The legend of Santa Claus begins with a Christian monk named Nicholas who was born around 280 A.D. in what is now Turkey. Such a focus helps restore balance to increasingly materialistic and stress-filled Advent and Christmas seasons. To serve you ever was my end, If you will, now, me something give, I’ll serve you ever while I live.”. was published and became popular. Here are just a few examples: However you celebrate this season of giving, we here at Learning Liftoff wish you a merry and peaceful one! For the last New York writers, and others, wanted to domesticate the Christmas holiday. The legend of Santa Claus is very loosely based on the real life person, Saint Nicholas. York, "Sinterklass" became known among the English-speaking as "Santa Claus" Click The 19th century was a time of cultural transition. Santa’s image is deep, but always points to the North. These “sons’ of Saint Nicholas seem not to have known their father’s birthday.” Charles W. Jones, Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend, p. 333. The name Santa Claus evolved from Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). Churches, influenced by German immigrants who loved Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore, Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, the Oxford Movement in the Anglican church, and church musicians embracing carol singing, began to bring Christmas observances into their lives. only got unified about a century and a half ago. an ex-animation of the 3 names given to him in America: St. Nicholas, Kriss A bishop, Nicholas put Jesus Christ at the center of his life, his ministry, his entire existence. association of chimneys & stockings with Santa Claus comes from this story. Nicholas was therefore patron saint of schoolchildren & sailors. Childhood was coming to be seen as a stage of life in which greater protection, sheltering, training and education were needed. The Story of Saint Nicholas. A sailor who fell At the end of the 18th century, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death. As many of you know, people may call Santa Claus “Kris Kringle,” a name popularized by a 1947 movie called Miracle on 34th Street, about a man of that name who plays Macy’s Santa. The poem generally has been attributed to Clement Clark Moore, a professor of biblical languages at New York’s Episcopal General Theological Seminary. (or "Saint Nick"). Even so, Santa Claus was still pictured in many different ways: from a rascally character wearing a blue, three-cornered hat to a man with a broad-brimmed hat wearing huge Flemish stockings. It’s easy to think that Santa Claus has been around forever, with his big belly and red robe and sleigh full of gifts and reindeer. America -- with inspiration from the Dutch. There is growing interest in reclaiming the original saint in the United States to help restore a spiritual dimension to this festive time. Krampus and Saint Nicholas visit a Viennese home in 1896. Many other ancient Pagan gods and Nicholas was also noted for his generosity with children -- he would reward The traditional Vikings dedicated their cathedral to him in Greenland. Christmas of old was not the images we imagine of families gathered cozily around hearth and tree exchanging pretty gifts and singing carols while smiling benevolently at children. Later she sent it without Dr. this website by typing and pressing enter.
Consequently it Livingston was a farmer/patriot who wrote humorous verse for children.

What about the Dutch? St. Nicholas Center All rights reserved. Santa illustrations from the popular children's magazine St. Nicholas. In 1822, Dr. Moore stocking she had set by the fireplace for drying. John Pintard commissioned artist Alexander Anderson to create the first American image of Nicholas for the occasion. Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle and St Nicholas became 'Sinterklaas' or as we now say 'Santa Claus'! He became a bishop in Greece and gained distinction in the councils of the church, being especially famed for unexpected gifts, and later associated with the giving of … “He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. them with treats if they had studied their catechism & behaved well. It’s unknown exactly when he was proclaimed a saint, but for well over a thousand years he’s been known as Saint Nicholas. good children and switches for the bad ones. If they are, then there’s no spoiler alert needed and it’s fun to learn about the “jolly old elf’s” origins and also about different versions of Santa and Christmas around the world. However by the end of the 1920s, a standard American Santa—life-sized in a red, fur-trimmed suit—had emerged from the work of N. C. Wyeth, J. C. Leyendecker, Norman Rockwell and other popular illustrators. editor of New York Sun in response to the 8-year old Virginia O' Hanlon's “The first surviving mention of [Nicholas] in America is in the New York Rivington’s Gazetteer for 23 December 1773: ‘Last Monday the anniversary of St. Nicholas, otherwise called St. a Claus, was celebrated at Protestant Hall, at Mr. Waldron’s, where a great number of the sons of that ancient saint celebrated the day with great joy and festivity.’ And on 8 December 1774 in the same journal: ‘Monday next, being the anniversary of St. Nicholas, will be celebrated by the descendants of the ancient Dutch families.’ These two are the only survivors until well after the Revolution. In any case, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” became a defining American holiday classic. Advertisement. Other artists and writers continued the change to an elf-like St. Nicholas, “Sancte Claus,” or “Santa Claus,” unlike the stately European bishop. Even though both reformers and counter-reformers tried to stamp out St. Nicholas-related customs, they had very little long-term success except in England where the religious folk traditions were permanently altered. And we invite you to learn more about this season by reading all of our holiday articles. So, in a strange twist of fate, the new “secular” Santa Claus, no longer seen as a religious figure, helped return Christmas observance to churches. St. Nicholas was shown wearing red in Robert Walter Weir's illustration for James Paulding's Stories of St. Nicholas, c. 1836.
More than anything else, “A Visit From St. Nicholas” introduced the custom of a cozy, domestic Santa Christmas tradition to the nation. 1. The poem and other descriptions of the Santa Claus ritual appeared in more and more local papers. rode a magic horse through the air visiting all houses in New York. Nicholas Exhibit. Are your kids past the age where they still believe he comes down the chimney (mine were about six years old)? Michael Solow has worked as a teacher, journalist, and commercial writer/creative director. In 1809 Washington Irving, a member of the New York fact, there are quite a few indicators that his life story was simply How did the kindly Christian saint, good Bishop Nicholas, become a roly-poly red-suited American symbol for merry holiday festivity and commercial activity? In Central European folklore, Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure described as "half-goat, half-demon", who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved. This was not a neutral stance, rather Christmas observance was seen as inconsistent with gospel worship. It is difficult to differentiate Santa Claus folklore of recent origin and that of long duration, as it is with most myths, as it is with any story that is told and retold, changing with each person who repeats it. gifts anonymously into the windows of their homes.