When you think
about iconic holiday characters,
the first that comes to mind is probably Santa Claus.
The jolly old man known for his generosity
and cheery demeanor dominates the media
during the holiday season,
appearing in everything from movies...
"Santa's coming to town."
"Santa, oh my god."
...to advertisements.
"Is it cold in Santa Fe, Raleigh, Cleveland tonight?"
And it's easy to see why.
Santa sells.
And we trust what he's selling.
But the real-life Santa Claus doesn't quite resemble
the brand influencer of today.
He was a poor monk in modest robes,
known for his religious zeal and praised
for his magnificent miracles.
So how did he evolve so drastically?
It's all thanks to a handful of rich New Yorkers
and two short poems.
The tale of St. Nicholas is one that has spread
across continents and cultures since the beginning
of the third century.
Since his story was passed through oral tradition,
it's often impossible to separate fact from fiction
when it comes to his actual legacy.
It is said that he began his life as a Christian monk
on the Mediterranean coast of Patara,
in what is now known as Turkey.
From early on, he gave up everything he had
and traveled the countryside helping the sick and poor.
He was notorious for his religious zeal
and his fervent defense of the church
during a time when Christians were heavily persecuted
for their beliefs.
But he is also credited with a number
of fantastical miracles.
In one story, he gave a poor father bags of gold
to pay for his three daughters' wedding dowries
to prevent them from turning to prostitution.
And in another story, he revived three children
who were murdered by a butcher
and hidden in pickling barrels.
These terrific feats concerning his generosity
and his care for children are what made St. Nicholas popular
among the common people.
And when he died, he became a beloved saint
and was given a holiday to celebrate his benevolence.
As his fame spread across Europe,
his tale was mixed with local folktales
of flying chariots and elves.
In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas was rumored
to have left chocolate treats or small gifts
in the shoes of good children and coal or a bag of salt
in the shoes of bad children.
He was described as a big man wearing red clerical clothing
with white hair and a long white beard to match.
The Dutch called him "Sinter Klaas,"
which was a play on the Dutch name, "Sint Nikolaas."
At the time, St. Nicholas Day was a holiday
completely unrelated to Christmas.
In fact, Christmas itself began as a celebration
of the winter solstice, commemorating the end
of the darkest days of winter
and welcoming the return of extended sunlight.
Nordic cultures celebrated Yule from December 21st
to the start of January.
The Germans celebrated the pagan god Odin.
And the Romans celebrated Saturnalia in honor
of the god of agriculture, Saturn.
The common thread throughout winter solstice celebrations
is that they were meant to be for everyone.
So they were often raucous parties fueled by alcohol.
But while Christianity was still a growing movement,
church leaders sought to make the birth of Jesus
a holiday as well.
They chose December 25th for the celebration
in the hopes of piggybacking on existing
winter solstice parties.
And it worked.
As Christianity spread, so did celebrations of Christmas.
But because of their close association
with the winter solstice,
Christmas parties also became loud, unruly events.
(fire roaring)
Fast-forward to 19th-century America.
The European colonists of modern-day New York
brought both St. Nicholas Day and Christmas with them.
But not everything was pleasant in the New World.
Christmas was still a rowdy, drunken street mess.
And rampant economic problems,
which led to massive class disparity,
just added fuel to the fire.
The jaded lower classes who couldn't find work
would riot during wintertime.
Eventually, these protests grew so violent
that a police task force was formed to handle dissenters.
These riots, paired with alcohol-fueled
Christmas celebrations, were distasteful
to New York's very proper upper crust.
So this spurred them to make a change.
They decided to bring the Christmas holiday
inside the house and make the focus family and children.
And what better way to rebrand a holiday
than to give it a face?
And what better face for a family holiday
than the face of a saint?
The first problem was that St. Nicholas was not quite
as popular in America as he had been in Europe.
At least not until the efforts
of some of high-society gentlemen,
Pintard was the founder of the New York Historical Society
and St. Nicholas's biggest advocate,
and he pushed to make St. Nick the society's patron saint.
At the same time, the American author Washington Irving
joined Pintard's society and wrote
"Knickerbocker's History of New York,"
a somewhat satirical, yet also historical,
account of New York's beginnings,
where he described St. Nicholas as an "ever-revered"
presence who guided early Dutch settlers
to colonize New York.
Together, Pintard and Irving helped familiarize
the American people with the persona of St. Nicholas.
So, the next step was to reframe him
as the face of Christmas.
In 1821, an illustrated poem titled "The Children's Friend"
described a character known as "Santeclaus,"
an obvious play on the Dutch name "Sinterklaas."
Santeclaus was shown visiting people's homes
during the night on a flying sled
pulled by a single reindeer.
And much like in the old Dutch legends,
he bestowed small gifts to good children
and punishments to naughty children.
But what stood out about this story
was that Santeclaus didn't visit families on December 6th,
but rather on Christmas Eve.
The following year, an American scholar
named Clement Clarke Moore piggybacked on this idea
when he wrote the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
But you might be more familiar
with the poem's alternate title,
"The Night Before Christmas."
In this poem, Moore played with a slightly different picture
of good ol' St. Nick.
Rather than being pulled by a single reindeer,
he was guided by eight.
And rather than a thin man in clerical robes,
he became a jolly, big-bellied man in a fur suit.
The stories went viral.
St. Nicholas became the main character
of the Christmas season.
Sixty years later, political cartoonist Thomas Nast
was inspired by these poems and designed the image
of St. Nicholas that's pervasive even today.
Now we see Santa everywhere.
On the street, at the mall,
and even on our television screens at home.
He's become a fundamental part of the holiday season.
But now he's evolved to be more
than just the mascot of Christmas.
Since the '30s, Santa's been a brand influencer used
to help market products during the holidays.
And ironically, the traits
that help Santa sell products today
are the same ones that tied him to Christmas
in the first place.
The jolly old man is genuine and giving,
so when we see him, we trust him almost without question.
He makes us nostalgic for childhood and helps us remember
the best aspects of life,
creating an easily exploitable vulnerability
in his audience.
Santa sells,
and we trust what he's selling.
But despite this drastic evolution from benevolent monk
to corporate shill and the perhaps not-so-great intentions
that spurred the change, one thing remains true:
No matter how Santa changes,
he will always exist in our hearts
and in our media.