Why Santa Claus Looks That Way

The biggest influences to our image of Santa Claus came from a 19^th century poem and an advertising campaign that started in the 20^th century. 

In 1823, Henry Livingston Jr. published his poem “Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas.”  The poem is commonly known by its first sentence “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”  It gave us a physical description of the magical elf as well as the first mention of a sleigh pulled by eight flying reindeer.

The poem was plagiarized by Clement Clark Moore who included the work in a collection of poems he published in 1844.  Moore was credited as the original author until just a few years ago.  Copies of the Christmas classic crediting Moore as the author are in circulation everywhere.

Livingston’s poem described St. Nicholas with a broad face and a little round belly. The poet also wrote that St. Nicholas was jolly and plump, “a right jolly old elf.” He was dressed in fur from head to foot. The red color of Santa’s clothes was not established until several years later. Livingston mentioned the classic sack of toys St. Nick carried on his back and his long, white beard.    

St. Nicholas of Myra was a Greek bishop who devoted his life to helping and protecting poor people. He spent several years in prison under the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian who persecuted Christians.   Diocletian’s murderous reign ended after Emperor Constantine came into power. St. Nicholas was released from prison after Constantine embraced Christianity in 313 AD.

 St. Nicholas was credited with several miracles that led to his sainthood after he died December 6, 343 AD. December sixth became a time of Christian celebration that changed to our Christmas Day on the 25th.

The idea of downplaying the religious connotation of getting presents and festive celebrations during Christmas was first mentioned two years before Livingston’s poem by an anonymous author who proposed using the Santa Claus character in a poem called “The Children’s Friend.” Santa Claus slowly replaced St. Nicholas as the main focus for Christmas celebrations. The names St. Nicholas and Santa Claus are often used interchangeably.

Ancient paintings and wood carvings of the Santa Claus character often show a tall, thin man dressed in animal skins. Some cultures warned children that they would receive harsh punishment from Santa for not behaving properly. Society rules of today would denounce such punishment as child abuse.

The Coca-Cola Co. solidified the image of a red-suited, jolly old elf in an advertising campaign that started in 1923. Artists painted a somewhat unfriendly-looking Santa to advertise Coca-Cola in portraits made in 1923 and 1930. In 1931, artist Haddon Sundblom painted the image of a friendly character recognized today as Santa Claus.

Sundblom painted Santa Claus wearing a bright, red suit.  The character looked chubby and very happy in the artist’s many paintings he made for the soft drink company. That depiction of Santa became the image our society has recognized for more than 80 years.

 

 

 

Thank you for reading this blog.  Please visit this site again after the first of the year.  I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.