THE JOLLY MAN IN RED: A VISUAL HISTORY OF SANTA CLAUS

Merry Christmas! Wishing everyone a very wonderful holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

I grew up listening to tales of Santa Claus—the miraculous one-night around-the-world gift-giving trip, the home-made cookies and milk near the fireplace, and the grand chimney entrance—so let’s take a look at a visual history of Santa Claus.

National Geographic

Santa Claus was not the rosy-cheeked, red-coated, jolly old man I knew as a child. The persona Santa Claus originated from the Greek monk and bishop Saint Nicholas. Born around 270 AD in the Roman Empire, he was admired for his kindness and generosity towards children, which associates with the gift-giving quality of Santa Claus. One tale particularly brings the connection forth: it was said that during the Middle Ages, Saint Nicholas gave an impoverished father of three daughters three bags of gold as dowry for them to marry and escape a life of prostitution.

Icon with Saint Nicholas, tempera on panel, Campion Hall, University of Oxford

Saint Nicholas’ good heart was admired so much that he continues to be celebrated after his death on December 6th every year. Even during the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints were shunned, he continued to be a popular gift-bringing icon along with other emerging figures like the German Krampus.

left: Saint Nicholas, right: Krampus

Although Santa Claus’ gift-bringing quality is rooted in Saint Nicholas. They do not look alike at all. Saint Nicholas did not have rosy cheeks, nor did he wear a red furry coat, not even to mention his sleigh-ride of reindeers.

Digital Reconstruction of Saint Nicholas, Caroline Wilkinson and other digital artists, 2014, see BBC Documentary The Real Face of Santa and St. Nicholas Centre

The disparity between the contemporary Santa Claus and the middle-age Saint Nicholas began to diminish when Dutch sailors arrived at the New World. The name Santa Claus evolved from the Dutch nickname Sinter Klaas for Saint Nicholas. Then, in 1820, an illustrated magazine “The Children’s Friend”, Santeclaus was portrayed as a bearded man riding on a gift-loaded sleigh dragged by a single reindeer, much more like the modern image of Santa Claus.

Illustration of Santa Claus from “The Children’s Friend”, 1821

In 1880, the political cartoonist Thomas Naast created the red-coated, plump Santa Claus familiar to children.

Merry old Santa Claus, Thomas Nast, 1880s

In 1940, Haddon Sundblom painted an advertisement for Coca-Cola, portraying Santa Claus as the amiable, grand-fathery figure we know today.

Somebody Knew I Was Coming…, Haddon Sundblom, 1940, Coca-Cola advertisement

From the tempera paintings of Saint Nicholas to the modern day images of the jolly old man, Santa Claus has evolved from a religious figure to a fairy-tale character who children around the world wait for in wintry nights. In this snowy season, wishing everyone love, health, and happiness in the coming year.