"Kriskin" was, in fact, an American corruption of Christkind
That was going to be my first guess, as well.
I haven't heard of a custom such as you describe, either -- at least not with the additional surprises bit.
However, the drawing names, anonymous giving bit corresponds to a custom I know in German as "Julklapp" (though the name sounds Scandinavian to me).
Intriguingly, the Christkind as gift-giver is an invention of Martin Luther's, who found old St. Niklaus and der Weihnachtsmann ("Father Christmas") too papist bzw. too secular. As such, the term is associated with Protestants, making it a little surprising to find it being used in a strongly Catholic context.
See, this surprises me, because I associate the Christkind-as-bringer-of-gifts with southern Germany (and, by extension, Catholicism).
no subject
That was going to be my first guess, as well.
I haven't heard of a custom such as you describe, either -- at least not with the additional surprises bit.
However, the drawing names, anonymous giving bit corresponds to a custom I know in German as "Julklapp" (though the name sounds Scandinavian to me).
Intriguingly, the Christkind as gift-giver is an invention of Martin Luther's, who found old St. Niklaus and der Weihnachtsmann ("Father Christmas") too papist bzw. too secular. As such, the term is associated with Protestants, making it a little surprising to find it being used in a strongly Catholic context.
See, this surprises me, because I associate the Christkind-as-bringer-of-gifts with southern Germany (and, by extension, Catholicism).