Origins of Santa

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or simply "Santa" is the legendary and mythical figure who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve or Saint Nicholas Day, 6 December.

Early Christian origins

Saint Nicholas is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th-century Greek Christian who lived in Myra (now Turkey). Born an only child of a wealthy family, he was orphaned at an early age when both parents died of the plague. He grew up in a monastery and at the age of 17 became one of the youngest priests ever. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. Legends tell of him either dropping bags of gold down chimneys or throwing the bags through the windows where they landed in the stockings hung from the fireplace to dry. Some years later Nicholas became a bishop, hence the bishop's hat or miter, long flowing gown, white beard and red cape.

When the Reformation took place in Europe (16th Century), the new Protestants no longer desired St. Nicholas as their gift-giver as he was too closely tied to the Catholic Church. Therefore, each country or region developed their own gift-giver. In France he was known as Pere Noel. In England he was Father Christmas (always depicted with sprigs of holly, ivy or mistletoe). Germany knew him as Weihnachtsmann (Christmas man). When the communists took over in Russia and outlawed Christianity, the Russians began to call him Grandfather Frost, who wore blue instead of the traditional red. To the Dutch, he was Sinterklaas (which eventually was mispronounced in America and became Santa Claus). These Santas were arrayed in every color of the rainbow, sometimes even in black. But they all had long white beards and carried gifts for the children.

Modern origins

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 "Ghost of Christmas Present" in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Pre-modern representations of Saint Nicholas, the gift-giver from church history, and folklore merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the character known to much of the western world as Santa Claus. The Santa we know today had his beginnings in 1823 with Clement C. Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (The Night Before Christmas) in which he described St. Nicholas as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf". At this point it started to be common place to send modern christmas cards Forty years later, Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, created a different illustration each year of Santa for the cover of Harper's Weekly. His Santa was a plump, jolly, old fellow with a white beard and smoking a long stemmed pipe.

Finally, from 1931 to 1964, Haddon Sundblom created a new Santa each Christmas for Coca-Cola advertisements that appeared world-wide on the back covers of Post and National Geographic magazines. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, and films, this is the Santa we know today with a red suit trimmed with white fur, leather boots and belt, long white beard and a pack of toys slung onto his back.