Know the story: The origin of Santa Claus

No Christmas is complete without Santa Claus, the jolly old man who travels all the way from the North Pole once a year to deliver gifts around the globe.

But, does anyone really know where the legend of good ol’ Santa Claus comes from?

His story can be traced to a monk named Saint Nicholas, who was born around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern day Turkey.

According to legend, he was known for his generous nature and kindness, with several legends being linked to him. One story states that he gave away his wealth, which he inherited from his parents, so he could travel the countryside to help the poor and sick.

Another story holds he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery by their father, through supplying them a dowry in order to get married.

His popularity spread and was soon known as the protector of children and sailors and by the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe, especially in Holland.

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister from America, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.

Although he was initially hesitant to publish the poem due to its flippant nature, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a portly figure and his supernatural ability to go down chimneys.

Although some of Moore’s imagery was most likely borrowed from other sources, his poem helped popularise the all too familiar image of Santa flying from house to house in a sleigh to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls on Christmas Eve.

In 1881, a political cartoonist by the name of Thomas Nast drew the first likeness which matches our image of Santa Clause with a cartoon which appeared in Harper’s Weekly.

Mr Nast’s cartoon depicted Santa as a stout, jovial man with a full, white beard, holding a sack of toys for children.

He also gave Santa his bright red suit, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

Over the years, his popularity grew to such an extent that by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus.

The name Santa Claus comes from the Saint’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Saint Nicholas in Dutch).

Taking advantage of his popularity, Philadelphia store then offered children the opportunity to see a life-size Santa Claus model, which opened the doors for other stores attracting children and parents the chance of seeing a live Santa Claus.

Santa Claus is still a popular fixture in shopping malls during the festive season.

Through one man’s generosity, he soon became the very image of Christmas and can be seen everywhere during the December month.