It's the holiday season once again! The smell of cookies baking,holiday lights and the mad dash to get the perfect gift is upon us. If you still haven't picked that perfect gift, we have custom phone or iPad covers for everyone on your list this season: www.coveroo.com/gifts. PSST.. get 10% off now by using coupon code: XMAS10 at checkout.  

So let's take a small break from all of the hustle and bustle and find out why this big guy we call Santa is such an important figure not only in the US but also worldwide.

Santa Claus hasn't always looked like the jolly old fellow we know today. Like so many other American traditions, he's a product of the great American melting pot - a blend of many different cultures and customs.

But the most influential figure in the shaping of today's generous as loving Santa Claus was a real man. St. Nicholas of Myra (now Turkey), a fourth century bishop. As a champion of children and the needy, he was legendary for his kindness and generosity.

GOODWILL AND FORTUNE
St, Nicholas' goodwill illustrated in two of the basic principles of the holiday spirit - giving to others and helping the less fortunate.

According to this legend, there were three Italian maidens whose families had fallen on hard times. Because their father could not afford the dowries necessary for them to marry, he was considering selling one of his daughters into slavery to get dowries for the other two. When the good saint heard of the family's plight, he went to their home late one night and anonymously tossed three bags of gold down the chimney. Miraculously, a bag fell into each of the sisters stockings, were hanging by the fire to dry. His kindhearted gift made it possible for all three sisters to marry.

SANTA IN THE OLD WORLD
After the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, people had become accustomed to the annual visit from their gift-giving saint and didn't want to forget the purpose of the holiday. So in some countries, the festivities of St. Nicholas' Day were merged with Christmas celebrations, and although the gift-bearer took on new, non-religious forms, he still reflected the saint’s generous spirit.

SANTA CLAUS IN AMERICA
Immigrants to the New World brought along their various beliefs when they crossed the Atlantic. The Scandinavians introduced gift-giving elves, the Germans brought not only their Belsnickle and Chistkindle but also their decorated trees and the Irish contributed the ancient Gaelic custom of placing a lighted candle in the window.

In the 1600's, the Dutch presented Sinterklaas (meaning St. Nicholas) to the colonies. In their excitement, many English-speaking children uttered the name so quickly that Sinterklaas sounded like Santy Claus. After years of mispronunciation, the name evolved into Santa Claus.

In 1808, American author Washington Irving created a new version of old St. Nick. This one rode over the treetops in a horse drawn wagon "dropping gifts down the chimneys of his favorites." In his satire, Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, Irving described Santa as a jolly Dutchman who smoked a long stemmed clay pipe and wore baggy breeches and a broad brimmed hat. Also, the familiar phrase, "...laying his finger beside his nose...," first appeared in Irving's story.

Dr. Clement Clarke Moore, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” used that phrase again in 1822 in the now-classic poem more commonly know as "The Night Before Christmas." His verse gave an Arctic flavor to Santa's image when he substituted eight tiny reindeer and a sleigh for Irving's horse and wagon. It is Moore's description of Santa that we most often think of today: "He had a broad face, and a little round belly, that shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly."

Up to this point, Santa's physical appearance and the color of his suit were open to individual interpretation.

Then in 1863, Thomas Nast, a German immigrant, gave us a visual image of the cheerful giver that was to later become widely accepted. When Nast was asked to illustrate Moore's charming verse for a book of children's poems, he gave us a softer, kinder Santa who was still old but appeared less stern than the ecclesiastical St. Nicholas. He dressed his elfin figure in red and endowed him with human characteristics. Most important of all, Nast gave Santa a home at the North Pole. For twenty-three years, his annual drawings in Harpers Weekly magazine allowed Americans to peek into the magical world of Santa Claus and set the stage for the shaping of today's merry gentleman.

Artist Haddon Sundblom added the final touches to Santa's modern image. Beginning in 1931, his billboard and other advertisements for Coca Cola-Cola featured a portly, grandfatherly Santa with human proportions and a ruddy complexion. Sunblom's exuberant, twinkle-eyed Santa firmly fixed the gift-giver's image in the public mind.

St. Nicholas' evolution into today's happy, larger-than-life Santa Claus is a wonderful example of the blending of countless beliefs and practices from around the world. This benevolent figure encompasses all the goodness and innocence of childhood. And because goodness is his very essence, in every kindness we do, Santa will always be remembered.

Happy Holiday and Cheers! 
Stephanie
www.coveroo.com/gifts 

-edited from "The History of Santa Claus" www.northpolesantaclaus.com

BTW I am THE envy of all my friends with my eleven (!) new paisley, polka dot,stripe and leopard custom phone covers!  We have hundreds of brand new designs to choose from, all waiting for you at: www.coveroo.com/fashion. 

We've also got more new designs in all these themes, so there's something for even the most discerning of taste.  

