The Story of Santa Claus

From 4th Century Bishop to modern day Lapland legend, the history of Santa Claus is hundreds of years old. We take a look at where it all started and how the story has evolved.

It began around the year 300 in Myra, an ancient town part of the Roman Empire, where Agios Nikolaos ("victory of the people") made a name for himself with his continuous charitable activities. The long-bearded bishop was a devoted Christian and following his death, it was his act of secretly dropping gifts through needy children's windows that he remained remembered for. The legend would carry itself to Britain with the Romans, where the translation of Agios Nikolaos would become Saint Nicholas. From here, it would move across Europe where the Dutch translation, Sint Nikolaas, would be abbreviated to Sinterklass. Upon the immigration of Europeans to New York in the 17th Century, the Dutch would move the legend across where mispronunciations of Sinterklaas finally gave birth to the name Santa Claus.

An interesting fact that most people aren't aware of is that Father Christmas was a different legend altogether, which merged with the legend of Santa Claus around the same time the name was born. "Old Christmas" was a term coined by Christians as a way of resisting criticism to celebrating Christmas with a feast, in the early 17th Century. They represented this voice with a bearded, jolly figure as allegory was a big feature of the times. Old Christmas would become Sir Christmas and then Lord Christmas before finally evolving to Father Christmas, perhaps at some point colliding with the "Kyng of Crestmesse" John Gladman, who was famous for riding into town and protesting. With the similarities between the two, this is how the gift-giving Saint Nicholas became the front character for Christmas celebrations.

From here on in, Santa Claus began to snowball into modern culture. He would appear in publicised poetry and in magazine pictures throughout the 19th Century, solidifying his look as a round, jolly man with a white beard and red robes. In an 1823 poem, 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', Santa was first depicted with flying reindeer, giving him a more magical, mythological entity. The major break-through for cementing Santa Claus was the use of the character in advertising. While they weren't the first to begin using Santa in advertising with his renowed red and white clothing, it was Coca-Cola's massive campaigns (left) that solidified their modern use, even to the point where some people believed Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus!

Santa gained a wife in 1889, following Katherine Lee Bates' poem 'Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride' in which Mrs. Claus first appeared. It was this that began to give Santa a more family-orientated image and soon he would need a home. With Christmas being during the winter, snow was a common association, so it was fitting for Santa to be based in the North Pole. However, after discovering reindeer cannot graze in the North Pole, Santa's home was finalised as Lapland by American newspapers.

Today, Santa remains different all over the world, where his evolution and growth have mixed with all sorts of different legends and events. But, whether it's the Swiss Samichlaus with his Schmutzli helpers from the Black Forest, or Luxembourg's Kleeschen who comes from Heaven, the figure will always remain the face of good spirit and celebration.