The big day is almost here! With Christmas just around the corner, what better time than now to explore the fascinating history of one of the most important figures in the mythology of Christmas… Santa Claus. Though his name and traditions differ across different cultures, he’s popularly depicted as a rosy-cheeked, twinkling-eyed, pleasantly plump and white-bearded man in a red and white suit, black boots, and a booming laugh. On Christmas Eve, children go to bed full of excitement and anticipation for Santa’s arrival in his reindeer-pulled sleigh, bearing gifts for them from his large sac of toys. Where did this '“jolly old elf” come from? How do different cultures view and celebrate his traditions? Let’s explore the origins of Santa Claus.
Santa Claus as we know him is a relatively modern character who evolved from the weaving of Christian (St. Nicholas and Sinterklaas), Celtic (Father Christmas) and Germanic (Kristkind/Kris Kringle and Weihnachtsmann) traditions.
St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas was a Greek-born Christian bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey, during the era of the Roman Empire (270-343 AD). He was known for protecting children from harm, for his generosity to those in need and for his gift-giving. He was also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker for the many miracles attributed to him. St. Nicholas is usually depicted as a white-haired, olived-skinned old man, wearing red and white bishop robes, a mitre hat, holding a bible and later a crozier.
Many countries in Europe celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6 in honour of the Saint’s death. He is revered throughout Europe as the patron Saint of sailors, the falsely accused, repentant criminals, and the protector of children.
It was sometime during the Middle Ages, nobody knows exactly when, that Saint Nicholas began to make special visits to children on the eve of his saint’s day, December 6th. During these visits he would leave little treats such as toys, sweets, or fruit on doorsteps. It is believed that he made the first of these visits in France, but soon he started traveling all over Western Europe, where children most strongly believed in him. In some countries he would climb through windows, in others he would slide down chimneys. Sometimes he would leave his gifts in shoes or stockings. In some countries, especially ones in the far north, he would ride a large white horse to help him in his nightly travels. In a few special places, he appeared in person to deliver gifts, dressed in the red and white robes of a bishop.
Although Saint Nicholas loved all children, he did not give presents to everyone. He only gave treats to those children who had been well behaved and said their prayers as their parents instructed. As in life, Nicholas could see into people’s hearts and could judge whether they had been good or if they were truly sorry for any bad things that they had done. If not, Nicholas would leave an empty shoe or stocking as a reminder for a child to try harder in the coming year.
The Story of Santa Claus by Joseph A. McCullough (2014), p.45.
Children in many parts of Europe still leave their shoes or stockings outside the front door or at the end of their beds depending on the region, on December 5, St. Nicholas Day Eve. In northern and eastern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and parts of Italy, St. Nicholas leads a donkey laden with baskets full of treats and toys for children. In some regions of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, St. Nicholas rides on a white horse. In many of these regions, children fill their shoes or stockings with straw or carrots for St. Nciholas’ donkey or horse. If the children have been good, they get their boots filled with sweats and small toys, if they’ve been naughty they might get a lump of coal, a stick or nothing at all.
Sinterklaas
The customs surrounding St. Nicholas and the celebration of St. Nicholas’ Day are still strong in parts of Germany and in the Netherlands, where he is called Sinterklaas.
For many centuries, the small country of the Netherlands had celebrated the visits of Sinterklaas (their name for Saint Nicholas) with great feasts and parades. However, during the Reformation, the country essentially split in half along religious lines. In the north, the Protestants took over and banned the celebrations of Sinterklaas. In the Catholic south, the tradition continued.
In the south, Sinterklass would arrive in the country by boat [from somewhere in Spain] sometime in November, and spend the next few weeks, until December 6, touring the country [often on a white horse], spreading good cheer, and giving out small gifts and presents to the children. He dressed like a bishop with his red and white robes, his tall hat, and his crozier (his special bishop’s staff). He also carried a large book, which contained the names of all the children and included notes on which ones had been good and which ones had been naughty.
