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Who Is Santa Claus?
Posted on: December 05, 2006
By Robert Guymon
December 5, 2006
Who is this man who wears a red and white suit and drives a sleigh with eight tiny flying reindeer? He is known as Santa Clause, Kris Kringle, and St. Nick as well as other names.
St. Nicholas an ancestor of Santa Claus was born somewhere between the years 270 – 280 AD. He was an ordained Bishop who dedicated his life to helping those in need. He was fond of children and left presents of money, food, and clothing in the windows of those who needed them. St. Nicholas died on December 6, 343 AD. He became the Patron Saint of Russia in 987 AD. He was also the Patron Saint of Sailors, Children, Spinsters, and Pawnbrokers. Christopher Columbus arrived in Haiti on December 6, 1492 and named the port St. Nicholas for a safe passage to the new world. A Norman monk named Jean wrote the life of St. Nicholas in 1119. Up until 1300 St. Nicholas was known to wear a short dark beard. He was known to ride an eight legged white flying horse with his long white beard flowing in the wind. News of St. Nicholas first came to America in 1773 in the New York Gazette. He was referred to as St. A. Claus. The first St. Nicholas celebration was held in New York in 1810.
The American version of Santa Clause evolved from Dutch settler’s legend of Sinter Klaas. The modern Santa Clause began in 1810 by a poem written by Reverend Clement Moore, “The night before Christmas.” The poem is also known as “A visit from St. Nicholas.” Santa was portrayed as a jolly white bearded man who flew through the sky in a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer and included all their names. This poem was originally written for Moore’s children. More did not claim credit for writing it until 1837.
Santa Claus appeared in a political cartoon during the Civil War in 1863. It was published in Harper’s Weekly Journal with the caption “Santa in Camp.” He was outfitted in stars and stripes as a member if the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant.
Santa Claus began to be seen in department stores in the 1870’s in the United States and Canada. The first Santa Christmas card was created in Boston in 1873. Norman Rockwell painted his famous rendition of Santa in 1922 for the Saturday Evening Post. The commercial Santa was started by Coca Cola in 1931. Coke still uses him to sell their product today. In a 1939 Montgomery Ward advertisement created the ninth and most famous of Santa’s reindeer Rudolph with the red nose.
For more information click on the following links:
http://www.christmasarchives.com/santa.html
http://www.the-north-pole.com/history/
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Great Story but due to the way the story was posted the story had missing words and letters. I had to guess what was being said as the border>>> got in the way of the story. Nice job that forced me to use my imagination. DMA
— Dan Adamson · Dec 11, 05:20 PM · #