The Origins of Santa Claus
The story of Santa Claus begins with a Greek speaking man in a Roman town called Myra many years ago in what is now present day Turkey. His name was Nicholas, or Nikolaos (winner or hero of the people) and he would go on to become Myra’s bishop.
From the tales told, he was a generous and kind-hearted man, particularly towards children. It is said he gave away all his wealth and material possessions so he could travel the countryside and help the sick and poor. In one legend, a father did not have enough wealth to put up as dowries for his three daughters and they were faced with being sold into slavery or prostitution. Upon hearing this, Nicholas left three bags of gold coins through a window overnight to save them from this fate.
Many depictions of Saint Nicholas showed him as a slender and elderly man with a white beard, a staff, a red pointed bishop’s hat, and a red robe who would ride a donkey.
These reputed qualities and stories led to Nicholas becoming canonized as Saint Nicholas and celebrated throughout most of Europe as arguably the most popular saints. He is celebrated on the 6th of December as the patron saint of children and sailors which is when it is believed that he died. This was actually the day in many regions where gifts were shared. Similar to today’s tradition, parents would leave gifts out overnight for children to wake up to believing that Saint Nicholas had stopped by. In preparation for his visit, the children would leave straw in their shoes for Saint Nicholas’s donkey to eat.
Over the years, the Dutch referred to Saint Nicholas as Sinter Klass, a shortening of Sint Nikolaas. It is believed that in the 17th century when they settled the area in and around New Amsterdam, or present day New York, the English pronunciation of Sinter Klaas turned the name into Santa Claus.
Over the following years, gift giving became an increasingly important part of the Christmas holiday. But even so, the idea of Santa Claus as we know it today was not fully formed.
This really began to change in the early 19th century. In 1822, Clement Clark Moore wrote a Christmas poem for his children based off of the works of Washington Irving who has published satirical versions of the Dutch Sinter Klaas Christmas traditions. The poem that Moore wrote was called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, more commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas”. Originally, he did not want this work published as he didn’t see it as serious enough. Luckily, his wife persuaded him to do so anonymously. While doing so, Moore made some adjustments to the poem such as trading children’s clogs near the chimney corner for stockings, and a wagon was switched out for a small sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer. It is interesting enough to note that the reindeer, sleigh, and even Saint Nicholas himself are depicting as being small in stature (though he did have a round belly and a twinkle in his eyes). The poem was published in the New York Sentinel on December 23rd, 1823.
The poem proved to be tremendously popular and led to a much more firm connection between Saint Nick and Christmas.
While people now knew about Santa Claus, there still wasn’t a defined image associated with the magical and saintly gift giver.
Enter the American Civil War. Admittedly not a part of history that you would think relevant to Santa. In January 1863, Thomas Nast from Morristown, New Jersey began sketching illustrations of Santa Claus for the very popular Harper’s Weekly. Nast heavily based his drawings off of Moore’s poem.
During the Civil War, Santa would appear wearing a jacket patterned with stars and striped pants. He apparently was decidedly on the side of the Union. In fact, throughout many of the years that Nast drew Santa Claus, he did so from a political slant turning holiday images into propaganda. Regardless, the drawing were immensely successful and went a long way in boosting morale for soldiers and citizens during the Christmas season. The nation now had a face to put to the name of Santa Claus.
Nast was also responsible for the book of naughty and nice children (though the checking it twice would be introduced later on through a song), the concept of a workshop, and even the residency at the North Pole.
Retailers began using the image of Santa to boost Christmas sales in the mid to late 19th century. Newspapers began creating special sections just for holiday advertisements, many of which would feature St Nick. It did not take much longer before stores would catch on to the appeal of showcasing a “live” Santa Claus for children to come and see.
Enter Coca-Cola. While iconic today, the relationship between Coke and Santa didn’t begin until the 1920s when the company would take advantage of the holiday themed advertising. In 1931, Coca-Cola enlisted the help of the D’Arcy Advertising Agency and the artist Haddon Sundblom to create a massive Christmas campaign that would help make Santa more than just a man in a red suit. Haddon, just like Thomas Nast before him, would rely on Clement Clark Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas Poem” to depict Santa Claus. For decades, afterwards readers of newspapers and magazines would find images of Santa Claus pausing from his gift giving and letter reading to enjoy a refreshing Coca-Cola.
The campaign was such a hit, that people would send letters to the company anytime something was changed like a backwards belt or missing wedding ring.
Throughout the 20th century, poems, books, and films would continue to shape the legend of Santa Claus into what has become tradition today. We also can’t forget to give credit to the United States Postal Service which has been creatively handling the delivery of children’s letters to Santa Clause for over the last century.