In his visits to the Netherlands, Sinterklaas also brought along a helper named Zwarte Piet, a young Ethiopian boy that Sinterklaas had rescued from slavery. Zwarte Piet assisted Sinterklaas by carrying his sack full of presents and tossing out small candies and chocolates to children. He also sometimes helped guide Sinterklaas’ ship and was even known to climb down chimneys and leave presents
The Story of Santa Claus by Joseph A. McCullough (2014), p.51 and 52.
The previous episode, Episode 26 - Santa’s Helpers: The Nice and the Not So Nice, has a section about Zwarte Piet if you want to learn more about this problematic figure and other interesting and sometimes terrifying Santa helpers.
Kris Kringle
In the early 1500s, the German monk Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation, splitting from the Roman Catholic Church. Protestantism in various forms spread across much of Scandinavia, and parts of Eastern Europe, also making inroads into Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France, then later into England. Protestant doctrine decried the worship of Saints as idolatry. St. Nicholas, his celebration and customs were banned across Protestant Europe and replaced with the celebration of the Kristkindl (‘Christ Child’ in German), also called Kristkind.
Luther created the figure of Kristkindl to represent the baby Jesus as the bearer of gifts to children on Christmas Eve, December 24. Kristkindl eventually evolved into an angel with long blonde hair and golden wings, wearing a golden crown. On Christmas morning, for those who celebrated Kris Kindle traditions, children were not allowed into the lounge room (or wherever the Christmas tree stood) to see their Christmas presents, until their parents pretended to hear a bell. Sometimes a real but hidden bell was used so the children were also able to hear when Kristkindl departed and they could enter the room. Like Santa, no one was meant to see Kristkindl.
Kristkindl traditions slowly died out in most Protestant countries in favour of the more secular version of Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus. Kristkindl ironically, became more popular in Catholic Germany and the Catholic countries of Latin America, where he remains the main gift-bringer. Early European settlers brought the Kristkindl tradition with them to America, where he was renamed Kris Kringle. Santa Claus eventually subsumed Kris Kringle though it became an alternative name for Santa Claus. Kris Kringle is now also used as an alternative name for the game of Secret Santa.
Weihnachtsmann
The Weihnachtsmann developed in Germany during the 1800s in the same way and time that Santa Claus developed in America, as a secular alternative to St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas and Kristkindl traditions. Later, some Catholic regions adopted Kristkindl, while some Protestant regions, in turn, adopted the Weihnachtsmann.
As early as 1835, Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the words to “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann” — still a popular German Christmas carol. The first image depicting a bearded Weihnachtsmann in a hooded, fur mantle was a woodcut (Holzschnitt) by the Austrian painter Moritz von Schwind (1804-1871). Von Schwind’s first 1825 drawing was entitled “Herr Winter.” A second woodcut series in 1847 bore the title “Weihnachtsmann” and even showed him carrying a Christmas tree, but still had little resemblance to the modern Weihnachtsmann. Over the years, the Weihnachtsmann became a rough mixture of St. Nicholas and Knecht Ruprecht (one of St. Nicholas' companions). A 1932 survey found that German children were split about evenly along regional lines between believing in either the Weihnachtsmann or the Christkind. But today a similar survey would show the Weihnachtsmann winning out in almost all of Germany – except for most Catholic areas.
Source: www.germanholidaymarket.org
Weihnachten translates to ‘holy night’ in German and the Weihnachtsmann translates to the ‘Holy Night Man’. He was originally depicted as a thin and stern old man, wearing a fur-trimmed cloak of green or brown, or sometimes lilac, often carrying a Christmas tree and a sac with toys. He was also sometimes depicted with a switch or stick as he originally doled out punishment to naughty children as well as giving gifts. Eventually, the classic image of the Weihnachtsmann began to take on the characteristics of modern-day Santa Claus. He is now frequently depicted as a jolly old man with a white fur-trimmed red coat, red cap and black boots.
