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Santa Claus

A jolly, fat man with a red cloak and a beard who rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer and delivers presents. Who else could it be but Santa Claus? Or, in the UK, Father Christmas.

Twas The Night
Collins, Deb
12 in. x 18 in.
Buy this Art Print at AllPosters.com

The image of Santa with his white beard and red suit is so much a part of our modern Christmas that we tend to assume he's always been there as part of history. It's hard to imagine Christmas without him. In fact, although the roots of the tradition go back centuries, the details are relatively recent.

Saint Nicholas

The origin of Santa appears to be Saint Nicholas. Nicholas lived in the 4th century CE and was the Bishop of Myra. He was a rich but generous man who had a reputation for giving gifts, often secretly. He is, amongst other things, the patron saint of children. His feast day is December 6th, which is close enough to the winter solstice to make him an appropriate Christmas figure.

Saint Nicholas was especially popular with the Dutch where he was known as "Sint Nikolaas" which later became contracted to "Sinterklaas".

According to Dutch legend, Sinterklaas would arrive in Amsterdam by ship on December 6th then ride across the country leaving gifts for the good children.

It's believed that Dutch settlers took the legend of Sinterklaas with them to the US where he became Santa Claus.

The Modern Santa

Much of our modern image of Santa and his famous costume actually comes from the 19th century. One of the first examples on record is a woodcut from the year 1804 which shows Saint Nicholas surrounded by piles of toys and stuffed stockings.

Santa's real breakthrough came in 1822 when Clement Clarke Moore wrote the famous poem "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" - better known as "The Night Before Christmas". In this he describes Santa as having a broad face and red nose, being chubby and plump and having a white beard. He carries a sack of presents on his back and travels on a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer.

Twas the night before Christmas and the modern Santa Claus had well and truly arrived. He went on to star in songs such as I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, as well as a stream of movies. There's even a town named after him in Spencer County, Indiana!

Is Santa Real?

All of which leaves one important question: is Santa Claus real?

All I can say is that I leave a mince pie out on Christmas Eve and it's always gone by morning.