He’s making a list.
He’s checking it twice.
You know the rest. But who is he?
Santa Claus is an imaginary figure compiled from the customs and traditions of many countries which got thrown together in the melting pot of America through immigration. Through artists, poets and commercial interests, America added its own twist on those traditions until out popped the guy we now call Santa Claus. A large, jolly-faced, white-bearded figure in a red coat who lives at the north pole and travels the globe on Christmas eve distributing gifts according to merit from a sleigh pulled by nine reindeer.
A real person, whose life and character is the foundation for both the original customs of Europe and our modern day Santa. And it’s his story I want to begin with because he was a man of faith and courage who believed in Jesus. His name is Nicholas.
Around 280AD in Patara, a city in south-western Turkey, Nicholas was born. His parents died when he was young and left him a considerable sum of money. During his youth he became a Christian and had a reputation as a fiery and courageous defender of the faith. He was likely imprisoned during the persecution of the 4th century when Bibles were burned and priests made to renounce Christianity or face execution. Released when the new Roman Emperor Constantine ended Christian persecution in the year 313, Nicholas became the bishop of Myra, a small Roman town, not too far from his birthplace. He died in December somewhere between 343 and 352 and was laid to rest in a tomb inside a church dedicated to his name just outside the city walls of Myra.
Some stories are likely to be true while others are embellishments added to enhance his image.
The most famous of these – and most likely to be based on a true event – is about three young girls who are saved from a life of prostitution or slavery when young Bishop Nicholas secretly delivers three bags of gold to their indebted father to be used for their dowries. As the story goes, he tosses the bags of gold over the wall or through a window in order to remain anonymous, but is eventually found out and so gained a reputation as a generous gift giver.
In another story, one that demonstrates his courage, he intervenes in court proceedings and berates the corrupt judge Eustathius. The judge finally admits that he'd accepted bribes and, through this intervention, Nicholas saves a man from being beheaded.
There are other stories which have little basis in history or fact but served to enhance his reputation as a miracle worker and protector of many types of people, including the poor, children, orphans, sailors and prisoners. Over time, he became one of the most popular saints of the church, which led to his tomb in Myra becoming an international destination for Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.
Sadly, in 1087, Italian sailors came ashore, smashed open his tomb and hastily removed Nicholas’ bones, transporting them to their home city. Ten years later, Venetian sailors did the same, entering the church and scraping together all the remaining bone fragments they could find and took them to Venice. In time some of those remains were gifted, stolen or transferred around the world and other churches.
In recent years, Turkish authorities have demanded the return of Nicholas’ remains to Turkey. Interestingly, a forensic study on some of the these remains dated a pelvic bone fragment, attributed to the saint, to the 4th century. This aligns well with when we know he lived and died. The bone, acquired from a collection in Lyon, France, now resides in Morton Grove, Illinois.
This transference of his physical remains to Italy helped stimulate the growth and spread of his popularity. In time, he became the patron saint of a number of countries and cities, such as Russia, Freiburg in Switzerland, and the island of Corfu. Many churches chose him as their namesake, and he became the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children.
And so, from the 11th century to the 15th, Saint Nicholas was the unchallenged bringer of gifts and the toast of celebrations centred around his feast day on 6 December. The feast was both an occasion to help the poor and children by putting money in their shoes, but also a fairly wild time where people let their hair down in a night of partying and over indulgence.
Following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, reformers like Martin Luther wanted to crack down on both the wild behaviour and the cult of saints and saint adoration, while still keeping the midwinter gift-bringing feast alive. Throughout Europe, a number of changes were introduced. In Germany, they changed the saintly gift bringer to the Christ Child, or Kris Kindle in German, which later became Kris Kringle in America and moved the date for giving presents from the 6 December to Christmas Eve. In the UK Saint Nicholas’ role as the gift giver was replaced by “Father Christmas” or “Old Man Christmas”, an old character from stories and plays during the middle ages. In France, he was known as “Père Nöel”, father of Christmas. And there was an emphasis on rewarding good behaviour in keeping with protestant piety.
The next step on the way to the modern Santa occurred with the mass migration of European settlers to the New World colonies that eventually became America. Quite naturally they brought their own customs and language with them but in the melting pot of America there was a lot of assimilation and adaptation which was influenced by a couple of key factors.
From the 1820s onward an influential writer by the name of Washington Irving wrote many popular works that either included or were about the Christmas season. So much so that he’s often credited with creating Christmas in America as we know it.
“He did not ‘invent’ the holiday,” biographer Andrew Burstein notes, “but he did all he could to make minor customs into major customs – to make them enriching signs of family and social togetherness.”
Among his biggest contributions to Christmas in America was his promotion of Saint Nicholas as a beloved character, laying the groundwork for the figure we’d eventually embrace as Santa Claus. In one of his stories, for example, he wrote about Sinta Claes, or Santa Claus as he became known, a jolly fellow with a wide hat and baggy trousers that flew in a horse-drawn wagon dropping presents down the chimneys of good children.
