All You Need To Know About Santa Claus: Santa’s origins can be traced back to the third century, to the time of St. Nicholas, a monk (although some sources call him a bishop). Around the year 280 AD, Nicholas was born in the city of Patara, in what is now the Turkish Republic.
According to folklore, Nicholas was a generous man who helped the sick and the poor everywhere he went. Nicholas inherited a large sum of money from his well-to-do parents.
Nicholas, who had a selfless character even as a child, dispersed his inheritance among the needy and led a simple life. On December 6 we will remember Nicholas on the anniversary of his passing.
St. Nicholas, by the time of the Renaissance, had become Europe’s most beloved saint. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children and sailors, was canonized by Pope Eugene IV on June 5, 1446.
St. Nicholas Day is a tradition that was brought to the United States by waves of European immigration. St. Nicholas had made his way into American popular culture by the late 18th century.
According to historical accounts, many Dutch families in New York congregated on December 6 and 6, 1773 and 1774, respectively, to commemorate Nicholas’s death. It has been suggested that the moniker Santa Claus derives from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, which is a contraction of Sint Nikolaas, the Dutch form of the name for St. Nicholas.
Christmas gift-giving dates back to the early 19th century, when the ritual was institutionalized in honor of St. Nicholas and his legacy of selfless charity.
By 1840, Santa Claus was appearing in newspaper ads in the United States. In 1820, shops began advertising Christmas shopping. Numerous kids in 1841 visited Philadelphia to view a life-size Santa model.
America was succumbing to Santa’s allure, and the spirit of giving at Christmas was on the rise. Starting in the early 1890s, the Salvation Army would send out unemployed men dressed as Santa Claus to ask for money to buy food for families in need so that they could celebrate Christmas.
Since the beginning of this custom, Salvation Army Santas have been ringing their bells on street corners and in front of establishments to collect money for the poor.
Clement Clark Moore, an Episcopal pastor, wrote the classic Christmas poem “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” for his three daughters.
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The poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” is based on this famous line. Since the poem deals with sensitive topics, Moore was cautious to share it with the world.
After the poem was published, a common conception of Santa emerged, one in which he is a portly, jolly old soul who sneaks into homes via chimneys to deliver gifts for good children.
Following a delivery to one home, Santa would quickly move on to the next in his sleigh pulled by eight winged reindeer.
There have been many variations on Santa’s depiction over the years. Santa Claus hasn’t always been shown as a jolly old elf in a red coat, with rosy cheeks, a large white beard, a potbelly, and a pair of black boots.
Before 1931, Santa was typically depicted as a thin, lanky man or a creepy elf. Santa wore everything from a bishop’s gown to the animal hide clothing of a Norse huntsman at one point in time.
Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a tiny elf-like character who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Later on, Nast changed Santa’s coat from brown to red, the color that is now traditionally associated with Santa.
