Tracking Santa

What does North American Defense Command (NORAD) have to do with Santa? 

Well, it all started in Colorado Springs back in 1955 when NORAD was CONAD (Continental Air Defense Command). 

"Why NORAD Tracks Santa" by NORAD Public Affairs, Bob Jones - https://www.noradsanta.org/en/whytrack.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Why_NORAD_Tracks_Santa.jpg#/media/File:Why_NORAD_Tracks_Santa.jpg

Sears put out an ad with a phone number which kids could call to track Santa. A simple misprint ensured that CONAD's top secret number went out on the ad. A straightlaced and disciplined Colonel Shoup who was on duty on Christmas eve got a call. To his surprise, it was a young teary voice, asking for Santa Claus. The Colonel played his role as Santa. Eventually when he spoke to the mother, he realized that their top secret number was public and was a helpline for kids. Soon NORAD made it official, for who better than NORAD to track Santa's movement in the skies. Ever since then NORAD employees, family members and others have volunteered to answer the phone while tracking Santa. 

Modern technology

Over time the Santa tracker has become more modern. Santa cam images are put out, which are CGI images of Santa flying over cities with famous landmarks. A few days before Christmas it is possible to track Santa. Updates are put out starting him at the Kiribati islands, going around the world to homes delivering gifts. Traffic to the site is analyzed to see how many personnel might be needed to answer phone calls. Many weather channels also includ Santa updates. 

Christmas mathematics, revolves around Santa's gift deliveries and makes mathematic an intersting subject for kids. Similarly tracking Santa has become interesting for kids who enjoy technology. Kids might be interested in their toys, pet games, clothes, phones, books, music and other such gifts, but tracking Santa is definitley above all that!

All this goes to show that something traditional can have a lot of modern technology in it, and yet retain its strong sense of tradition.