Where does Santa come from? The North Pole, of course. But also from a 19th century print tradition that combines literary styling, historical myth, lively illustrations, and good old-fashioned American commercialism.
Santa Claus is an amalgamation of many sources, including Father Christmas from England, Kris Kringle from Germany, the Julenisse from Scandanavia, and Sint-Nikolaas (Saint Nicholas) from the Netherlands. Saint Nicholas, a 4th century bishop from modern-day Turkey, is the patron saint of children. In the Dutch tradition, he brings gifts and sweets to good boys and girls on the night of December 5th, Saint Nicholas’s Eve. The name Sint-Nikolaas was shortened to Sinterklaas, which we’ve Americanized into Santa Claus.
The Library has within the Rare Book and Special Collections Division roughly two dozen 19th century items that chart the arrival of Saint Nicholas here in the United States. Exploring a few of these Santa-related materials reveals the development of American Christmas folklore, many aspects of which remain familiar to our festive traditions today.
For example, The Book of Saint Nicholas, translated into English from Dutch and published in 1836, describes Saint Nick as “a right fat, jolly, roistering little fellow” who magically appears to the author and gives him a scroll of vellum containing his autobiography, “The Legend of Saint Nicholas.” In this book, Saint Nicholas waits until everyone is “fast asleep,” then “harnesses his pony, and loads his little wagon with a store of good things for well-behaved, diligent children.” He proceeds to “hurry through the streets, up one chimney and down another.” Saint Nick “rides like the wind, scarcely touching the ground; and this is the reason that he is never seen.”
A few decades earlier, Washington Irving’s A History of New York (1809, 1812) provides a satirical blend of myth and history. Published under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, this book narrates the history of New York City, featuring the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. In the expanded 1812 edition of this title, Knickerbocker’s depiction of Saint Nicholas includes elements familiar to readers today, such as the “ceremony of hanging up a stocking in the chimney on St. Nicholas Eve; which stocking is always found in the morning miraculously filled; for the good St. Nicholas has ever been a great giver of gifts, particularly to children.”
In Knickerbocker’s telling, Saint Nicholas leads the Dutch to settle New Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan. Appearing in a dream, “the good St. Nicholas came riding over the tops of the trees, in that self-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.” Within a great cloud of smoke from Saint Nicholas’s pipe, the Dutch settlers glimpse a vision of New York City’s future, with its “palaces and domes and lofty spires.” As this vision fades, Saint Nicholas departs with a gesture of “laying his finger beside his nose, then mounting his wagon, he returned over the treetops and disappeared.”
Knickerbocker’s depiction of Saint Nicholas flying his wagon through the air, smoking his pipe, and “laying his finger aside of his nose” likely influenced the famous Christmas poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (1823, 1837), also called “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Because this poem was originally published anonymously, its authorship is disputed between Clement Clarke Moore and Major Henry Livingston. The Library’s earliest printing of this festive poem is an 1842 broadside issued by John M. Wolff, a stationer in Philadelphia. An 1862 publication of the poem includes engraved illustrations by F.O.C. Darley.
In addition to shaping the traditional stories of Santa Claus that we continue to tell today, printed books have long been associated with Christmas gifting. In Elsie’s Santa Claus (1876), the Christmas spirit moves a group of children to take care of a young orphan girl. A kindly police officer distracts the girl while the other children shop for Christmas gifts to fill her stocking on behalf of Santa. “And, besides, I want her to have some books,” Elsie says. “No one ever heard of Christmas without books.”
Indeed, some books were specifically marketed as Christmas gifts. In the introduction to Saint Nicholas’s Book for All Good Boys and Girls (1842), the anonymous author shamelessly advertises this collection of stories (none of which are about Christmas or Santa Claus) as being directly commissioned by Santa himself, who
“loves to give the children nice little story books, such as will teach them to be good, and at the same time afford them a great deal of innocent amusement. In order to have one made exactly to his mind for the Christmas of this year, he applied to the author to make one, to be called ‘Saint Nicholas’s Book for All Good Boys and Girls.’ Here it is. Each of those children whom Saint Nicholas, or Kriss Kringle, most highly approves, will be sure to find a copy of this book, with all its stories and pictures, and its nice binding, safely deposited in his stocking at the chimney corner, on the morning of next Christmas.”
No pressure, folks!
Similarly, Santa Claus’ Primer for Good Children (1858) is simply a normal early reader’s primer with nothing particularly Christmas-y aside from the title and cover illustration. When mid-19th century industrial printing practices allowed for books to be produced more cheaply, a New York clothing store published Original Christmas Stories by Madge Elliot (1874) and distributed free copies “to the patrons of the boys’ department.” Clearly, the commercialization of Christmas is not a recent development. Then and now, Santa sells.
Perhaps the most dynamic 19th century depiction of Santa appears in J.G. Chandler’s 1858 chromolithograph Santa Claus Presents his Compliments to all the Little Folks. This animated Christmas card was designed as an innovative moveable toy with a string mechanism that pulls Santa down the chimney with a bounty of toys for good boys and girls. The highly detailed illustration includes a chessboard, dolls, a bugle, a toy gun, a rake, a toy sword, a drum, a tea set, and other wonderful treats for those lucky enough to be on Santa’s “Nice List.” However, he also brings a threatening handful of switches for children who’ve earned their way onto the “Naughty List.”
Chandler’s Santa also slides down the chimney with an American flag, putting us in a patriotic spirit appropriate for this year’s holiday season; in addition to knowing who’s naughty and nice, this Santa seems to know that the New Year will herald celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding.
Happy Holidays from your friends in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division!
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Comments
Hi, I am German and was highly astonished to read the words “Kris Kringle from Germany”. I never heard about this person in the time of christmas. It needed some searching to understand that Americans changed the bavarian “Christkindle”, which means the child Jesus (in pictures a small child), to this person.
With greetings from Christkind to Kris Kringle
Barbara