Santa Claus: The Ho-Ho-Whole Story (Checkpoints in an Evolution)
’Twas the night before yesterday, I was walking through Times Square in New York City, gazing up at the festive holiday season lights when I bumped into a Santa Claus — quite literally. I paused for the claus, and offered an apology. Santa turned back looking non to pleased. At that moment I realized two things: First, looks like I could kiss that Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle goodbye ;) Second, this Santa was uncharacteristically short and oh so skinny, it looked all wrong!!! Soo, I started thinking…
Just who is the Santa Claus icon and what pivotal events shaped his evolution into today’s modern-day cultural icon? Well, I made short list — and you bet I checked it twice!
- The story begins in Parara, Turkey, in 270 CE, with the birth of Nicholas, the future Bishop of Myra. Nicholas died in 345 CE on December 6th; he wouldn’t be named a saint until the 19th century.
- In 1087 a band of sailors who idolized Nicholas exhumed his bones from his grave in Turkey and relocated his remains to a designated sanctuary in Bari, Italy. Enter Pasqua Epiphania…
- Now in Italy, the band of sailors and their following engaged a large cult that worshiped “The Grandmother”, also known as the Pasqua Epiphania. This particular cult believed, “The Grandmother” would fill children’s stockings with gifts — sound familiar? It didn’t take long for the group to oust “The Grandmother” from her shrine and replace her with Nicholas; turning Bari into the center of the growing Nicholas cult.
- On the move again, the Nicholas cult began spreading north and would eventually be adopted by German and Celtic pagans. As Pagans, these groups worshiped many gods, including one, Woden, who sported a long white beard and would ride his horse through the heavens each autumn. In time, the Nicholas cult and Pagans meshed the two idol figures together. Nicholas shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, donned heavy winter clothes and was afforded a flying horse; though his annual flight was bumped to December.
- In an effort to expand its influence and following in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church decided to adopt the Nicholas cult, with a slight change — Now, Nicholas would be taught as distributing those gifts on, wait for it… December 25th
- It wasn’t until 1809 that the name Santa Claus was introduced to the broader population. A novelist, named Washington Irving published a satirical piece on Dutch culture entitled, Knickerbocker’s History of New York and referred to Saint Nicholas by his Dutch name — Santa Claus.
- In 1822, drawing inspiration from Irving’s work, Dr. Clement Moore penned a poem based on the Santa Claus character. The poem entitled, A Visit from Saint Nicholas is often referred to by its opening verse, Twas the Night before Christmas. It was this very poem that would ultimately shape much of the modern-day Santa Claus we know today. After all, it was Moore who established the chimney as Santa Claus’s preferred choice of access (nearly all homes had a working chimney at the time, today, less so) and introduced his eight reindeer.
- Up to this point, Santa Clause was depicted with a stern and often frightening appearance and was told to come around on Christmas to punish those children who misbehaved (You better not Cry, You better not Pout…Santa Claus is coming to town).
- Next up: Thomas Nast, a Bavarian illustrator that nearly completed the modern day image of Santa Clause. From 1862 to 1886 Nast published over 2,000 cartoon illustrations of Santa Claus for the wildly popular Harper’s Weekly. Though the images were based on Moore’s poem, Nast’s illustrations depicted Santa Claus in a more soft and friendly light. Nast relocated Santa Claus to the remote terrain of the North Pole! That said, he was nice enough to give him some company — a workshop full of laboring elves. Now, with the Santa Claus picture nearly complete all that appears to be missing is his classic (wink wink) red outfit…
The year is 1931 and The Coca Cola Company is contemplating the direction of their next big ad campaign. They commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to create advertisements based around a friendly and merry coke-drinking Santa Claus — oh, and his wardrobe should be colored red, you know, “Coca-Cola Red”. Sundblom’s version of Santa Claus made its grand debut in 1931 (Modeled after his close friend, Lou Prentice, whom he chose for his cheerful, chubby face). The Coca-Cola ads were gazed upon in widely read publications such as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, and The New Yorker. Haddon Sundblom continue to create new additions to his Santa Clause collection each year up until his last in 1964.
Alas, the Santa Claus evolution is complete…for now!
