Triza Wanjiku, plays with an electronic father Christmas mascot, at Khetia’s Supermarket in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NMG
Christmas, the season of goodwill to all men, is here with us again.
Although Christmas is a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus, it is the stuff of legend, holiday travel, and is one of the busiest shopping seasons in the year.
One of the enduring symbols of the Christmas season, especially amongst children, is Santa Claus or Father Christmas, that endearing figure who brings gifts during Christmas.
Santa Claus, otherwise known as Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle, has a long history steeped in Christmas traditions.
In modern times, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red who brings toys and gifts to good boys and girls on Christmas Eve, but his story stretches back to the 3rd century when Saint Nicholas walked the earth and became the patron saint of children.
It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around A.D. 280 in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey.
Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends.
He is said to have given away all his inherited wealth, travelling the countryside to help the poor and sick.
One of the best-known stories is the time he saved three sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married.
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Over many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread, and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.
His feast day was celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or get married.
By the time of the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe.
Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas retained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.
St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century.
In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to celebrate the anniversary of his death.
The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Claus, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas).
In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting.
The background of the engraving contained now-familiar images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace.
Gift-giving, mainly centred around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday’s rejuvenation in the early 19th century.
Real Santa Claus carrying a big bag full of gifts, isolated on white background. PHOTO | POOL
Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly popular Santa Claus.
In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” more popularly known as “Twas The Night Before Christmas.”
Moore’s poem is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve in a miniature sleigh pulled by 8 flying reindeer to leave presents to deserving children at the bottom of chimneys.
Before 1931, there were many different depictions of Santa Claus around the world, including a tall gaunt man and an elf, some even featuring Santa Claus in a rather frightening image.
Seeing the immense commercial benefit of the Christmas Season, Coca-Cola commissioned illustrator Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa for their Christmas advertisements in 1931.
Those paintings established Santa as a warm, happy character with human features, including rosy cheeks, a white beard, twinkling eyes, and laughter lines.
