Ken Springer
Contributing Writer
“There are three stages of man: He believes in Santa Claus; He doesn’t believe in Santa Claus; He is Santa Claus.” Bob Phillips
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus – however:
Who Santa Claus is depends upon whom you ask. To children, he is the jolly man in a red suit who brings gifts at Christmas. Just ask any kid; you’ll get an earful.
To historians, the genesis of Father Christmas is a 4th century B.C. saint who unwittingly set in motion many further iterations of Santa Claus. Most of them are jolly and kind, while some are pretty scary.
Santa may be more of an idea to you and me, just a legendary figure of Christmas tradition. Indeed, the road from Saint Nicholas to the modern version of Santa was long and convoluted.
We might say that Jolly Old St. Nick is a colorful figure with multiple personality disorder.
Santa is known in Germany as Weihnachtsmann; in Italy, he is called Babbo Natale. He is called Santa Claus, Father Christmas and Kris Kringle in the English-speaking world.
But, all of these names and renditions of Santa began with a single individual, a sainted Greek bishop named Nicholas of Bari. Known for his exceptional kindness and generosity, Nicholas is the saint of – among many things – sailors, children, brewers and even repentant thieves.
The sailors got the ball rolling on creating Saint Nicholas’s connection to Christmas and gift-giving. In 1087 Italian sailors, revering the saint, forcibly removed the saint’s bones to the Basilica di San Nicola in Italy, where they are today.
Yet, our modern image of a portly bearded Santa Claus living at the North Pole and making toys with a crew of elves wouldn’t become part of our Christmas until millennia later.
A fact you may find interesting is that children were not part of the Christmas equation until as late as the 19th century.
Secular Christmas arose from Roman festivals celebrating Saturn, the god of agriculture. Held during the Winter Solstice, pagan festivals made offerings to ensure good crops in the coming year.
Virility and fertility rites were part of the festival, although the Christian church would finally eliminate these pagan aspects as the holiday became solely about the birth of Jesus.
Gift giving and Christmas.
The gift-giving theme of Christmas came from the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh offered to baby Jesus by the Magi. Gifting others would become a large part of how Christians observed Christmas.
Yet, children were not the primary beneficiaries of Christmas at that point in history. Until the 20th century, many children worked in fields and factories right alongside adults. These were not pampered children by any standard.
It would be three remarkable New Yorkers who, through their skills and talents, would usher in what we would now recognize as a proper Christmas.
Clement Clark Moore wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823, or as it is better known today, Twas the Night Before Christmas. At the time, Moore had six children and said he composed the poem for them.
Moore would later say that the inspiration for the image we have of Santa today came from a portly German living in his New York Neighborhood.
The poem creates images of children hanging gift stockings. St. Nick, as Moore referred to Santa Claus, gave us our first-ever impression of a sled full of gifts delivered to children by flying reindeer.
We now envision Santa Claus coming down the chimney with a bag full of gifts.
“He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot. And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.”
You will note that there is no mention of a Christmas tree, but that would arrive in America in just a few years.
History has it that Prince Albert, born in Germany and the husband of Queen Victoria, introduced the German tradition of the Christmas tree to Great Britain. From there, it quickly spread throughout the western world.
Another essential contributor to our modern Christmas was Thomas Nast, the famous Civil War propagandist. His illustrations left no doubt that he supported the Union cause.
His first drawing, published in a January 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly, depicted a fat jolly Santa delivering gifts at a Union Army camp. We see a Union soldier gratefully receiving a new pair of socks.
Santa as a gifter was revolutionary – before the 1800s, Christmas was only recognized as a religious holiday. Mr. Nast and his Civil War illustrations helped cement the image of Santa as a bringer of gifts and good cheer in the American mind.
Modern Christmas was well on its way to being the biggest holiday of the year – biggest holiday of the year – one that children would look forward to with the greatest of expectations.
Christmas was also about to become an industry in its own right. In 2021, Americans spent $945 billion on this single holiday.
Enter Washington Irving.
Irving became famous for writing A History of New York City in 1809, a parody of an earlier book on New York by Samuel Mitchill. As Irving referred to New York City, Gotham would be ground zero for promoting the image of Saint Nicholas as the modern Santa Claus.
