Whether you know him by Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, everyone knows the story of the jolly old present deliverer…or do they???
Children around the world know exactly what to say when you ask them where Santa Claus lives. The North Pole, right? And despite the exciting but long, midnight journey he takes annually around the globe, the history behind his historical journey is even more exciting.
In fact, the story of Saint Nicholas dates back to the Roman Empire, evolving across Europe, and finally resting in the icy northern-most point of our beloved planet.
The question is, how did a kindhearted, good-natured Saint turn into the North Pole dwelling gift giver.
Saint Nicholas was born in Greece around 280 A.D. in the third century and became a bishop in a small Roman town called Myra. According to National Geographic, “Nicholas was neither fat nor jolly, but developed a reputation as a fiery, wiry, and defiant defender of church doctrine during the Great Persecution in 303, when Bibles were burned and priests were made to renounce Christianity or face execution. He defied the laws and persecutions, which caused him to spend many years in Roman prisons before Roman Emperor Constantine ended Christian persecution in 313 A.D.” (nationalgeographic.com)
For several centuries, Saint Nicholas became an unchallenged gift giver and a toast of celebrations that centered around his named day, December 6. It is said in Santa Claus: A Biography by Gerry Bowler, “The strict saint took on some aspects of earlier European deities, like the Roman Saturn or the Norse Odin, who appeared as white-bearded men and had magical powers like flight. He also ensured that kids toed the line by saying their prayers and practicing good behavior.”
After the Protestant Revolution in the 1500s, Saint Nicholas fell out of favor in Northern Europe, which proved to be problematic because many wondered who would bring gifts to their children. In the Netherlands however, kids and families simply refused to give up St. Nicholas as a gift giver. They brought Sinterklaas with them to New World colonies, such as the Americas.
And in the early decades of the 19th century, a series of poets and writers decided to make Christmas a family celebration—by reviving and remaking St. Nicholas.
Washington Irving wrote a book in 1809 called, “Knickerbocker’s History of New York,” which first portrayed a pipe-smoking Nicholas soaring over the rooftops in a flying wagon, delivering presents to good girls and boys and switches to bad ones. Then in 1821, an anonymous poem with illustrations called “The Children’s Friend,” took the story further by shaping the modern-day Santa and associating him with Christmas.
This particularly illustrated “Santa” brought gifts to good girls and boys, but also sported a wooden rod that “directs a Parent’s hand to use when virtue’s path his sons refuse.” Santa’s wagon was pulled by just a single reindeer.
Then in 1822 Clement Clark Moore wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” or what is better known as “The Night Before Christmas.” Mr. Moore wrote the story for his 6 children with no intention on adding to the growing Santa Claus phenomenon. The story was published anonymously the following year, in 1823, and to this day the jolly, plump Santa described still rides in a sleigh led by 8 reindeer.
“It wasn’t until the late 19th century,’ Bowler added, ‘that the image of Santa became standardized as a full-size adult, dressed in red with white fur trim, venturing out from the North Pole in a reindeer-driven sleigh and keeping an eye on children’s behavior. The jolly, chubby, grandfatherly face of this Santa was largely created by Thomas Nast, the great political cartoonist in an era that featured many. “However, Nast did leave him half-sized,” Bowler added, “and in what I think are rather indecent long johns.” (nationalgeographic.com)
Once firmly established, North America’s Santa then underwent a kind of reverse migration to Europe, replacing the scary gift bringers and adopting local names like Père Noël (France) or Father Christmas (Great Britain). “What he’s done is pretty much tame these Grimm’s Fairy Tales-type characters from the late medieval days,” Bowler said.
To this day, Santa remains a publicized figure around the world, and a symbol of the modern-day secular Christmas.
Resources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/12/131219-santa-claus-origin-history-christmas-facts-st-nicholas/
