It began 70 years ago when a five-year-old called a top-secret emergency line reserved for the U.S. president and four-star generals and asked, “Hello, is this Santa?”
It was December 1955 — the height of the Cold War. The phone that rang was big and red, only to be used during an international emergency.
That wrong number — and many others that followed because of a simple typo in a newspaper ad — ended up launching a mission like none other for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD: to develop a tracking system allowing families to follow Santa’s journey around the world.
Since then, the Santa Tracker has become a source of joy for millions of children.
I don’t get it. The kid called the wrong number - and that’s why that tracking thing exists. Huh?
What exactly are they “tracking” anyway?
Edit: in case you decide to continue reading this trainwreck, I only ask this one courtesy of you: be aware that my issue is with the translation and nothing else, least of all the tracker itself. Cheers.
Personal gripe: Looking at the actual tracker page noradsanta.org, I thought it was a funny idea to translate this very USian thing into other languages without, apparently, accounting for local traditions. It says, for example, that in most countries Santa Claus only comes when children sleep, between 9pm and midnight on 24th Dec. That’s not true for German traditions: we get our presents in the evening on Christmas Eve. He also doesn’t come down any chimneys. (In some places there isn’t even a “Santa Claus” who brings the presents but a kind of angel child figure vaguely associated with Jesus.)
Yes, it says “most countries” but the cynic in me can only see this as a kind of cultural imperialism where the US/Anglosphere tradition is given priority over any local one. I don’t even celebrate and I’m still annoyed…
(The translation is wonky in places too (“Jetzt kannst du mit dem Verfolgen des Weihnachtsmannes beginnen”), even ignoring the content not being localised, but oh well.)
You’re upset because a PR site from an organization run by a branch of the US military is US centric? Get a grip dude. There are plenty of reasons to hate the US, but this really isn’t one of them.
I’m talking specifically about the translation. Are you saying the German and other versions are meant for a US audience?
There are ~50k US troops stationed in Germany and ~800k German speakers in the US based a quick search. Maybe it’s for them.
What I’m saying is that if you want a version tailored to your local customs you should talk to whoever runs your air defense system instead of getting mad that NORAD isn’t catering to you.
Both the US troops in Germany and the German speakers in the US speak English, they don’t need a translation. I don’t want a version tailored to me, I’m questioning why this one exists if they wouldn’t put thd effort in to tailor it to anyone.
The US has no official language. There are absolutely people within the borders of the US who speak German but not English.
Es geht hier um eine Webseite, die niemandem weh tut und wo es kein problem ist wenn es nicht zu 1000% richtig ist (ja ich weiß, prozente gehen nicht über 100%, lol.). Sowas ist ziemlich peinlich deutsch mein dude.
Santa.
Jesus Christ read the article.
Buddha read it too
It was started as a sort of feel-good thing. Like they’re not actually tracking anything, they’re just saying they are for the kids and for fun.
You’re not being forced to use their Santa tracker, it’s a US agency having fun with a US tradition.
Stop trying to make “USian” a thing. It never will be because it is clunky and stupid.
Didn’t Frank Lloyd Wright use the term “Usonian”?
I dunno, i wouldn’t mind if we pronounced it “ooozian”. Still stupid, but with a slight hint of self-injury.
This is the most German comment I’ve read in a while. Thank you for your contribution.
Somebody should write an article about it.
If you’re implying I should read the article: I have.
Then you really need to work on your reading comprehension.
“Santa Claus” doesn’t come down the chimneys but his helpers do, and he doesn’t come in the night after Christmas Eve, but the night between 5 and 6 December.
Here, Christmas is people giving each other presents. Santa Claus is only a thing in commercials. I’m sure some families try to follow the American version for their kids, but i don’t know any. We don’t put up Christmas decorations until Sinterklaas has left, but that unwritten rule is slowly disappearing.
Heather Cox Richardson does, I think, a better job explaining it than this article: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-23-2025
That does make the process clearer, yes. Thank you.
Du Spaßbremse bist sicher super beliebt auf allen Parties.
Weil ich kein Bock hab, von Ami-Kultur überrannt zu werden? Meinetwegen.
Was treibst du dann außerhalb von feddit.de?