Irving tells a story within his book about the early Dutch settlers of New York City, then called New Amsterdam. He describes Saint Nicholas as “Riding over the tops of trees in that self-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.”
From this point on, Christmas would always include gifts for children and grew to include adults, as well.
Did Coca-Cola introduce the modern Santa?
There is a persistent rumor that our familiar image of Santa was the brainchild of the Coca-Cola company, but that claim is a bit of an exaggeration.
The giant soft-drink company did have some input on what Santa looks like today. Before 1931, Santa was depicted in an amazing variety of body types and costumes.
There were tall Santas, elves, fairies, and some that would scare the bejeezus out of a kid. They wore red, green and even striped outfits.
Coke hired illustrator Haddon Sundblom to create a Santa Claus advertisement for the 1931 Christmas Season. The result was a Santa we would all recognize today – jolly, rotund, sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks, and wearing a red suit.
There is something worse than getting just a lump of coal for Christmas if you have been a bad child, far worse. Take heed, kids!
Imagine awakening as a child on Christmas Eve to the sound of someone messing about in your living room. “It must be Santa bringing me gifts,” you might logically think.
But if you have been a bad little boy or girl in Austria or Bavaria, that scratching you hear on the hardwood floor downstairs may very well be the claws of a creature called Krampus.
Compared to what Krampus might do to you, a lump of coal would be a blessing. Krampus, at the very least, may lash you with a switch. But if you have been really naughty, he will put you in a basket and carry you off to his cave.
I understand that children who live in the Bavarian Alps are incredibly well-behaved.
Did Santa Get My Letter? Sorry, Virginia.
Well, the answer is a big fat NO if you were a kid in the early 1900s. The Postal Service didn’t want to mess with these letters to Santa from little brats wanting a real pony or a drum set. The Postal Service was a real humbug back then.
The “Dear Santa” letters were sent to the “dead letter” box and eventually burned.
Finally, after much outrage by parents having to explain such governmental cruelty, the Postal Service allowed charitable organizations to handle the Santa mail.
Things are better for kids today, be they good or bad. Today’s Postal Service has established a post office just a block from Santa’s workshop – 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888.
You will be happy to know that NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) still tracks Santa on his Christmas gift delivery route, as it has since 1955.
A tip of the hat to Charles – Dickens, that is.
When discussing contributions to what we regard as our “traditional” Christmas, we would be remiss, perhaps even criminal, if we didn’t mention Charles Dickens.
His 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol, has had a staggeringly huge effect on Christmas activities and explores the deeper meanings of generosity and love, including and extending beyond just Christmas Day.
Of all the many movie versions of this moving and splendidly written novel, my favorite is still the 1951 black and white film starring Alastair Sim.
Let us never forget these immortal lines concerning the blinding effect of greed:
Jacob Marley: In life, my spirit never rose beyond the limits of our money-changing holes! Now I am doomed to wander without rest or peace, incessant torture and remorse!
Ebenezer: But it was only that you were a good man of business, Jacob!
Jacob Marley: BUSINESS? Mankind was my business! Their common welfare was my business! And it is at this time of the rolling year that I suffer most!
And then there’s The Grinch.
No Christmas can be complete without watching the 1966 cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff. You wouldn’t want to miss the Grinch stealing all of the Whoville children’s gifts and feasts; the jingtinglers, flooploovers, tartookas, blumbloopas, and even the roast beast.
If you are one of the three people in the country who has never seen this Dr. Seuss gem, it is about an abysmally antisocial old monster living at the top of a mountain with a little white dog.
Something about that description is eerily familiar to me; hmmmmm!
In exploring the route of Santa Claus from a humble 4th century B.C. saint to our depiction of jolly old St. Nick today, we have witnessed many changes in how Christmas is observed.
From wrapped gifts under a decorated Christmas tree to setting cookies out for Santa’s visit, we have many creative and imaginative people of the past to thank for the “Most wonderful holiday of the year.”
Merry Christmas to all, Ken (Bah, Humbug) Springer
Ken1949bongo@gmail.com
