Do You Know The Meaning Behind Santa Claus?

Warning! Spoilers ahead.

Children across the country are getting excited for Christmas with many of them writing and sending their lists to Santa Claus in preparation for the big day. Whether you embrace the religious meaning of the day or not, you cannot deny the attraction of the big man bringing presents to all the nice boys and girls on his list.

However, we may not have a real understanding of where the concept of Santa Claus actually came from. There are claims that he originated from the Dutch back in the 1600s. Sinterklaas was a gentleman who dressed in a red bishop’s miter and had a long, white beard. A folklore story, Sinterklaas was based on the 3rd century Greek St. Nicholas who had been living in modern day Turkey.

Although St. Nick was a bishop it was believed he was also a bit naughty. When archaeologist found his bones back in 2005 they discovered he had been buried with a broken nose. Theories are that it could have been caused by Christian-on-Christian violence as there were many who were constantly persecuted by Christians during his era. Many rumors have circled around the story of St. Nick, including him being demoted from his bishop status following possible fighting.

Fortunately for children, St. Nicholas was also well known for protecting children and passing out gifts. There are a few stories to back this up including the tale of a pauper who had three daughters and was unable to offer a dowry – money brought by the bride to her husband when they wed – and he was concerned they would all become prostitutes. Once Nicholas had heard the story he placed three bags of gold through his window, therefore saving the women from a life of prostitution.

It was these good deeds that helped make Nicholas one of the greatest male saints of the Middle Ages, with many churches, Christian groups and places listing St. Nick as their patron. December 6, or St. Nick’s feast day, was celebrated as the day he died for centuries across Europe, with many giving children gifts in his memory.

However during the 1500s many Christian saints were denounced as idolatrous and unbiblical by the Protestant Reformation. It was also around this time that Christmas disappeared for many living in Protestant Europe. Jump forward to the early 1800s and New York City. Each December 25th, working-class individuals would go out for drinks, often getting so drunk they would head into cities to loot what they could. Kind of like spring break, New Year’s Eve and Black Friday all rolled into one!

This was soon to stop thanks to a collection of New Yorkers who felt this was not appropriate behavior.

Professor of History at the University of Manitoba in Canada and author of ‘Santa Claus: A History’ Gerry Bowler explains, “They wanted to domesticate Christmas, bring it indoors, and focus it on children.”

Taking aspects of traditional stories, the Saint Nicholas Society decided the best way to stop the city being overrun with drunks was to appoint a family friendly ‘mascot’ to their campaign. By utilizing the story of St. Nick with the look of Sinterklass they made Christmas an occasion focusing on being nice to children rather than a day when you went out drinking. However, the general public needed a story behind the campaign so Washington Irving, an American author of the time, created some drawings of Sinterklaas and placed a pipe-smoking man high in the sky above New York delivering gifts to all the children who had been good that year.

It was not until 1821 that an anonymous poem – The Children’s Friend – that ‘Santeclaus’ made his first appearance. With reindeer pulling his sleigh across the sky, delivering ‘rewards’ to all the well-behaved children’s stockings, the magic of Christmas started to appear. With this poem in mind, Episcopalian scholar Clement Clarke Moore wrote another poem called ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas,’ more commonly known as ‘The Night Before Christmas.’

Although a seminary professor, Moore removed all religious aspects to St. Nick, made his red tunic a fur suit, placing him on the roof and slipping down chimneys to make sure all the good children got their gifts. It was not long before Moore’s story spread across the northeastern states of America, and by the early 1900s, “Santa” became known as the beloved white-bearded man, dressed in his red suit with a sparkle in his eye. And it is not just us who liked it.

Bowler acknowledges that retailers saw the opportunity to expand on the idea of Santa saying, “they immediately saw the possibility that this personification could be useful in their selling.” With St. Nick/Sinterklaas/Santeclaus/Kris Kringle or just Santa Claus making Christmas what it is today, full of fun, magic, gifts and cheer, you better make sure you are on the nice list so you do not miss out.