The History of Santa Claus

I remember as a child staying up until 11:45 and then waking up exactly at 12:05 giving Santa Claus just enough time to sneak down the chimney, or in our case come through the front door, drop off his presents and eat a few cookies we left out for him. But who exactly is Santa Claus and where did he come from. When we think of Santa Claus today we often think of plump man wearing a red jacket with white trim, red pants, black belt and boots, a white beard, glasses and a coke in his hand. It's hard to imagine Santa any other way, but as we'll soon find out Santa has a had a long history in Western Civilization.

As we explore the past we find that the origins of the mythology of Santa Claus are hard to pinpoint. This is because Santa Claus did not emerge out of a single tradition of Europe, but instead out of multiple languages, cultures, traditions and religions.

The beginning of Santa Claus during the early Christian era can be traced back to the Bishop Nicholas of Myra, which is now in present day Turkey. Nicholas' characteristics included being very wealthy, generous and good with children. Even though he lived during the 4th century A.D., we can see that his image helped to shape the Santa Claus of today. In fact, he was known to take great pleasure in throwing gifts in through the windows of poor children.

The Orthodox Church is responsible for taking St. Nicholas from local hero to saintdom. Through out Europe St. Nicholas had many roles. He was the patron saint of children, seafarers, pawnbrokers, and archers. Also, the oldest Russian church was built in his name. He is also known as the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow. In the Protestant dominated areas of northern and central Germany he became known as der Weinachtsmann. St. Nicolas would cross the Atlantic and become known as Santa Claus among Dutch Immigrants.

Many of the Germanic influences on St. Nicholas emerged from paganism and more specifically the Germanic God Odin. Odin has been recorded in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda as riding an eight legged horse that could leap great distances. This has been compared to the flying reindeer of St. Nicholas. Odin also was referred to as "Long Beard" in Skaldic Poetry, which is another feature he shares with St. Nicholas. In a similar tradition to leaving milk and cookies as well as stockings out for Santa and his reindeer, children would leave out their boots with carrots, straw, or sugar for Odin's horse and Odin would then put gifts or candy in their boots. This pagan practice was continued after the Christianizing of such places as German, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Even Dutch folklore related to Christmas has strong ties between Odin and St. Nicholas. The Dutch include the beard like the German God Odin and similar apparel. Odin, as god of the arts of poetry and inventor of the rune letters, is recognized during Christmas celebrations by giving out rune letters made of candy.

The American Santa Claus figure, as we know him today, was first introduced by the Dutch that settled New York in the 17th century. His name came from the Dutch Sinter Klaas. However, it wasn't until 1809 that Washington Irving gave America a detailed account of Santa Claus in his History of New York.

America would finally come to know Santa Claus as we do today in 1823. This was the year that the poem, A Visit From Saint Nicholas, or as you probably know it, The Night Before Christmas was published. This poem included the names of Santa's Reindeer, and descriptions of his laugh, winks, and nods.

Starting in the 1860's and ending the 1880's a new understanding of Santa Claus was stirring. Santa became known to have a workshop at the North Pole. The belief that Santa has a list of good and bad children was also popularized. By 1931 Santa Claus had lost his previously elf-like stature and now was a full sized man. The elf image, however, would be applied to his toy shop workers.

Santa Claus has a few characteristics that historically have came together to form the modern day mythology of Santa.

The first of these is that he lives in the north-pole. In Europe, and more specifically, England he is said to live in Lapland.

Santa also is married and has a wife. She name is Mrs. Claus. Santa is believed to classify children as naughty or nice, and delivers toys to those that are nice and coal or sticks to those that are naughty.Often times parents use this to make their children behave. Santa Claus delivers all the toys in one night with the help of elves that work in his toy shop.

He is also believed to have eight or nine reindeer who pull his sleigh on Christmas Eve.

Father Christmas provided the mythology for a modern day Santa as known in Britain and America today to emerge. Historically, evidence for a Santa Claus like figure, known as Father Christmas, goes back at least to the 17th century. Father Christmas personified the good cheer and Christmas Spirit. The Yule Goat in Scandinavian Countries is also known to be the bringer of gifts at Christmas time and this pagan imagery is still alive and well.

These traditions, would soon be replaced with the idea of a Tomte a short, bearded man wearing a red hat. This portrayal started in Denmark and soon spread throughout Scandinavia replacing the Yule Goat and moving towards a more Santa Claus like figure. This, however, did not remove the Yule Goat folklore from the population as a straw goat is still a common Christmas decoration in Scandinavian countries.

In the British Colonies of North America the image of Santa Claus would be merged between the Dutch and British version. The Santa Claus of the Americas lost his bishop like garb and soon replaced it with a more costume type garb. Santa Claus became a part of the modern cannon when the 1823 publication of "A Visit from St. Nicholas", more commonly known today as "The Night Before Christmas", portrayed him as a large portly jolly fellow with 8 reindeer.

During the 1800's the idea that Santa had reindeer was further by the Lomen Comany's marketing department. The Lomen Company put Santa on a sleigh being pulled by reindeer and this provided the inspiration for Santa to live in the North Pole, a land of perpetual snow.

In 1902, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, written by L. Frank Baum further popularized the mythology associated with Santa Claus. Baum changed the reindeer count to 10 and took away their ability to fly. In the story, Baum tells how Santa is exposed to the misery and poverty of children in the world and tries to find a way to bring happiness to the lives of the children. Santa Claus finally invents toys as the primary way to do this.