He flies on his magic sleigh led by his reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and the most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph. In the United States, Santa Claus is often depicted as flying from his home to home on Christmas Eve to deliver toys to children. Christmas Traditions in the United States In Italy, there is a story of a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children. Père Noël is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children’s stockings with holiday treats. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. There are similar figures and Christmas traditions around the world. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Santa Claus Around the WorldĮighteenth-century America’s Santa Claus was not the only St. ClausĬartoonist Thomas Nast drew several depictions of Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly, establishing the contemporary image of this Christmas legend. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves and his wife, Mrs. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children.

In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. Nicholas” created a new and immediately popular American icon. Moore’s poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head! Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped popularize the now-familiar image of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer to leave presents for deserving children. Nicholas,” more popularly known as “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.” In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled “An Account of a Visit from St. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.” Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.ĭid you know? The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.

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