A brief history of Santa Claus

West End

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/12/2024 (325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

These days, the face of Santa Claus is emblazoned on everything from wrapping paper to dishes. His name is a derivation of Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas, a very pious early Christian bishop who lived in the fourth century. The feast of Saint Nicholas has been observed by Christians worldwide for centuries.

St. Nicholas helped many needy families and often unobtrusively gave little children small presents. Children around the world now leave out their shoes to be filled with small gifts on Saint Nicholas Day, which is observed on Dec. 6 in western countries and Dec. 19 in most Eastern Orthodox countries. Lumps of coal might be left for misbehaving children.

The lines between Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus have blurred in our modern culture, so where did the modern conception of Santa come from?

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem called A Visit from Saint Nicholas (a.k.a. ’Twas the Night Before Christmas), which popularized Santa as plump and jolly. Cartoonist Thomas Nast added to this image with his drawings for Harper’s Weekly magazine in the 1860s. Haddon Sundblom later created today’s traditional image of Santa Claus for Coca-Cola in 1931. The chubby cheeks, long white beard, rotund figure and, of course, the red suit and fur trimmed hat make Sundblom’s Santa unmistakable.

Ever since Charles Dickens set A Christmas Carol in a snow-covered backdrop in 1843, a white Christmas has been on everyone’s wish list. Songs such as Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and Dean Martin’s Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! continually play on the radio and in stores, so it is no wonder that Santa lives in the snowy North Pole.

Children might leave out shoes in front of the fireplace or have stockings hanging up in anticipation of a visit, not all parents can provide a storybook Christmas. Luckily the biblical saying that it’s more blessed to give than receive is never truer than now.

A generosity of spirit permeates the Christmas season. Kind gestures and service to others are commonplace. The Christmas Cheer Board’s hampers and Toy Mountain’s presents fill in some of the gaps for parents, as the prevailing sentiment is that no one needs to be in need at Christmas And, of course, churches across the city welcome us all to their services as the celebration of the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25 has only seemed to get buried under all the wrapping paper.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and peaceful Christmas and a Happy New year.