Santa Claus and Christmas: Story of the origin of Father Christmas, Myths, Facts and the Coca Cola legend
Santa Claus is one of the sweetest beliefs that children grow up believing. Does Santa really live at the North Pole? Does he arrive through the chimney? Does Santa really exist? Check the facts and myths here.
Santa Claus and his reindeer drawn sleigh | Photo Credit: iStock Images
Key Highlights
- Santa Claus is one of the strongest elements and traditions associated with Christmas
- Though Christmas is about two millennia old, Santa Claus became popular much later
- Here's how St Nicholas entered Christmas to make children's dreams come true.
It is Christmas time. The time to spread good cheer, decorate trees and bake Christmas pies. Also, the time to believe in Santa Claus. Children build their Christmas plans around the visit from the sweet, happy old man in the red suit who comes down the chimney. They write wish lists meant for the yes of Grandpa Saint Nicholas from the North Pole alone.
For some children, Santa Claus remains a happy fairy tale that they smoothly outgrow before their teenage years. Many confess that they were devastated to discover that there is indeed no Santa as the films like “North Pole” or colourful greeting cards will have you believe. Then, again, there are also cynical kids who never believe in Santa at all.
Somewhere between all these varying views on the reindeer-sledge-riding red-suited bearded old man, lies the story of Santa Claus. We leave it to you to decide what is a myth and what is a fact.
The origins and evolution of Santa Claus:
Until the fall of Constantinople, Turkey was a Christian bastion, a country steeped in Christian hues. And in the fourth century, in the city of Myra, lived a kind, old, man - Saint Nicholas - who was kind to the poor and children.
Legend has it that he dropped a bag of gold down the chimney of a poor man who could not afford his daughter’s dowry. The bag fell into a stocking that had been left by the fire to dry, says a report in the Telegraph (UK).
He also dropped a bag of gold for the second daughter. The father tried to find out who this mystery benefactor was, and when he did, Saint Nicholas begged him not to reveal his identity. But his secret was soon out and whenever anyone received an anonymous gift, they ‘knew’ it was from Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas.
The Smithsonian Mag writes: “Prior to the early 1800s, Christmas was a religious holiday, plain and simple.”
Christmas in Great Britain:
Historic UK.com writes Before Victoria‘s reign started in 1837 nobody in Britain had heard of Santa Claus or Christmas Crackers. No Christmas cards were sent and most people did not have holidays from work. The wealth and technologies generated by the industrial revolution of the Victorian era changed the face of Christmas forever.
At the start of Victoria’s reign, children’s toys tended to be handmade and hence expensive, generally restricting availability to those “rich folk” again. With factories however came mass production, which brought with it games, dolls, books and clockwork toys all at a more affordable price.
“A Visit from St. Nicholas”, a poem written by Clement Moore in 1822 (more commonly known by its first verse, “’Twas the night before Christmas”), became popular in Great Britain. In that poem, St Nicholas flew from house to house in a sleigh drawn by eight reindeer, to fill stockings of children who were waiting for Christmas gifts.
Christmas in the US:
This was as true in the United States as it was in England, even with the Civil War raging. Children received homemade gifts due to the scarcity of materials, Union and Confederate soldiers swapped coffee and newspapers on the frontlines, and some did their best to decorate the camp.
It was into this world that the talented artist Thomas Nast arrived in the 1850s. Doing his first sketches as a teenager, he became a staff illustrator for Harper’s Weekly, one of the most popular magazines of the day, in 1862.
Thomas Nash drew a series of cartoons of him living at the North Pole, with a workshop for building toys and a large book with the names of naughty and nice children.
Thomas Nast's illustration of Santa Claus in Harper's Weekly in 1862 (Photo credit:: Wikimedia Commons)
Most people do not know about Thomas Nast’s contribution to Santa Calus’ modern-day image that is so popular. Everyone knows him more as the man created US’ political representative logos such as the donkey for the Democrats and the elephant for Republicans.
Santa's Red comes from Coca Cola?
The legend goes that Santa’s suit is red because of a successful advertising campaign for Coca-Cola that featured Father Christmas wearing red robes with white trim, the soft drink major’s colours.
But the red and white are originally Saint Nicholas colours. Over time, the bishops’ red and white robes were replaced by a fur-trimmed suit. Historians argue that bishops’ robes appeared in many different colours but the red one came to be linked to Father Christmas during the 19th century.
Neither the red colour nor the green, it is his paunch that Coca Cola can claim credit for. Saint Nicholas was drawn throughout history in various forms. But it was Coca Cola’s advertisements that created the image of the rotund, jolly, white-haired man we all are familiar with today.
Santa Claus needs no passports, visas, he even escapes Covid-19 curfews:
The Irish Parliament witnessed a sweet scene that may have assuaged the fears and anxiety of thousands of Irish children over the COVID-19 restrictions keeping Santa Claus from visiting them on Christmas eve. In November, Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on the floor of the nation’s parliament that self-quarantine rules will not apply to Jolly Old Saint Nick. The minister was seeking to allay any fears that might be fuelling anxiety in children who've had plenty to worry about this year.
"We have been working on the Santa Claus issue for a number of weeks… It's important to say to all children in the country that we regard Santa Claus' travels as essential travel for essential purposes, and therefore he is exempt from the need to self-quarantine for 14 days and should able to come in and out of Irish airspace, and indeed in and out of Irish homes, without having to restrict his movements."
The funny and impressive part is that minister Coveney said this convincingly, without so much as a twinkle in his eye. Merry Christmas to you.