The story of Santa Claus

Santa Claus, known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or plain “Santa,” is a legendary figure, who, in Western cultures, brings gifts and packages to the homes of the good children on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve.

It seems the Saint Nicholas of Myra in the Fourth Century in the province of the Byzantine Empire, which is now Turkey, is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus.Saint Nicholas, a priest, was often seen in a red robe, which was appropriate attire of the priests in this day. To this day, St. Nicholas is claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers and children to pawnbrokers.In the Netherlands and Belgium, Saint Nicolas is often called “Sinterklaas,” which is related to the Dutch pronunciation often pronounced “Santa Claus” or “De Goede Sint,” loosely translated to “The Friendly Saint.”“Father Christmas” dates back as far back as the 17th Century with Britain portraying him as a jolly well-nourished, bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe with a spirit of good cheer at Christmas.

This version of Santa was presented as the “Ghost of Christmas Present,” in Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol.”In the British Colonies of North America and later the United States, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting.The background of the engraving contains the now-familiar Santa Claus image including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace in a home.

In George Washing Irving’s “History of New York” in 1809, Sinterklaas was Americanized into “Santa Claus” which was first used in the American Press in 1773.The modern idea of Santa Claus came into being from Clement Clarke Moore’s poem in 1822 titled “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” which was later changed to “The Night Before Christmas” for his three daughters. He was initially hesitant to publish it due to the frivolous nature of its subject.The poem, which created a new and popular American icon, 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 to popularize Christmas Eve and Santa Claus.In the poem, Santa Claus was waiting for the children to get to sleep so he could fly from house to house on Christmas Eve in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer, whom Moore also named, leaving presents for deserving 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. 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.

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It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves and his wife, Mrs. Claus.Archie Lee, the agency advertising executive for The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic and in 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus.For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”

Moore’s description of the man as “chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf” led to an image of Santa Claus, that was warm, friendly and human. For the next 35 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of we know and love. This interpretation lives on in the minds of children of all ages all over the world.