It is the holiday season, and the first thing that comes to many minds is gifts, and who better to deliver these gifts than Jolly Saint Nick himself. Chris Cringle, Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, etc. etc. But who is this polyethylene elf who sneaks into the living room every year? Where did he come from? And, watch out for the kids, is it real?
In this article you will see how Santa passed
slim and adored plump and gifted.
The first Europeans brought Saint Nicholas to the New World, and Columbus even named a Haitian port for the saint in 1492. Even the city now known as Jacksonville, Florida was once known as Saint Nicholas Ferry. However, during the 16th century, there was a Protestant Reformation that took a low sympathy for the saints. Although everyone tried to get rid of Saint Nick-related activities and customs, only the English Christmas traditions were permanently altered. Since so many common people still liked Saint Nick, ‘he’ continued to put nuts, apples and sweets in the shoes that were left on the fireplace, the windowsill or next to a bed.
The settlers who came to America in the 16th century were mainly Puritans and Protestant Reformers who did not bring Saint Nicholas with them. And although many think that the Dutch brought Saint Nicholas to New Amsterdam, scholars have little evidence for this. The Germans in present-day Pennsylvania, however, celebrated the feast of Saint Nicholas and various accounts say that Saint Nicholas himself visited the feast.
In 1773, another event based on Saint Nick happened with the formation of the Sons of Saint Nicholas by the patriots. However, this was not to honor the bishop, but to blow a raspberry at the English Society of St. George. After the American Revolution, New Yorkers thought about their proud Dutch roots. John Pintard promoted Saint Nicholas as the patron saint of the Society and the City. Saint Nicholas, as mentioned in “The New York Story of Underpants” was a bourgeois Dutch elf with a pipe. These imaginative thoughts are the source of many legends of New Amsterdam’s St. Nick, such as that Ductch’s first emigrant ship had St. Nick as a figurehead, that St. Nicholas Day was observed in the colony, that the first church it was dedicated to him. and that St. Nick comes down the chimneys with stacks of gift bags.
The New York Historical Society held its first St. Nick’s anniversary dinner in 1810, on December 6. John Pintard commissioned Alexander Anderson to create an American image of St. Nick for the occasion. St. Nick was depicted as a gift giver, with treats tucked into stockings hung by the fireplace. An accompanying poem said “Saint Nicholas, my dear good friend! Serving you was always my end, if you want me, now, give me something, I will always serve you as long as I live.” The elven idea of Santa Claus was given a boost in 1823 when a poem was written: “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” It will later be known as “The Night Before Christmas”.
“He was dressed all in fur, from head to toe,
And all his clothes were stained with ash and soot;
A pack of toys that had been thrown on his back,
And it looked like a street vendor who had just opened his backpack.
His eyes, how they shone! his dimples how happy!
Her cheeks were like roses, her nose like a cherry!
His funny little mouth arched like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was white as snow;
The stump of a pipe that he clenched between his teeth,
And the smoke wrapped his head like a crown;
He had a broad face and a small round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was plump and plump, a jolly old elf. . . . “
There are arguments between the writer Clement Clark Moore and Henry Livingston, who wrote funny verses for children. Many artists continued the progression to Sancte Claus, or Santa Claus, who was very different from Bishop Nicolas. A series of drawings in Thomas Nast’s “Harper’s Weekly,” based on Washington Irving’s job descriptions, also showed Santa in his furry outfit and bag of toys. However, it was Haddon Sundblom who solidified the image of Santa with thirty-five years of Coca-Cola commercials that featured Santa as the rotund, red-suit, full-bellied, white-haired guy we know today. Santa has become so familiar that it has spread throughout the world and could possibly threaten Saint Nicholas of Europe, who is still a Christian bishop and saint.