Santa Who is He

The earliest legend of Saint Nicholas reaches back to Asia Minor in the 4th century. Born in Patara, a seaport, Nicholas was a bishop in Myra, Turkey, traveling to Egypt and Palestine as a young man. Wherever he traveled, his extraordinary kindness and his practice of giving gifts to needy children made him a hero to the people.
Nicholas supported the doctrine of the Trinity at an important church council. He was so extremely generous and loved children. Legend says he rode a white horse and threw coins through open windows to impoverished families.

He was very shy, and wanted to give money to poor people without them knowing about it. It is said that one day, he climbed the roof of a house and dropped a purse of money down the chimney. It landed in the stocking which a girl had put to dry by the fire! This may explain the belief that Father Christmas comes down the chimney and places gifts in children's stockings.

After his death, he was eventually sainted by the Catholic church and from then on was known as Saint Nicholas. On the eve of Saint Nicholas Day (December 6), some came to believe he visited children with admonitions and gifts, in preparation for the gift of the Christ child. Some even thought he had a companion who carried switches and promised sweets to good boys and girls, but threatened punishment to the bad.

That's the source of, "You'd better watch out, better not pout...." This legend spread throughout the Old World. The name "St. Nicholas" splintered into many variations among Protestant churches in Europe. In other countries he became known as the Christmas Man, Father Christmas, Father January, or Grandfather Frost.

The Dutch added customs, such as leaving hay for his horse (later hot chocolate and cookies in the U.S.), and putting out a wooden shoe to be filled by "Sinter Klaas" (the source of our stocking tradition).

When the Dutch settled in New Amsterdam (now New York), they brought these traditions with them. Then, with the colonization of America, religious and secular images joined in recognizing "Santa Claus," who symbolized the spirit of giving.

The red suit today's Santa wears is actually a poor copy of the bishop's clothing the original Saint Nicholas would have worn.

The name Kriss Kringle is a corruption of Dutch words meaning Christ child (who some said brought gifts on Christmas Eve). By 1842 Kriss Kringle was identified with Santa Claus.

A newspaper cartoonist, Thomas Nast, considered the father of American political cartooning, gave us the first picture of Santa in Harper's Weekly Magazine as we know him today. Before that time, he had been pictured in many ways, such as a bishop, a gnome or a dwarf.

Thomas Nast's Santa Claus, patterned after the St. Nicholas described in Clement Moore's "Night Before Christmas" poem, penned in 1823 as "A Visit From St. Nicholas," is the personification of the "jolly old elf" that we recognize today.