Born around 270 A.D., Nicholas became Bishop of Myra at the young age of about thirty. Known for his generosity to those in need and his faith and devotion to God, Nicholas is the patron saint for numerous people and things, most notably children, ships/sailors, and the wrongfully condemned and imprisoned. Nicholas even went to the Council at Nicaea and later to see Constantine about lowering that taxes in Myra. He taught the Gospel simply so all could understand and pursued justice with vigor. His tomb became a pilgrimage sight for several hundred years.
Saint Nicholas and his feast day of December 6th were not immediately known or popular in the "New World" because the first colonists, mostly Puritans, rejected the idea of sainthood. But the Spanish, Germans, and mainly the Dutch brought over traditions surrounding Saint Nicholas, such as gift giving, which French nuns had begun as early as the 1100s.
Saint Nicholas's image really started to change after the American Revolution with the formation of the New York Historical Society in 1804 by John Pintard and the writing of Knickerbocker's History of New York by Washington Irving in 1809. Irving, a member of the Society, published this satirical fiction that referenced a jolly St. Nicholas many times. Irving transformed a Bishop figure in and "elfin Dutch burgher with a clay pipe" (St. Nicholas Center). The Society hosted its first St. Nicholas anniversary dinner on December 6, 1810 and displayed the first American image of St. Nicholas, created by Alexander Anderson.
The New York elite also wanted to domesticate what had become a raucous, drunken public spectacle over the years. In 1823, Clement Clark Moore (although there is an argument that Henry Livingston first penned it) wrote and published "A Visit from St. Nicholas," or more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas." This poem boosted the image of St. Nicholas as a jolly elf figure and became a "defining American holiday classic" (St. Nicholas Center). Other various artists, like political cartoonist Thomas Nast, contributed to the image of St. Nicholas as the red-suited, rotund, jolly elf. Not only did St. Nicholas's image change, his name did as well. Santa Claus grew out of the "natural phonetic alteration from the German Sankt Niklaus" (St. Nicholas Center).
The Church also began to celebrate Christmas as they learned that Santa and a Christmas tree greatly improved attendance. The push for Christians to embrace Christmas also came from German immigrants, Washington Irving, Clement Clark Moore, Charles Dickens, and the Oxford Movement in the Anglican church. Carol singing also became popular.
Haddon Sundblom further cemented the image of Santa Claus when, in 1931, he began 35 years of designing Coca-Cola advertisements that featured Santa, whose aim was to convince consumers that Coke was a solution to "a thirst of all seasons." The use of the Santa Claus image in advertising firmly placed St. Nicholas and ultimately Christmas in the realm of consumerism.
Santa Claus exists today as a mixed symbol. While perhaps originally suggesting generosity and kindness, he also tends to represent the over consumption that characterizes American society.
From Bishop to jolly elf, Saint Nicholas has undergone quite a journey.
Sources:
http://www.stnicholascenter.org
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/santa/cocacola.asp
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/1997/12/santa_claus.html
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