History of Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a mythical old man who brings gifts to children at Christmas. Today's Santa Claus developed from a real person, Saint Nicholas, who lived in the A.D. 300's. He was bishop of Myra, an ancient town of Lycia, now in Turkey. According to legend, he was only a boy when he became a bishop. He was extremely kind, and often went out at night, taking presents to the needy. After his death, his fame spread throughout Europe. During the Middle Ages, Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of schoolboys. Schoolboys in various European towns celebrated his feast day on December 6 by electing a boy-bishop. Dressed in magnificent robes, the boy-bishop led a parade through the streets. There was much feasting, but on the whole the occasion was solemn. Later, this custom died out, although Nicholas still remained the favorite saint with children.

In Belgium and the Netherlands, both young and old still celebrate his feast day. A person representing the saint wears the robes of a bishop and rides through the street on a white donkey. In Germany, Nicholas sometimes appears as a hairy imp, Pelz Nichol, meaning Nicholas in Fur. Parents tell Pelz Nichol how their children have behaved during the year. Then good children are rewarded with presents, while bad boys and girls receive only a bundle of twigs or switches.

Children were so fond of Saint Nicholas and his habit of bringing gifts that the custom of celebrating his feast day was maintained. Dutch settlers brought the custom with them to New Amsterdam (now New York City), and English setters eagerly borrowed the legends and festivities surrounding the kindly Saint Nicholas. English-speaking children tried to pronounce the Dutch name for the saint, Sinter Claas. But they said it quickly and excitedly, and soon the name changed to Santy Claus or Santa Claus.

Santa's appearance began to change about the same time as his name. For hundreds of years, Europeans had imagined Saint Nicholas as tall, thin, stately person. But Washington Irving created a new picture of him as a fellow who looked very much like a typical Dutch settler in the state of New York. In his Knickerbocker's History of New York (1809), Irving described the saint as the guardian of New York City. He pictured him as a jolly fellow wearing a broad-brimmed hat and huge breeches and smoking a long pipe. Irving's Saint Nicholas rode over the treetops in a wagon, took presents from his pockets, and dropped them down chimneys.

In 1822, Clement C. Moore wrote for this children the poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," which describes the saint more as we know him today. In this poem, which begins with the familiar line "Twas the before Christmas," the saint is pictured as a round and jolly figure with twinkling eyes, a "nose like a cherry," and a white beard. He puffs a stump of a pipe and rides in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. Like the German Pelz Nichol, "he was dressed all in fur, his head to his foot." In 1837, a painting by Robert W. Weir showed Santa as a friendly, tubby fellow, wearing a hood and knee boots, and carrying a bag of toys. He was grinning and, in Moore's words, "laying his finger aside of his nose."

Thomas Nast, the famous American cartoonist, further developed the figure of Santa Claus in a cartoon in 1863. Later his famous drawing, "Santa Claus and His Works," which appeared as a Christmas picture in Harper's Weekly in 1866, showed Santa Claus in his workshop with his record of the good and bad deeds of all children. The drawing also showed the reindeer-drawn sleigh, the pack of toys, the stockings hung from the fireplace, and the Christmas tree.

For hundreds of years, people celebrated the feast of Saint Nicholson on December 6, which is the anniversary of the saint's death. After the Protestant Reformation, Saint Nicholas was replaced by the Christ Child, called Christkindl, in parts of Germany and Switzerland. From this name came the character Kris Kringle, the angle-like figure who brings gifts at Christmastime. Sometimes Pelz Nichol accompanies him.

In England, Saint Nicholas Day festivities were banned when Henry VIII founded the Church of England. They were later resumed when Queen Victoria married a German prince, Albert. Then Saint Nicholas returned as Father Christmas, a gentleman dressed in a long tail coat and square beaver hat. He, too, appeared at Christmastime. But, in many European countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and parts of Germany and Switzerland, Saint Nicholas celebrations still take place on December 6.

In the United States, Santa Claus' activities also occur at Christmastime. The American version of Santa Claus has also become popular in Canada, England, and Australia as a person who brings presents and Christmas cheer.

Arthur M. Selvi