In 2013, a German museum director applied to have the Weihnachtsmann included on UNESCO’s ‘intangible cultural heritage’ list as he argued that the Weihnachtmann’s uniquely German heritage was under threat from the American Santa Claus.
Father Christmas
Father Christmas is an English personification of the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, who brought peace and joy and celebrated the season with good food, wine and revelry. He was originally known as ‘The Lord of Misrule’ in the ancient Celtic winter solstice and ancient Roman Saturnalia celebrations. Episode 3 - Echoes of the Ice Age: Winter Solstice and Mother’s Night explains many winter solstice traditions of the ancient Celts, Romans and Germanic people.
The first recorded mention of Father Christmas dates back to the 16th Century during the reign of Henry VIII, where he was depicted as a large, jovial man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. Due to the Protestant ban on saints and the ‘raucous debauchery’ of Christmas in the 17th Century, the English stopped keeping St. Nicholas’ feast on December 6. Celebrations for Father Christmas were moved to December 25 to coincide with Christmas Day. The revival of Christmas during the Victorian era reinstated Father Christmas as the emblem of Christmas cheer, though his physical appearance varied from a large and jovial man to an austere and wisened old man. Charles Dickens’s story A Christmas Carol (1843) depicted Father Christmas as the ‘Ghost of Christmas Present’ in the familiar form of a large and genial man dressed in a fur-lined green coat.
Pere Noël
In France, French-speaking territories in Canada, and French-influenced Latin American countries of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, Santa Claus mirrored the older versions that merged into one figure, known as Pere Noël or sometimes Papa Noël (Father Christmas). Pere Noël visits on Christmas Eve and rather than a sleigh with reindeer, rides a donkey called Gui, which is French for ‘mistletoe.’ Children leave their shoes by the fireplace before bed and fill them with carrots and treats for Gui. Pere Noël exchanges these with small presents, money and sweets.
In the French-speaking Cajun culture of Louisiana, Papa Noël is depicted in a similar way to Santa Claus though he is dressed in a muskrat suit and travels around in a pirogue (a small boat) towed by eight alligators. The video (5:14 mins) below features Moore’s poem, The Night Before Christmas, reimagined and reworded with a fun Louisiana twist, by an author only known as "Trosclair". The book was first published in 1973 by Pelican Pub Co. Inc., edited by Howard Jacobs, and illustrated by James Rice.
Ded Moroz
According to Slavic mythology, Ded Moroz, or ‘Grandfather Frost’ is the spirit of winter. He had a wise but sometimes wicked nature and was originally considered a demon by the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the late 19th Century, Ded Moroz evolved into a nobleman who brought goodwill and presents for children at Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7 according to the Eastern Orthodox Church, following the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar. Episode 14 - The Moon and the Wheel of Months goes into more detail about the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
When the Soviet Union was formed after the Bolshevik revolution, the communist government banished religious practices and traditions, including the celebration of Christmas and Ded Moroz. However, by the 1930s, Ded Moroz was re-instated and became part of Stalin’s propaganda effort to build popular support following the forced acquisition of farmland and other communist policies that plunged the Soviet Union into poverty and hardship. To reduce any connection with religious practices, Ded Moroz’s celebration of gift-giving was moved to New Year on 1 January.
Ded Moroz appears similar to Santa Claus, he too is an old man with a long white beard. However, whereas Santa Claus is jolly and round, Ded Moroz has a more serious countenance and is tall and thin or large and muscular. He is usually depicted riding in a sleigh pulled by three horses, rather than twelve reindeer and is often accompanied and assisted by his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). Although he sometimes wears a red fur-trimmed long cloak, his cloak can also be royal blue or white. He carries a magic staff, wears an ornate cap and travels across Russia with Snegurochka to play and give gifts to good children, ignoring the naughty children.
