2 Origins

The modern Santa Claus is a composite character made up from the merging of two quite separate figures. The first of these is Saint Nicholas of Myra, a bishop of Byzantine AnatoliaAnatolia ( Greek ανατολη anatole for "rising of the sun" or "East"; compare " Orient" and " Levant", by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana "mother" and dolu "filled"), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor (now in modern-day Turkey) famous for his generous gifts to the poor. In Europe he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. The second character is Father Christmas, which remains the British name for Santa Claus. Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and was reflected in the 'Spirit of Christmas Present' in Charles Dickens' famous story, A Christmas Carol.

When the Dutch still owned the land that later became New York, they brought the Saint Nicholas' eve legend with them to the Americas, but without the red mantle and other symbols. Note that in Dutch, the feast is called ' sinterklaas feest' and it celebrates the birthday of sinterklaas during sinterklaasavond ("sinterklaas's evening") on December 5th or in Belgium on December 6th.

Sinterklaas was Americanized to "Santa Claus" but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Santa Claus appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. His horse was converted to reindeer and a sleigh, the black peters (which were in fact Moorish slaves) were converted to elves, and, in an attempt to move the origin of the festivities away from their pagan background to a more Christian one, the date was moved forward a few weeks to the celebrated day of the birth of Jesus: Christmas.

Santa's image was further modernized by the Coca-Cola company, which at the turn of the 20th century featured the character in a variety of advertising campaigns. The final version was designed in 1931 by the American artist Haddon Sundblom, who used the Swedish Tomte as a model for Santa. These campaigns helped establish a "uniform" Santa character, whereas prior to this his appearance and costume had varied from artist to artist.

In the United States, the tradition is to leave Santa a glass of milk and cookies; in Britain, he is given whisky and mince pies instead. Children following the Dutch custom for sinterklaas will "put out their shoe" — that is, leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed — sometimes weeks before the sinterklaas avond. The next morning they will find the hay and carrot replaced by a gift; often, this is a marchpane figurine. Naughty children were once told that they would be left a roe (a bundle of sticks) instead of sweets, but this practice has been discontinued.

Many postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus pleading their good behaviour and requesting gifts; these letters may be answered by postal workers or other volunteers. ( Canada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus: H0H 0H0.)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been immortalized in a song which is frequently played at Christmas. As such, he is typically included as the sleigh's lead reindeer. The names of all the other reindeer were invented in the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (better known today as The Night Before Christmas) ascribed to Clement Clarke Moore, although there is some question as to his authorship. It is suspected that the names Donner and Blitzen come from the German phrase Donner und Blitz which means Thunder and Lightning. An alternative explanation is that Donder is the original name of the seventh reindeer, as Donder en bliksem is Dutch for Thunder and Lightning. The reindeer are traditionally pictured with antlers, although male reindeer shed their antlers in the winter. (Female reindeer keep their antlers until spring.)

Many Christian churches dislike the secular focus on Santa and the materialist focus that present-giving gives to the holiday. They would prefer that focus be given to the birth of Jesus, their nominal reason for the Christmas celebration. It should be noted that the festivities at this time of year are predated by the Roman Saturnalia and Yule festivals which were subsumed within Christianity. It should also be noted that, assuming that such an individual as Jesus actually existed, the date of his birth remains unknown. The connection between Saturnalia and Jesus' birth was a clerical decision in order to introduce a religious element into the more carnal festivities that the Christian laity were indulging in during winter solstice. As an example of the still surviving pagan imagery, in Nordic countries there is the Yule goat (Swedish julbock), a somewhat startling figure with horns which however will deliver the presents in Christmas eve, and a straw goat is a common Christmas decoration.

Historically, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus' image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1862, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly. It is believed the inspiration for his image came from a mythical German character called Pelznickel (Furry Nicholas) who visited naughty children in their sleep. The book A History of Santa Claus was written by L. Frank Baum, the same man who wrote the Wizard of Oz. In Scandinavia, the Tomte is closely associated with Christmas, kindness and generosity. This blend of Nicholas of Myra and North European folklore helped popularize the design of Santa. ( Urban legend has it that Santa Claus in his current guise was in fact created by Coca-Cola, though this is highly unlikely.) To this day, Santa Claus still appears on Coca-Cola products each year around Christmastime.

The depiction of Santa at the North Pole also reflected popular opinion about industry. In some images of the early 1900s, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. By the end of the century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as managers. Many TV commercials depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes michieviously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss.

3 "Santa" in Shopping Centers

Santa Claus is also a costumed character who appears at Christmas time in department stores or shopping malls. He is played by an actor, usually helped by other actor(s) dressed as elves or other creatures of folklore. His function is either to promote the store's image by distributing small gifts to children, or to provide a seasonal experience to children by having them sit on his knee, state what they wish to get, and often have a photograph taken. The area set up for this purpose is festively decorated, usually with a large throne, and is called variously "Santa's Grotto", "Santa's Workshop" or a similar term. The most notable of these is the Santa at the flagship Macy's store in New York City - he arrives at the store by sleigh in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on the last float, and his court takes over a large portion of one floor in the store.

4 Other Traditions

For more information about Santa Claus in non-English speaking countries, please see Christmas around the world.

5 References

Siefker, Phyillis: Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men. The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years. Jefferson (North Carolina): McFarland, 1996. (Website about the book.)

6 See also

• Saint Nicholas
• Nicholas of Myra
• Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

7 External links

• The Original 1860's Thomas Nast Santa Claus Illustrations
• Santa Claus - The Urban Legend
• Jenny Nyström, the artist whose Christmas cards inspired Haddon Sunblom when he designed Coca Cola's Santa
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Christmas characters

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