The History of our Christmas Icon

 Well, I messed up this time. St. Nicholas Day was two days ago; I should have written this blog on Wednesday. As it is, since my son is named Nicholas – though he wasn’t named after the saint which inspired Santa Claus – I always want to do something for him on that day. And I always forget. So I guess it is no surprise that I am posting this two days late.

For the month of December, I’ve been writing about symbols of Christmas, some religious, some secular and some just for kids. Like today’s.

The legend of Santa Claus goes back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is thought that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in modern-day Turkey. He was admired for his virtue, kindness and generosity. It is believed that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. Over the years, Nicholas’s popularity spread, and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. He is remembered on December 6, the anniversary of the date he died.

The story of St. Nicholas first came to America in December 1773, and again in 1774, when a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death. He was called Sinter Klaas by these families, which was a form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas).

In 1804, 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 familiar Christmas images such as stockings filled with toys hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to spread the story of Sinter Klaas when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, “The History of New York”. Around that time, gift-giving at Christmas, especially to children, was becoming popular.

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.”  His poem is mostly responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head. Although some of Moore’s imagery was borrowed from other sources, his poem helped popularize the now-familiar image of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve–in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer–leaving presents for deserving children.

“An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast created the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus, based on Moore’s poem. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack filled with toys for good girls and boys. Nast gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

(From History.com)

(I'm so lucky to live with the best Santa of them all.)