The Modern Santa Claus
The modern Santa Claus evolved in America during the 1800s. American writer Washington Irving is credited with the introduction and popularisation of Santa Claus when he released a book in 1809 called A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty under the pseudonym of Deidrich Knickerbocker. The book contained a passage where St. Nicholas appears in a vision to the Dutch settler Olof Van Cortlandt, which Washington claimed to have influenced Van Cortlandt’s decision to settle Manhattan Island in 1637. Irving’s St. Nicholas rode through the sky in a wagon and he smoked a pipe whose smoke wreathed around him, forming images of the city that New York was to become.
Irving travelled to England in 1814 and spent much of his time abroad in Europe until 1832. He released another book in 1819, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., which contained essays and short stories, including the well-known “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” He also included four stories that espoused his fondness for old English Christmases. Irving was so enamoured with Christmas that he helped found the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York in 1835, serving as its secretary until 1841. His four essays were later published separately in 1892 in a book titled, Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving, Illustrated by Randolf Caldecott.
By the 1820s, many people reported that they had seen St. Nicholas flying through the sky. In 1821, Arthur J Stansbury (a Presbyterian Minister) published a poem in a booklet entitled The Children’s Friend: A New-Year’s Present to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve with an accompanying illustration. It is the first known visual representation of ‘Sante Claus’ delivering toys to children by flying through the air in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer.
Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O’er chimney tops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.The steady friend of virtuous youth,
The friend of duty and of truth,
Each Christmas eve he joys to come
Where love and peace have made their home.Through many houses he has been
And various beds and stockings seen
Some, white as snow, and neatly mended,
Others, that seem’s for pigs intended.Where e’er I found good girls or boys,
That hated quarrels, strife and noise,
Left an apple, or a tart,
Or wooden gun, or painted cart.To some gave I a pretty doll,
To some a peg-top, or a ball;
No crackers, cannons, squibs or rockets,
To blow their eyes up, or their pockets.No drums to stun their Mother’s ear,
Nor swords to make their sisters fear;
But pretty books to store their mind
With knowledge of each various kind.But where I found the children naughty,
In manners rude, in temper haughty,
Thankless to parents, liars, swearers,
Boxers, or cheats, or base tale-bearers.I left a thick, black birchen rod,
Such as the dread command of God
Directs a Parents hand to use
When virtue’s path his sons refuse.Arthur J Stansbury (1821), The Children’s Friend: A new Year’s Present to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve
Santa was first depicted in his present form – a jolly, rotund and impish old man, with a white beard, twinkling eyes, and belly laugh – by American writer Professor Clement Clark Moore, in his poem A Visit from St Nicholas published without his knowledge in 1823. Moore finally claimed authorship in 1827. This poem is now more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas. Moore most likely based his version of Saint Nicholas on Washington Irving’s depiction of Saint Nick’s visit, which in turn was influenced by the Christian Dutch/German St Nicholas and Sinterklaas. He also drew from the English Father Christmas, who personified the Lord of Misrule and the more Saturnalian spirit of Christmas.
Depictions of Santa Claus during the early 1800s varied, ranging from the Christian and ascetic St. Nicholas to the Saturnalian and hedonistic Father Christmas or the lean and gaunt ‘old’ Father Christmas, akin to Old Father Time. However, by the 1860s, German-born American illustrator Thomas Nast, inspired by Moore’s description of Santa as a ‘jolly old elf,’ developed Santa Claus’ physical appearance, portraying the definitive image of Santa Claus as “a large, jovial, white-bearded figure dressed in a red suit [more akin to knickerbockers] with fur trimmings and a matching red cap” (The Makings of the Modern Christmas, by John Golby and A. W. Purdue, p.73).
