You say Sinterklaas, I say Santa Claus

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The Original Saint Nicholas

New York Revisits New Amsterdam

Following the Revolutionary War the already heavily Dutch influenced New York City (formerly of course named New Amsterdam) saw a new surge of interest in Dutch customs, and with them St. Nicholas.

1804 - The First "American" Saint Nicholas

Although the east coast of America was full of Dutch settlers, it was not until the early 19th century that the figure of "Sinterklaas" would make his way properly across the Atlantic and so give birth to the Americanised Santa Claus. In 1804 John Pintard, an influential patriot and antiquarian, founded the New York Historical Society and promoted St. Nicholas as patron saint of both the society and city.

On December 6th 1810 the society hosted its first St. Nicholas anniversary dinner and Pintard commissioned the artist Alexander Anderson to draw an image of the saint to be handed out at the dinner. In Anderson’s portrayal he was still shown as a religious figure, but now he was also clearly depositing gifts in fireside stockings and is associated with rewarding the goodness of children. While “St. Nicholas day” never quite took off in the way Pintard wanted, Anderson’s image of “Sancte Claus” most certainly did.

1809 - A Knickerbocker's History of New York

In 1809 the author Washington Irving wrote about Santa in his satirical fiction Knickerbocker's History of New York, describing a jolly St. Nicholas character as opposed to the saintly bishop of yesteryear – one who flew in a reindeer pulled sleigh and delivered presents down chimneys.

Irving's description of the saint rapidly became known to New Yorkers. The English settlers enthusiastically adopted the joyful Dutch celebrations of St. Nicholas' Day, but they gradually merged them with their own traditions of celebrating Christmas or the New Year. It is not hard to see how Sinterklaas became Santa Claus in the mouths of English-speaking New Yorkers.

1822 - The Scandinavian Touch

The next key step to securing the image of Santa Claus was the 1822 poem entitled A Visit from St. Nicholas written by Clement Moore. Moore drew upon Irving's description and Pintard's New Amsterdam tradition and added some more Odin-like elements from German and Norse legends to create the all-winking, sleigh-riding saint and also the names for his flying reindeers. Moore described Santa as a dwarfish "jolly old elf," dressed in furs going down chimneys to give children their gifts.

Meet the Reindeers

Moore even gave the reindeer names: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen. Other Christmas stories have portrayed St. Nicholas on a white horse, or with one or two reindeer -one version even had him in a cart pulled by a goat- but Moore's account was so vivid and compelling that it became the standard.

1939 - The Missing One

The ninth reinder Rudolph was created in 1939 when the Montgomery Ward company asked one of their copywriters, Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away in booklet form to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. After its success, his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for the Rudolph song which became one of the best-selling songs of all time (second only to "White Christmas").

Twas The Night Before Christmas

1860 - Santa Goes to The Front

Now Santa had a personality and a mission, and was permanently linked to Christmas. But what did he look like?

In 1863, during the Civil War, political cartoonist Thomas Nast, began a series of black-and-white drawings for Harper's Weekly, based on the descriptions found in Washington Irving's works. Nast is credited with giving Santa Claus a round belly, flowing beard, fur garments, and a clay pipe.

1881 - Growing Image... and Weight

In this later 1881 illustration by Thomas Nast named "Merry Old Santa", the modern Santa character really begins to take shape. Nast continued to draw versions of Santa Claus until 1886, and in this time Santa went from St. Nicholas to Santa Claus... and furthered the American transformation. Although he did drop the stars and stripes in favor of a plain wool suit, the American Santa Claus took shape by repetition and we just became accustomed to this same figure.

1931 - Santa Coca Cola

In 1931, the Coca-Cola company hired artist Haddon Sundblom to create the artwork for a massive Christmas advertising campaign they were preparing.

Until then, the soda was primarily a summer drink, with sales dropping off sharply in the cooler winter months. Coke hoped to reverse this trend by somehow linking the drink to the winter holidays...and they decided the most effective way to do that would be to make Santa a Coke drinker. Sundblom was told to create a painting of Mr. Claus that the company could use in magazine advertisements but this image went far beyond.

1920 - The American Dream

Famous illustrator Norman Rockwell gave Santa Claus a permanent spot in American Christmas pop culture. His illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post give a very physiologically human and naturalistic aspect to the character as opposed to the more cartoonish features which had gone before.

The Man in Red

Prior to Sundblom's illustrations, Santa appeared wearing blue, yellow, green, or red... "After the soft drink ads Santa would forever be a huge, fat, relentlessly happy man with a broad belt and black hip boots-and he would wear Coca-Cola red... while Coca-Cola has had a subtle, pervasive influence on our culture, it has directly shaped the way we think of Santa."

1945 - Santa at War Times

American Santa Claus became a symbol of generosity following World War II as American troops, dressed as Santa, gave food and toys to children in war-torn Europe. This has continued in all the wars of the 20th century and into the 21st. This prominence has contributed to the demise of traditional gift-givers in many places, including even his own precursor, St. Nicholas.

Santa Nowadays

Since the 1950s, Santa has happily sojourned at Napapiiri, near Rovaniemi, at times other than Christmas, to meet children and the young at heart. By 1985 his visits to Napapiiri had become so regular that he established his own Santa Claus Office there at the north pole. He comes there every day of the year to hear what children want for Christmas and to talk with children who have arrived from around the world. Santa Claus Village is also the location of Santa's main Post Office, which receives children's letters from the four corners of the world.