Butterflies – coveroo.com/butterflies
Hearts – coveroo.com/hearts
Diva – coveroo.com/diva
Animal Prints – coveroo.com/animal
Flowers - coveroo.com/flowers

If you want to dress up your phone but these are not your thing, you can still add personality to your phone. Coveroo has the exclusive licenses for pro sports including Major League Baseball, NBA, NFL PLAYERS, as well as designs for lots of colleges, fraternities, sororities, Monster High, Barbie, Star Trek and more. 

It's hard to pick from all of these designs - that’s why I have a new one for every day of the week. I mean how many pairs of shoes do you have? One for every outfit, right? Well, why neglect your phone - it needs love too.

Cheers!
Stephanie

PS Holiday Shopping done! Those hard to shop friends and fam  are covered with one of a kind stocking stuffers. Get Started Early: www.coveroo.com

Coveroo has exclusive licensed designs for all Major League Baseball Teams including designs celebrating National League Division Champions, San Francisco Giants www.coveroo.com/giants and American League Division Champions, Texas Rangers www.coveroo.com/rangers.  Also if you are looking for a bit of fear the beard, not the deer OR fear the deer, shave the beard, we also have some totally custom designs you can use to support your fav player and poke a little fun at the competition!

I know who I’ll be rooting for tonight .. What about you?

Cheers,
Stephanie

P.S. LIKE us at: www.facebook.com/coveroo to be entered to win an Orange or Blue 8Gb Nano. We are also giving away Coveroos almost every day during the entire series... so be sure to check it out!   

So show some love! Actives, pledges and alumni, you can personalize your cell phone, iPod or iPad to show your pride wherever you are. We just added over 200+ Greek-themed designs, including house letters, symbols, school mascots, and college or university.  

We have you “covered” with your greek houses, Ladies of Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Zeta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Zeta Tau Alpha or the guys of Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Tau Kappa Epsilon will find letters for your phone.  

Check it out at: www.coveroo.com/fraternities or www.coveroo.com/sororities

Also, if you want your Greek letters along with your school logo, Coveroo has a HUGE selection of sororities and fraternities at UCLA, Texas A&M, Florida State, KY, OK, LSU, Miami, Georgia, AL, USC and many more schools being added all the time.  Come to www.coveroo.com/ncaa and search by your school.

On a personal note, I love my Coveroo and I get stopped several times a day to ask where I got it.  I smile, reply with “I got it at www.coveroo.com” and feel great when someone digs my totally original, custom design. 

Be supportive and Go Greek!

Cheers
Stephanie 

I think we all know a woman in our lives be it a friend or family member who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. It touched my own life when two of my aunt’s were diagnosed, fought through it and survived!

It’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and in celebration of the survivors and to promote awareness, Coveroo has partnered with National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.® (NBCF) to give them $3 for every Pink Ribbon Coveroo sold this month.

“Breast cancer awareness is an important cause, as breast cancer affects one in eight women in a lifetime,” said Coveroo’s CEO and co-founder Karl Jacob. “Coveroo is happy to do their part in contributing to research and increasing awareness to save the lives of the ones we love.”

“Our organization is committed to increasing breast cancer knowledge and thankful for companies like Coveroo who contribute to our mission in the fight against breast cancer,” said Janelle Hail, founder of NBCF. 

We are committed to help increase awareness of breast cancer and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure. The new line of Pink Ribbon covers and cases, give you a unique and custom way, to demonstrate your support for the cause. These designs can be further customized to include the name of a friend or loved-one affected by the disease.

Check it out at www.coveroo.com/pinkribbon. I know I have ordered mine and will be proud to show it off everyday as a supporter. 

GO PINK!
Stephanie 

Even better, Coveroo announced an industry first this week at OnHollywood, HighColor which renders your design on your Coveroo with over 65,000 colors! As you can see these Coveroos look amazing and expect our entire catalog to be in color by Memorial Day. Finally we have been hard at work adding new phones and new designs. We now support over 150 phones and over 1,000 designs. Check them out at Coveroo.  Enjoy!

We also announced some great new additions to our family of licenses including Garfield, Resident Evil 5, Dexter and The Tudors.  We added numerous iPods to our lineup and 50 new phone models including the ubiquitous RAZR.

It was a great show and to top it all off we won the coveted DEMOgod award which goes to the best products and demos.

Here are some more pictures from the show, enjoy!

Finally here is a great video that Arik from BusinessWeek posted and here is the article

Once inside you were overwhelmed by hundreds of gaming stations from XBOX 360 to PS3 and even arcade machines.

As you can imagine people were pretty excited about getting the latest Super Fighter characters on their phones.  The line started early in the evening…

and later on wound across the stage area where the cast of the movie Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li were showing a preview and talking about the film

Overall we etched more than 300 phones in one night and here are some of the results!

You can see more pics on our flickr feed