Where did Santa Claus come from? The big man in the red suit is the result of hundreds of years of myth and folklore. Here is a quick timeline of the many incarnations of Santa.
Once upon a time, in fourth century Greece, there was a bishop named Nicholas. He had a long beard and was known for his acts of charity and generosity. Later canonized, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children in the Catholic and Orthodox faiths. The real St. Nicholas was the prototype for Santa Claus.
Every great character needs a little embellishment, though. In Dutch folklore, Sinterklaas flies through the night, delivering gifts to good children while his helpers kidnap the bad ones. This more vindictive version of St. Nick provided the germ for the American Santa’s “naughty and nice lists.”
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The first description of the Santa we know today comes from C. Clement Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” first published in 1823 and better known by its opening line: “‘Twas the night before Christmas.” Moore describes St. Nicholas as “chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf.”
However, it was some time before a popular image of Santa was created to match Moore’s words. For the January 3, 1863 issue, Harper’s published a drawing of Santa Claus, dressed in an American flag outfit, entertaining American troops. This incarnation is not as fat or jolly as the one described by Moore.
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From these bits and pieces, the version of Santa modern Americans know emerged from another Thomas Nast drawing. In 1881, Nast drew another version of Santa; this time, he was a jolly, pipe-smoking fat man like in Moore’s poem. He also resembled the robber barons Nast routinely lampooned in Harper’s.
Only in America could a combination of a saint and a robber baron become a pop culture icon.