Washington Irving’s dedication was such that, in 1835, he helped found the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, serving as its secretary until 1841.
A few years later, in 1823, Clement Clarke Moore, a theologian and Hebrew scholar, presented his family with a poem about Santa to amuse his grandchildren.
The poem was published and circulated all around the United States. It captured the public's imagination because it pulled on many of the old traditions, and emphasised a time of joy, family, gift giving, excitement and anticipation. It was the compete package, rapidly spreading throughout the country to become the prevailing American narrative that popularised and supported Christmas.
Clement used the description of Santa in Washington Irving’s book but added a few new details. He turned him into jolly Saint Nick – a plump, happy-go-lucky elf that could squeeze down a chimney or two, with a sleigh full of toys flown by flying reindeer.
How Santa Claus looked varied a lot but became more formalised after 1882 through the drawings of Thomas Nast. Nast drew whom he thought Clement Moore was describing for a newspaper called Harper’s Weekly. He drew Santa a map, giving him a North Pole workshop and home. He also made this Santa have a worldwide list of good and bad children and used the more popular name Santa Claus, a variation of Sinter Klaas, over St Nicholas. Nast published a series of prints depicting these elements over many years which helped cement the details of the America Christmas narrative including how Santa looked in the public’s mind.
In 1931 to 1964, artist Haddon Sundblom painted enchantingly warm scenes of Santa's home and hearth for the Coca-Cola Company which fixed the final detail. It fixed the red colour of his clothing, which had often been green or occasionally blue or black. This Santa Claus is what most people think of when they imagine Santa Claus today.
Santa picked up the ninth reindeer, Rudolph, in 1939, created by an advertising writer for Montgomery Ward and popularised by the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, written in 1949.
As American influence began to spread around the world, combined with the appeal of Christmas to commercial interests, the American version of Santa has become almost the universal brand.
So, who is Santa Claus, really?
He is a mythical person whose legend draws upon old European traditions and customs that, combined with American influence, has become a worldwide sensation. He does encourage generosity, gift giving and the importance of family and fun times, but undergirding that legend is a devout Christian bishop of ancient times, who fought for his faith and the needs of others.
I suspect Saint Nicholas would have us remember the most important gift of all: the gift of God’s son, Jesus. So, this Advent season, I will remember Nicholas, abide by many of my culture’s traditions, but most of all celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
He’s making a list.
He’s checking it twice.
You know the rest. But who is he?
Santa Claus is an imaginary figure compiled from the customs and traditions of many countries which got thrown together in the melting pot of America through immigration. Through artists, poets and commercial interests, America added its own twist on those traditions until out popped the guy we now call Santa Claus. A large, jolly-faced, white-bearded figure in a red coat who lives at the north pole and travels the globe on Christmas eve distributing gifts according to merit from a sleigh pulled by nine reindeer.
A real person, whose life and character is the foundation for both the original customs of Europe and our modern day Santa. And it’s his story I want to begin with because he was a man of faith and courage who believed in Jesus. His name is Nicholas.
Around 280AD in Patara, a city in south-western Turkey, Nicholas was born. His parents died when he was young and left him a considerable sum of money. During his youth he became a Christian and had a reputation as a fiery and courageous defender of the faith. He was likely imprisoned during the persecution of the 4th century when Bibles were burned and priests made to renounce Christianity or face execution. Released when the new Roman Emperor Constantine ended Christian persecution in the year 313, Nicholas became the bishop of Myra, a small Roman town, not too far from his birthplace. He died in December somewhere between 343 and 352 and was laid to rest in a tomb inside a church dedicated to his name just outside the city walls of Myra.
Some stories are likely to be true while others are embellishments added to enhance his image.
The most famous of these – and most likely to be based on a true event – is about three young girls who are saved from a life of prostitution or slavery when young Bishop Nicholas secretly delivers three bags of gold to their indebted father to be used for their dowries. As the story goes, he tosses the bags of gold over the wall or through a window in order to remain anonymous, but is eventually found out and so gained a reputation as a generous gift giver.
In another story, one that demonstrates his courage, he intervenes in court proceedings and berates the corrupt judge Eustathius. The judge finally admits that he'd accepted bribes and, through this intervention, Nicholas saves a man from being beheaded.
There are other stories which have little basis in history or fact but served to enhance his reputation as a miracle worker and protector of many types of people, including the poor, children, orphans, sailors and prisoners. Over time, he became one of the most popular saints of the church, which led to his tomb in Myra becoming an international destination for Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.
Sadly, in 1087, Italian sailors came ashore, smashed open his tomb and hastily removed Nicholas’ bones, transporting them to their home city. Ten years later, Venetian sailors did the same, entering the church and scraping together all the remaining bone fragments they could find and took them to Venice. In time some of those remains were gifted, stolen or transferred around the world and other churches.
