Many of the audience I have has possibly been to Sunday School and sat on Santa’s lap at a shopping mall. How did we get here?
How did we get from “Away in the Manger” to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town?” To quote one of the greatest lyrics in any song, and one of my favorites “Meanwhile, I was thinking…”
One of the joys of retirement besides doing whatever you want, including showering, wearing sweats or gym trunks, and naps and poddy breaks in MY schedule, not BHS, is I have to the time to study and share my profound conclusions. I shall attempt to do so.
Christmas is celebrated on December 25th annually by over 2 billion Christians worldwide as the birth of Jesus. Naturally, it is celebrated somewhat differently in various countries and cultures. So how do we go from a baby being in a stable in Bethlehem to a jolly guy in a red suit flying around in a sleigh with aeronautic reindeer? What the festival? There are two thousand years of history and myth to consider.
Let me begin by stating I deeply respect your religious beliefs. I am simply sharing a little HISTORY, hopefully with humor.
There is no mention of the actual date of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels. It may or may not have been December 25th, and the year was 6-4 BC, connected historically with King Herod. In the Bible, the story appears in both the Gospel of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament, but these are not extensive readings. These were written between 80-90 AD.
St. Nicholas was a Greek bishop who lived in Turkey during the late third and early fourth century. He did have a big white beard. If the family has a turkey on a feast when you celebrate, there is that connection. Over the centuries, the reputation and stories of Christian saints evolved, and somehow, over time, his secret gift-giving gave rise to this.
December 25th became the date celebrated beginning in the fourth century. After the fall of Rome in 476, the Middle Ages followed which were a fascinating period of regression and isolation. Jump ahead to St. Francis in the 1220s. After visiting the Holy Land, not an easy journey during that time, he created the first Nativity scene in a town north of Rome. Pope Francis visited there in 2019. No, no Santa, not yet. Millions of children were deprived.
Father Christmas is perhaps the link between St. Nicholas and Santa Claus, first appearing in 16th-century England. He ties in with Henry VIII’s schism with the Roman Catholic Church. He wore green and scarlet. Throughout Europe diverse traditions developed. Kris Kringle comes from the German ‘Christ-child,’ and I confess I am no linguist.
The Dutch have a character Sinterklaas, and you can see how that can transform phonetically into Santa Claus. Washington Irving was most responsible for that merger with the name in 1809. In the 1820s Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem called A Visit From St. Nicholas, which you probably know as Twas the Night Before Christmas. Much of the folklore we still celebrate today came from that and in the 1840s Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, introducing Ebeneezer Scrooge, a character this childless curmudgeon can identify with. When you don’t have your own children, it is just not the same.
The image of Santa we know today was somewhat fashioned by a political cartoonist in the 1860s. For those of you whose brain isn’t filled with meaningless historical dates, this is the American Civil War years. Any kind of distraction was desired, and Thomas Nast introduced his version. A couple of illustrations reinforce the beard, round belly, and sack of presents.
The Christmas tree has its origins in the sixteenth century and there is an illustration of Martin Luther (1483-1546) near one. Candles were added, a brilliant idea to put fire near drying pine needles. Central Europe seems to be where the tradition took hold. The first White House Christmas tree was placed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889.
What did the 20th century bring to Christmas, commercialization what else? This spoiled only child never complained about this in his youth, thank you, family. We are living in a material world. Coca-Cola ads altered the image of Santa again in 1931 hoping to market its product to children. There are images of Santa with Camel and Chesterfield cigarettes. Watch out for ashes in your beard Santa.
The movies grabbed the image as early as 1898, The most famous Christmas film is Miracle on 34th Street, and there have been multitudes since. There were actually six, yes six, horror movies called Silent Night, Deadly Night, about a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus. For Film’s Sake.
As the aforementioned spoiled only child, I let my parents think I still believed in Santa into my thirties just to get stuff. Oh well. I began to have my doubts though courtesy of the street department (I presume) of my hometown of Michigan City, Indiana. In the late sixties or early seventies, we were driving over the Trail Creek bridge (the one that rises for boats), and turned right past the armory. Sitting there amongst other equipment was Santa’s house, the one I had sat in with the man himself in the past.
My little brain wondered why is it here? Why isn’t it in the North Pole? Is this thing real? I invented the “thinking face emoji” that day peering out the bank window of the family car. So…
Well, Virginia, there might be a Santa Claus.
Happy Holidays!!
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