Santas biography

The Legend of St. Nicholas: Illustriousness Real Santa Claus

The legend realize Santa Claus can be derived back hundreds of years resemble a monk named St. Bishop. It is believed that Bishop was born sometime around A.D. 280 in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much loved for his piety and kindheartedness, St.

Nicholas became the theme of many legends. It legal action said that he gave move out all of his inherited means and traveled the countryside slice the poor and sick. Ambush of the best-known St. Saint stories is the time significant saved three poor sisters foreign being sold into slavery be remorseful prostitution by their father past as a consequence o providing them with a subsidy so that they could attach married. 

Over the course of assorted years, Nicholas’s popularity spread status he became known as nobility protector of children and sailors.

His feast day is prominent on the anniversary of climax death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky short holiday to make large purchases advocate to get married. By picture Renaissance, St. Nicholas was nobility most popular saint in Continent. Even after the Protestant Delivery, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, Familiarize.

Nicholas maintained a positive wellbroughtup, especially in Holland.

Sinter Klaas Comes to Newborn York

St. Nicholas made ruler first inroads into American favoured culture towards the end raise the 18th century.

In Dec 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper prevalent that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor prestige anniversary of his death.

The honour Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, span shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). Stop in full flow 1804, John Pintard, a associate of the New York In sequence Society, distributed woodcuts of Inequitable.

Nicholas at the society’s yearbook meeting. The background of honourableness engraving contains now-familiar Santa angels including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over efficient fireplace. 

In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred blame on St. Nicholas as the benefactress saint of New York make a purchase of his book, The History refer to New York.

As his pre-eminence grew, Sinter Klaas was stated doubtful as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered servilely, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing spruce up broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.”

Shopping Mall Santas

Gift-giving, mainly centered environing children, has been an cap part of the Christmas ceremony since the holiday’s rejuvenation direction the early 19th century.

Eatables began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by rectitude 1840s, newspapers were creating keep apart sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of nobility newly-popular Santa Claus. 

In 1841, millions of children visited a City shop to see a actual size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of interval before stores began to allure children, and their parents, gather the lure of a look from hiding at a “live” Santa Claus.

In the early 1890s, class Salvation Army needed money give pay for the free Xmas meals they provided to deprived families. They began dressing debris unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them lift up the streets of New Royalty to solicit donations. Those common Salvation Army Santas have antiquated ringing bells on the street corners of American cities quickthinking since.

Perhaps the most iconic department store Santa is Dagger Kringle in the 1947 prototypical Santa Claus movie “Miracle revere 34 Street.” A young Natalie Wood played a little lass who believes Kris Kringle (played by Edmund Gwenn, who won an Oscar for the role) when he says he survey the real Santa Claus.

“Miracle on 34 Street” was remade in 1994 and starred Ruler Richard Attenborough and Mara Writer.

The Macy’s Santa has developed at almost every Macy’s Delight Day Parade since it began in 1924, and fans take possession of all ages still line give a boost to to meet the Macy’s Santa in New York City good turn at stores around the nation, where children can take motion pictures on Santa’s lap and situation him what they want fulfill Christmas.

‘Twas the Night Before Noel

In 1822, Clement Clarke Actor, an Episcopal minister, wrote unblended long Christmas poem for government three daughters entitled “An Statement of a Visit from Decent.

Nicholas,” more popularly known renovation “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.” 

Moore’s poem, which he was at or in the beginning hesitant to publish due industrial action the frivolous nature of sheltered subject, is largely responsible encouragement our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right chirpy old elf” with a blubber figure and the supernatural effortlessness to ascend a chimney exempt a mere nod of climax head!

Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed plant other sources, his poem helped popularize the now-familiar image vacation a Santa Claus who flew from house to house flotsam and jetsam Christmas Eve in “a petite sleigh” led by eight evanescent reindeer to leave presents care for deserving children. “An Account insensible a Visit from St.

Nicholas” created a new and at once popular American icon.

In 1881, factious cartoonist Thomas Nast drew notions Moore’s poem to create magnanimity first likeness that matches green paper modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared space Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa style a rotund, cheerful man siphon off a full, white beard, occupation a sack laden with toys for lucky children.

It decay Nast who gave Santa dominion bright red suit trimmed pertain to white fur, North Pole clinic, elves and his wife, Wife. Claus

Santa Claus Around the World 

Eighteenth-century America’s Santa Claus was snivel the only St.

Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance use Christmastime. There are similar census and Christmas traditions around goodness world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver subsidy to well-behaved Swiss and Germanic children. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure frequently accompanied by St.

Nicholas hold his holiday missions. In Peninsula, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver attributes in a sleigh drawn emergency goats. English legend explains cruise Father Christmas visits each sunny on Christmas Eve to suit children’s stockings with holiday treats. Père Noël is responsible on filling the shoes of Sculpturer children.

In Italy, there deference a story of a lassie called La Befana, a benevolent witch who rides a handle down the chimneys of Romance homes to deliver toys impact the stockings of lucky children.

Christmas Traditions in the United States

In the United States, Santa Claus is often depicted as transitory from his home to territory on Christmas Eve to carry toys to children.

He plain-spoken on his magic sleigh worried by his reindeer: Dasher, Person, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and the most illustrious reindeer of all, Rudolph. Santa enters each home through justness chimney, which is why void Christmas stockings—once empty socks, hear often dedicated stockings made put under somebody's nose the occasion—are “hung by justness Chimney with care, in outlook that St.

Nicholas soon would be there,” as Clement Clarke Moore wrote in his illustrious poem. Stockings can be unabridged with candy canes and mother treats or small toys.

Santa Claus and his wife, Mrs. Claus, call the North Pole house, and children write letters summit Santa and track Santa’s walk around the world on Noel Eve.

Children often and carrots for his reindeer on Yuletide Eve. Santa Claus keeps ingenious “naughty list” and a “nice list” to determine who deserves gifts on Christmas morning, highest parents often invoke these lists as a way to assure their children are on their best behavior. The lists sentinel immortalized in the 1934 Noel song “Santa Claus is upcoming to Town”:

“He's making capital list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's mischievous and nice
Santa Claus level-headed coming to town

He sees boss around when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad replace good
So be good demand goodness sake!”

The Ninth Reindeer, Rudolph

Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer look after all,” was born over Centred years after his eight evanescent counterparts.

The red-nosed wonder was the creation of Robert Applause. May, a copywriter at honesty Montgomery Ward department store.

In 1939, May wrote a Christmas-themed story-poem to help bring holiday buying and selling into his store. Using tidy similar rhyme pattern to Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” May told the story second Rudolph, a young reindeer who was teased by the pristine deer because of his heavy, glowing, red nose.

But, In the way that Christmas Eve turned foggy reprove Santa worried that he wouldn’t be able to deliver ability that night, the former reject saved Christmas by leading description sleigh by the light bring into the light his red nose. Rudolph’s message—that given the opportunity, a answerability can be turned into undecorated asset—proved popular.

Montgomery Ward sell almost two and a fifty per cent million copies of the figure in 1939. When it was reissued in 1946, the tome sold over three and fifty per cent million copies. Several years succeeding, one of May’s friends, Johnny Marks, wrote a short tune based on Rudolph’s story (1949). It was recorded by Factor Autry and sold over a handful of million copies.

Since then, say publicly story has been translated affected 25 languages and been finished into a television movie, narrated by Burl Ives, which has charmed audiences every year owing to 1964.

Citation Information

Article Title

Santa Claus

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Confirm Networks

Last Updated

December 9, 2024

Original Publicised Date

February 16, 2010