Nast was a Civil War cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly magazine, who staunchly supported abolition, civil rights and the Republican party, which was originally an anti-slavery and progressive party, while the Democrats were originally the Christian conservative party. Nasts’ first images of Santa during the Civil War period from 1862, were propaganda pieces and he dressed Santa in the Stars and Stripes of the American flag. Even after the war ended, Nast continued to use Santa Claus to make political statements. If you look closer at Nast’s famous 1881 illustration of Santa below, known as “Merry Old Santa,” Santa is carrying a military pack on his back, a military dress sword at his waist and a fob watch showing a time of ten to midnight, referring to the US government’s indecisiveness and last-minute decision-making over paying fair wages to members of the US Army and Navy. The wooden horse toy refers to the Trojan horse, another criticism of the US government’s military pay policy.
The “jolly old elf” image of Santa in a red suit was further cemented into popular culture in the 1930s by commercial illustrator and Scandinavian-born American, Haddon H. Sundblom. Sundblom replaced Santa’s pipe with a bottle of Coca-Cola, and refashioned Santa’s red suit, adding white fur trim, his red and white fur-trimmed hat and big, black boots. This version of Santa Claus was exported back to Europe and is now ubiquitous around the world, commonly replacing the older depictions of Santa Claus. The video (2:55 mins) below from Coca-Cola, features many of Sundblom’s Santa paintings and describes how they evolved.
Santa’s Reindeer
Although early versions of Santa Claus depicted him being pulled in his sleigh by a single reindeer, Moore’s poem, The Night Before Christmas was also responsible for depicting Santa with his sleigh pulled by eight reindeer named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. Donner was originally called Dunder, the Dutch word for thunder, and Blitzen was originally called Blitzkem, the Dutch word for lightning. The names were anglicised to Donner and Blitzen in the 20th Century. In 1902, L. Frank Baum published a story called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, which included ten reindeer: Flossie and Glossie, Racer and Pacer, Reckless and Speckless, Fearless and Peerless, and Ready and Steady. They couldn’t compete with the popularity of Moore’s poem and eventually disappeared from the Christmas lexicon.
The final reindeer to be added to Santa’s stables was Rudolph. Rudolph's story is a bit more commercial. It was originally a poem written by Robert L. May in 1939, for an American chain of department stores, which was published as a book and given to children in the stores at Christmas. There are tight copyright laws around the use of images or texts depicting a reindeer with a red nose.
Santa Claus in Australia and New Zealand
Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere occurs during the Summer with temperatures on Christmas Day that can reach the high 30 degrees Celsius and sometimes over 40 degrees depending on the region. The hot weather and cultural quirks have influenced depictions of Santa Claus with Australian/New Zealand-style clothing suitable for the warm weather. He sometimes wears an Akubra hat (Australian cowboy hat) and moleskins (pants) in the outback, or stubbies (shorts) and short-sleeved shirt, or even boardies (swimming shorts) and thongs (flip-flop shoes). In some depictions, he rides in a ute (utility truck) pulled by kangaroos. An Aussie Night Before Christmas written by Yvonne Morrison and Illustrated by Kilmeny Niland is a popular Australian-themed alternative to Clement C. Moore’s original poem.
Episode 25 - A Very Aussie Christmas explores the summery joys of an Australian Christmas if you want to know more.
Believing in Santa Claus
As we all know, Santa Claus is one of the most well-loved and magical aspects of Christmas celebrations. For some, belief in Santa’s magic never goes away. Even for those who don’t believe in Santa, magic still happens when you bring Santa to life through the wonder-filled eyes of children.
In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the New York Sun newspaper, asking if Santa Claus was real. The answer from the editor perfectly expresses the beauty and joy epitomised by believing in Santa Claus.
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun it’s so.” Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
The Sun’s editor, Francis Pharcellus Church, wrote his now infamous response...
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not to believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is not a sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is that all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood
Source: The Story of Santa Claus by Joseph A. McCullough (2014), p.76-77.
Next week, the final episode for 2024 explores the fascinating origins of our modern New Year’s Eve traditions. In the meantime may you experience the magic of this season in whatever ways you prefer. And with much joy and excitement, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
,_page_1.jpg){kind=link}
Share this post