In Search of Santa Claus

Tales, legends, folklore, and history have interwoven until it is hard to trace Santa Claus. Our modern version may have come from the Dutch Sinterklaas. However, this may have been a dialectal pronunciation of Saint Nicholas, the Greek bishop who was known for giving gifts around Myra (in present day Turkey) in the 4th century. He became a patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow. His remains have been found and preserved in Italy today. German traditions of Kris Kringle also added to the idea. The name, Santa Claus, was first used by Americans, however.

The American and Canadian image of a short, fat man with white hair and beard, wearing a red suit trimmed in white comes from a 1823 poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore. Cartoonist, Thomas Nast, also drew caricatures with Santa Claus looking like this around 1880. The 1923 song, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" further solidified the image.

Norman Rockwell Santa

There have been controversies about whether or not it's good for parents to carry on this tradition. Some see it as deception, but others point out that giving without taking any credit for it can be a good thing. It may be true that Santa Claus has helped take the commercialism of Christmas to absurd levels, but there may be something about the little figure that embodies the spirit of Christmas.

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