It has become clear that one of the main characters associated with Christmas is Santa Claus. However, the jolly man that brings smiles and happiness to all the children of the world did not always look that way. The history behind the modern Santa Claus we have today is one which is very interesting and has a deep and layered past…
Santa Claus has roots and is based on Saint Nicholas, a saint who had a reputation for giving gifts and bringing joy to children. The oldest interpretation of Santa Claus can go all the way back to the 4th century where Saint Nicholas was depicted as a Greek saint. However, after the religious reformation in Europe, many countries stopped following the tale of Saint Nicholas apart from the Netherlands.
The North American interpretation of Santa Claus is derived from Dutch settlers in New York City bringing the image of Sinterklaas to many Americans following the revolutionary war. This was the first connection North American settlers had with Santa Claus. However, the modernization of the image of Santa Claus did not occur until 1863 when cartoonist Thomas Nast published cartoons of Santa in a very popular magazine of the time, Harper’s Weekly. Thomas Nast continued building on his first cartoon and over the years gave us a more refined look of the modernized Santa we know and love to this day. So the next time you see Santa on a TV commercial or in a magazine ad, just know that there is a rich history behind how that image came to be.
Information Source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/a-pictorial-history-of-santa-claus/
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