Hey everybody, howdy-hi! That's what I imagine the Catalan Caga Tio talks like (Mr. Hanky). The picture shows a bunch of the little log-men with smiley faces, hats, and wooden dowel legs. This is an integral part of the Catalan Holidays, and his name is Caga Tio (crapping uncle).
Caga Tio is put out several weeks before Christmas. The traditions vary, but many families have the kids leave food out for Caga Tio every night before going to bed. In the morning, the children discover that only crumbs, banana peel, ect. remain. The Caga Tio begins to "fatten up."
On Christmas morning (or Eve) the children will come down and find a nice warm blanket covering Caga Tio's backside. They sing songs to him and tap him with sticks to encourage him to "crap" presents and sweets. The parents reach under the blanket and remove the goodies that the kids have coaxed out of poor old Caga Tio. This tradition is very popular here. In fact, in many town squares there will be a giant Caga Tio and kids wait in line to hit him with a stick to get sweets. I've never seen a line of kids quite this long waiting to sit on Santa's lap at the mall, maybe we should introduce the sticks to our tradition, just to help Santa remember.
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