12/19/2007

Santa Claus is as American as Hot Dogs and Baseball
By Bob Lassahn

The holiday season turns the thoughts of youngsters to a visit by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and lots of presents under the tree on Christmas morning. They carefully write their letters (addressed to the North Pole address that has become synonymous with Santa) to make their special requests, while many drop by the mall for a personal visit and perhaps a photograph with the white whiskered and red suited figure all children instantly recognize.

But in his earlier incarnations today's children might experience difficulty in recognizing the jolly gift-giver, for his appearance is now quite different. The image of Santa Claus familiar to current generations around the world actually dates to the 1930s and is as American as hot dogs and baseball. Santa has become as much an American icon as Uncle Sam.

No, the concept of Santa Claus and his spirit of generosity are not things Americans can claim as their own. It is widely accepted that Santa is the modern day persona of a real person, St. Nicholas, who lived about A.D. 300 in the area we know today as Turkey. Eventually St. Nicholas was changed based upon local preferences and custom, becoming Pere Noel in France, Father Christmas in England, Weihnactsmann (Christmas Man) in Germany and Grandfather Frost in Russia. To the Dutch he was Sinterklaas, the name that gave the basis for the American name of Santa Claus. In 1809 Washington Irving wrote about Sinterklaas in his "History of New York," describing him as a rotund little man who traveled on horseback and dressing him in traditional Dutch costume with knee britches and a broad-brimmed hat. These early  Santas came dressed in many styles and colors, but all shared a long white beard and carried gifts for children.

The American Santa of today had his beginnings in 1823 with Clement C. Moore's poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas"  ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) in which he was described as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf." Moore also described Santa's mode of transport as a miniature sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer and he gave them the names by which we know them today.  He even gave us the method that Santa uses to return up the chimney.

Forty years later American illustrator and caricaturist Thomas Nast began creating images of Santa for the cover of "Harper's Weekly" magazine. Nast may be familiar to many as the man who created the donkey and elephant images to depict the Democratic and Republican parties and who gave us the familiar image of Uncle Sam.

From 1860 until the late 1880s Nast provided a new drawing of Santa each year, adding more details to his version of the Santa legend, including the workshop at the North Pole and the "Naughty and Nice" list. Nast depicted Santa as a plump, jolly character with a long white beard dressed in a fur-trimmed suit with a wide leather belt, but he never settled on one size for his Santa figures.  His drawings had Santa ranging in size from elf-like to normal man-sized. His 1881 "Merry Old Santa Claus" drawing is very close to the modern day image.

During the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln requested that Nast create a special illustration showing Santa visiting Union troops. Many historians relate that this was one of the most demoralizing moments for the Confederate army in seeing Santa side with the North.

In 1885 Nast sketched two children looking at a map and tracing Santa's journey from the North pole to the United States, and the following year American writer George P. Webster expanded on the idea. Webster explained that Santa's toy factory and his house were hidden in the ice and snow of the North Pole.

By the late 19th century Santa was becoming somewhat standardized, but his size (both height and build) and the color of his suit still varied. Then Louis Prang, a Boston printer, introduced the English custom of Christmas cards to America and in 1885 issued a card featuring a chubby Santa in a red suit. This version began to replace the multicolored renderings and by the 1920s was becoming the version of Santa we know today. The New York Times reported in November 1927 that a Santa Claus standardized in height, stature and outfit was appearing to children.

In the early 1930s the Coca-Cola Company was looking for ways to increase the sales of their product during the winter, a slow time for soft drink sales. In 1931 they commissioned Chicago illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop the image of a human-like Santa Claus. The decision to change him from elf-like to full sized was based on positive public response to a magazine advertisement for Coca-Cola that appeared in 1930. The ad, created by artist Frank Mizen, showed a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke.

For inspiration in creating his Santa Claus, Sundblom used Clement C. Moore's 1823 poem and obviously drew upon the earlier depiction by Nast and others. Since some of the earlier drawings depicted Santa with a red outfit it cannot not be inferred the sole reason for Sundblom decking his image in the red and white suit was promotion of Coca-Cola's company colors, but Coke certainly benefited from the association between red and Coke and Santa. It is interesting to think about the effect a change in color might have had, for Sundblom's Santa portraits, used in magazine advertising and posters, set the Santa Claus standard for the next 35 years.

Not to be denied as an influence on the image of Santa is the department store variety (actually the prototype for the Coke Santa) and Hollywood definitely factors into the equation. These two influences came together in the 1947 classic motion picture "Miracle on 34th Street" and since then numerous films have further implanted the image of Santa in American society.  Coca-Cola, Hollywood and old-fashioned American capitalism have certainly exercised a pervasive influence on the way Americans and the world think of Santa.

In claiming Santa as an American icon it should be mentioned that just as America is a composite of all the nationalities that have come to her shores, so too Santa Claus embodies the Christmas traditions of all the various cultures that make up this nation. He is just a little bit English, French, Dutch, German and so many other cultures, further molded by the imagination of American writers and illustrators. What makes Santa truly American is the diversity of the people that have contributed to his image and his character.

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