A brief history of Santa Clause

1. Would the real Santa
please stand up
Cameron Kippen
toeslayer2000@yahoo.com.au
Updated 3/12/2019

2. The Real Santa Claus
Santa Claus in one form or other is a familiar
figure to people all over the world, but the
weight advantaged, red suited, old man
variety is of comparative recent origin.
Giving gifts during the Festive Season is
however an old and treasured custom.
Modern Santa is a mixture of many
historical and cultural traditions.

3. St Nicholas of Myria
St Nicholas of Myria was born circa
280 AD In Patara (now Turkey) and is
the patron saint of sailors, merchants,
wrongly accused, endangered
travelers and farmers.
One of his gracious deeds was to give
gold to a poor man with three
daughters. This meant the girls could
have dowries and marry well.
St Nicholas wanted to remain
anonymous and threw three bags of
gold down the chimney. The gifts
landed in the girls’ stockings and so
today we hang up Christmas Stocking
on Christmas Eve.

4. Father Christmas
During the reign of Henry VIII (1491- 1547), Father
Christmas was depicted as a large man in green or scarlet
robes lined with fur.
He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, bringing
peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry.
England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on
6th December, and Father Christmas celebration was
moved to 25th December to coincide with Christmas Day.

5. The Christkind
The Christkind is a sprite-like child
depicted with blond hair and
angelic wings. He is the traditional
Christmas gift-bringer in many
European and Hispanic Countries .
Martin Luther openly discouraged
St. Nicholas, and after the
Protestant Reformation changed
the gift bringer to the Christ Child
or Christkindl. The date of giving
gifts also changed from December
6 to Christmas Eve.
Christkindl or Christkindel are
diminutive versions of Christkind.

6. Sinterklass
Modern Santa probably came from Dutch
Settlers to North America and is likely to
be approx 200 hundred years old.
He first appeared in literature in 1822 in
the famous children’s poem by Clement
Clarke Moore.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when
all through the house Not a creature was
stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings
were hung by the chimney with care, In
hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be
there.’

7. Thomas Nast’s Santa
In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by caricaturist
and political cartoonist, Thomas Nast appeared on the
cover of Harper’s Weekly.
The character was first introduced during the civil war
and the image of Santa Claus continued to evolve over
the next two years.
The story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may
also have been a Nast creation.

8. Père Noël
In France the legend is Père Noël (Father
Christmas) was so cold one Christmas Eve,
he burnt the clogs of a little girl to keep
himself warm. As a compensation he left
gifts.
French children lay out their shoes
(traditionally sabots) in the anticipation Père
Noël (Father Christmas) who will fill
themwith presents.

9. Balthazar
In Spain, Christmas is traditionally a
Religious festival and the Spanish still do
not recognise Santa Claus. Children do
however look forward to gifts during
This season.
One Spanish tradition was for children to
leave their shoes on the windowsill stuffed
full of straw, carrots, and barley to feed the
Horse and donkeys of the Wise Men.
Balthazar is a welcome visitor for he is the
Spanish Santa and on Christmas morning
children's shoes are filled with gifts.

10. Babouschka and La
Befana
The Russian Christmas gift giver is a woman called
Babouschka and like her Italian counterpart La
Befana, portray an old ladies who failed offer help and
food to the Wise Men on their journey to the baby
Jesus.
For penance the women search in vein carrying gifts
which they give to well behaved children.
In Italy the Christmas gifts are given on Epiphany Eve
(the night of January 5). In Belgium children get their
presents on the 6th December i.e. St Nicholas Day

11. Rockwell’s Santa
American artist Norman Rockwell had
done a number of paintings with Saint
Nicholas wearing red and white
including A Drum for Tommy which
appeared on the cover of The Country
Gentleman in 1921.

12. Coca-Cola Santa
The Coca-Cola Company began its Christmas
advertising in magazines in the 1920’s, the first
Santa ads used a strict-looking Claus, in the
vein of Thomas Nast.
In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department
store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of
Coke. Later they commissioned illustrator
Haddon Sundblom to develop Santa images.
For inspiration the artist took
"Twas the Night Before Christmas" and
based the character upon his friend.

13. Commonwealth
of Australia
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