the weeks to come but until then I will feature a series of these vintage post cards. Where I can, I will translate.

Here is the first:

Gruß vom Krampus!

Warst nicht brav,
drum hoppla-hopp,
Kommt das Krampus
im Galopp.

Greetings from the Krampus!

If you were not well behaved
by hopping to it,¹
Krampus will come
a-galloping.

This year Krampus Nacht² is on Saturday 6th December with another night on Sunday 7th December for Service Industry friends who are busy pouring Saturday Nights.

Gruß vom Krampus!

1. Hoppla-Hopp is an idom that translates roughly to “on the double, or hop to it!” [↩]
2. The Fifth(!!) annual [↩]