 The American version of the Santa Claus figure
received its inspiration and its name
from the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas (a Dutch variant of the name Saint Nicholas).
Dutch colonists took this tradition with them to New Amsterdam
(now New York City) in the American colonies in the 17th
century.
As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as "St. A Claus," but it was the
popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first
detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In
his History of New York, published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving
described the arrival of the saint on horseback each Eve of Saint
Nicholas.
This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized
form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas more commonly
known as "The Night Before Christmas" by writer Clement Clarke
Moore. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer;
Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and
nods.
The American image of Santa Claus was further elaborated by
illustrator Thomas Nast, who depicted a
rotund Santa for Christmas issues of
Harper's magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s. Nast added such
details as Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's list of
the good and bad children of the world. In the first Nast
illustration, Santa was delivering Christmas gifts to soldiers
fighting in the Civil War. The cartoon, entitled "Santa Claus in
Camp" appeared in Harper's Weekly on January 3, 1863.
A
human-sized version of Santa Claus, rather than the elf of Moore's poem, was depicted in a series
of illustrations created by Haddom Sundblom for Coca-Cola
advertisements introduced in 1931. In modern versions of the Santa
Claus legend, only his toyshop workers
are elves.
An advertising writer named Robert May, invented Rudolph, the
ninth reindeer, with a red and shiny nose, while working on a
catalog for the Montgomery Ward Company in 1939.
In looking for the historical roots, one discovers that Santa
Claus, as we know him, is a combination of many different legends
and mythical creatures.
The basis for the Christian-era Santa Claus is Bishop Nicholas of
Smyrna (Izmir), in what is now Turkey. Nicholas lived in the 4th
century A.D. He was very rich, generous, and loving toward children.
Often he gave joy to poor children by throwing gifts in through
their windows.
The Orthodox Church later raised St.
Nicholas, miracle worker, to a position of great esteem. It was in
his honor that Russia's oldest church, for example, was built. For
its part, the Roman Catholic Church honored Nicholas as one who
helped children and the poor. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of children and seafarers. His name
day is December 6th.
In the Protestant areas of central
and northern Germany, St. Nicholas later became known as der
Weinachtsmann. In England he came to be called Father Christmas. St.
Nicholas made his way to the United States with Dutch immigrants,
and began to be referred to as Santa Claus.
In North American poetry and illustrations, Santa Claus, in his white
beard, red jacket and pompom-topped cap, would sally forth on the night before Christmas in
his sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer, and climb down chimneys to
leave his gifts in stockings children set out on the fireplace's
mantelpiece.
Children naturally wanted to know where Santa Claus actually came
from. Where did he live when he wasn't delivering presents? Those
questions gave rise to the legend that Santa Claus lived at the
North Pole, where his Christmas-gift workshop was also located.
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note:
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inspiration: 靈感
press: 新聞
pseudonym: 筆名
wink: 眨眼
depict: 描寫
rotund: 胖乎乎的
elf: 侏儒
toyshop: 玩具店
mythical creatures: 神話人物
Orthodox Church: 東正教
patron saint: 守護(hù)神
seafarer: 航海家
name day: 命名日
（以其名字命名的圣徒的節(jié)日）
Protestant: 新教徒
illustration: 插圖
sally forth: 出發(fā)
mantelpiece: 壁爐架
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