44. All About Santa Claus
It's only fitting that since Santa Claus has the magnificent capability to visit homes around the world in a single night that additional than one place would claim to be his residence. It's widespread belief that Santa hails from the wintry North Pole, but folks in Finland will also tell you that Santa calls that country his house. To prove it, the Finns will even invite you to go to Santa in his workshop just before Christmas or throughout the year and talk with Santa Claus as he and his elves busy themselves for their end-of-year Christmas expedition around the globe.
The popularity in America nowadays of the images and legend of Santa Claus can be traced to the poem, 'Twas the Night Just before Christmas,' that was written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. In that poem, Moore described St. Nicholas as a jolly fellow who flew from home to house in a sleigh pulled by reindeers and waited for children to go to bed on Christmas Eve before he came down the chimney to deliver Christmas presents for them. Following the distribution of that poem, the well-liked magazine Harper's Weekly published cartoons by Thomas Nast between 1863 and 1886 that depicted Santa as a cheerful fellow with a big round belly and lengthy white beard who wore a bright red suit that was trimmed with white fur. In those cartoons, Santa also held a sack, which was filled with toys for boys and girls, over his shoulder. The cartoons also showed Santa reading letters from great boys and girls, working in his workshop with his elves, checking his list to be certain he had all the needed toys and even showed his wife, Mrs. Claus.
The tradition of Santa Claus was brought to America on the other hand by Dutch colonists who settled in New York City, which was known as New Amsterdam at the time. The real St. Nicholas is said to be a minor saint from the 4th Century with a reputation for generosity and kindness that gave rise to legends of quite a few miracles that he performed for the poor and unhappy. One of the stories about the legend of St. Nicholas is that he saved three poor girls who were sisters from being sold into a life of slavery or prostitution by their father. According to the legend, Santa Claus provided the girls with a dowry so that they could get married.
The legend of St. Nicholas led to hundreds of folks being devoted to him and consequently thousands of European churches became dedicated to him. After the Reformation period however, widespread practice and worship of St. Nicholas disappeared in European countries that had been Protestant, except in Holland where the legend of St. Nicholas continued. St. Nicholas was identified as Sint Nikolaas but that was later corrupted to Sinter Klaas. Dutch colonists took this tradition of Sinter Klaas to New York City where it was adopted making use of the Englist name of Santa Claus. Over time, the Dutch legend of the kindly saint was combined with old Nordic folktales about a magician who punished naughty youngsters and rewarded good ones with presents to give rise to the stories that now exist about Santa Claus.
The red and white-trimmed suit of Santa Claus is believed to be the colors that the original St. Nicholas worebecause red and white had the colors of the robes worn by standard bishops. It is also believed that the Coca Cola Co. played a role in what is regarded as the well-known look of Santa Claus these days via paintings by artist Haddon Sundblom that had been placed in some of the company's advertisement between 1931 and 1964.
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