In recent years, Turkish authorities have demanded the return of Nicholas’ remains to Turkey. Interestingly, a forensic study on some of the these remains dated a pelvic bone fragment, attributed to the saint, to the 4th century. This aligns well with when we know he lived and died. The bone, acquired from a collection in Lyon, France, now resides in Morton Grove, Illinois.
This transference of his physical remains to Italy helped stimulate the growth and spread of his popularity. In time, he became the patron saint of a number of countries and cities, such as Russia, Freiburg in Switzerland, and the island of Corfu. Many churches chose him as their namesake, and he became the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children.
And so, from the 11th century to the 15th, Saint Nicholas was the unchallenged bringer of gifts and the toast of celebrations centred around his feast day on 6 December. The feast was both an occasion to help the poor and children by putting money in their shoes, but also a fairly wild time where people let their hair down in a night of partying and over indulgence.
Following the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, reformers like Martin Luther wanted to crack down on both the wild behaviour and the cult of saints and saint adoration, while still keeping the midwinter gift-bringing feast alive. Throughout Europe, a number of changes were introduced. In Germany, they changed the saintly gift bringer to the Christ Child, or Kris Kindle in German, which later became Kris Kringle in America and moved the date for giving presents from the 6 December to Christmas Eve. In the UK Saint Nicholas’ role as the gift giver was replaced by “Father Christmas” or “Old Man Christmas”, an old character from stories and plays during the middle ages. In France, he was known as “Père Nöel”, father of Christmas. And there was an emphasis on rewarding good behaviour in keeping with protestant piety.
The next step on the way to the modern Santa occurred with the mass migration of European settlers to the New World colonies that eventually became America. Quite naturally they brought their own customs and language with them but in the melting pot of America there was a lot of assimilation and adaptation which was influenced by a couple of key factors.
From the 1820s onward an influential writer by the name of Washington Irving wrote many popular works that either included or were about the Christmas season. So much so that he’s often credited with creating Christmas in America as we know it.
“He did not ‘invent’ the holiday,” biographer Andrew Burstein notes, “but he did all he could to make minor customs into major customs – to make them enriching signs of family and social togetherness.”
Among his biggest contributions to Christmas in America was his promotion of Saint Nicholas as a beloved character, laying the groundwork for the figure we’d eventually embrace as Santa Claus. In one of his stories, for example, he wrote about Sinta Claes, or Santa Claus as he became known, a jolly fellow with a wide hat and baggy trousers that flew in a horse-drawn wagon dropping presents down the chimneys of good children.
Washington Irving’s dedication was such that, in 1835, he helped found the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, serving as its secretary until 1841.
A few years later, in 1823, Clement Clarke Moore, a theologian and Hebrew scholar, presented his family with a poem about Santa to amuse his grandchildren.
The poem was published and circulated all around the United States. It captured the public's imagination because it pulled on many of the old traditions, and emphasised a time of joy, family, gift giving, excitement and anticipation. It was the compete package, rapidly spreading throughout the country to become the prevailing American narrative that popularised and supported Christmas.
Clement used the description of Santa in Washington Irving’s book but added a few new details. He turned him into jolly Saint Nick – a plump, happy-go-lucky elf that could squeeze down a chimney or two, with a sleigh full of toys flown by flying reindeer.
How Santa Claus looked varied a lot but became more formalised after 1882 through the drawings of Thomas Nast. Nast drew whom he thought Clement Moore was describing for a newspaper called Harper’s Weekly. He drew Santa a map, giving him a North Pole workshop and home. He also made this Santa have a worldwide list of good and bad children and used the more popular name Santa Claus, a variation of Sinter Klaas, over St Nicholas. Nast published a series of prints depicting these elements over many years which helped cement the details of the America Christmas narrative including how Santa looked in the public’s mind.
In 1931 to 1964, artist Haddon Sundblom painted enchantingly warm scenes of Santa's home and hearth for the Coca-Cola Company which fixed the final detail. It fixed the red colour of his clothing, which had often been green or occasionally blue or black. This Santa Claus is what most people think of when they imagine Santa Claus today.
Santa picked up the ninth reindeer, Rudolph, in 1939, created by an advertising writer for Montgomery Ward and popularised by the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, written in 1949.
As American influence began to spread around the world, combined with the appeal of Christmas to commercial interests, the American version of Santa has become almost the universal brand.
So, who is Santa Claus, really?
He is a mythical person whose legend draws upon old European traditions and customs that, combined with American influence, has become a worldwide sensation. He does encourage generosity, gift giving and the importance of family and fun times, but undergirding that legend is a devout Christian bishop of ancient times, who fought for his faith and the needs of others.
I suspect Saint Nicholas would have us remember the most important gift of all: the gift of God’s son, Jesus. So, this Advent season, I will remember Nicholas, abide by many of my culture’s traditions, but most of all celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
