Matthew J Cote

Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna (Izmir), hailing from present-day Turkey, is the basis for the Christian story of Saint Nick; living during the 4th century A.D, he was a very rich and generous man, who found joy in throwing surprise gifts into the windows of poor unfortunate children; eventually, The Orthodox Church hailed him as the patron saint of children and seafarers, while reserving the sixth of December for his name alone.

And that is the only actual person who could seriously be considered a real-life Santa Claus; but, it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch – does it? Anyway, thats the man, so what about the myth?

The mythological man is rooted in the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, and this creature found his way to America by way of 17th century settlers in New York. It wasn’t until Washington Irving (better known by his pseudonym, Diedrich Knickerbocker) that America learned more about the saint of gifts who rode on horseback every Eve of Saint Nicholas; and even then, this character would begin to resemble present-day American Santa Claus once a poem by Clement Clarke Moore was published in 1823; titled, A Visit From Saint Nicholas, or as it is more popularly known, The Night Before Christmas, this piece of literary fiction, detailed the reindeer names, the jubilant signature chuckle (Ho Ho Ho), and Saint Nicholas’ ability to fly up the chimney by touching his index finger to his nose. Even still, however, Saint Nick wasn’t quite finished traveling down the assembly line of time. From the 1860s on through to the 1880s, illustrator Thomas Nash was hard at work for Harper Magazine, adding the final touches to this mythical hero for their magazine cover; and once he finished, Santa Claus had become the rotund individual, who inhabited the North Pole, double checking a list that judged every child as fundamentally good or evil.

Thus you have Father Christmas: one part truth, and two parts fiction. And as for his trusty Rudolph, the ninth reindeer, the stories and songs are all just decadent leaves grown from the roots of commercialism, since the entire concept was invented by an advertising writer who worked for the Montgomery Ward Company back in 1939.

Crazy isn’t it?