By Jeffrey V. Moy, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center
Famed Morristown illustrator Thomas Nast first drew Santa Claus as we know him today, dressed in red with a jolly disposition and large stature, headquartered in the North Pole with a workshop of dedicated elves, and delivering gifts on Christmas Eve in his reindeer-drawn sleigh.
However, earlier 19th century depictions of Santa showed a slightly different version of the jolly old elf.
An early narrative on the day-to-day life and habits of Saint Nick first appeared in an 1857 edition of Harper’s Weekly, and it includes details of “his astonishing castle, his beautiful gifts for all good children, and his real name.”
Among the items made by the many elves working away in Santa Claus’ home atop a hill are “cakes, sugar-plums, and toys to fill the stockings, hung up you know, by the little girls and boys.”
Among the toys being built in 1857 were “wagons and dolls, whistles, birds, and elephants most rare; wild monkeys drest [sic] like little men, and dogs that could almost bark, watches that if had wheels, might beat the old clock in the park.”
Also, “army men, fire engines, fiddles, trumpets, horses with riders, drums, pianos, steam boats, and jewelry.”
However, children who tried to spy upon the workshop’s activities were quickly disappointed as the alert elves stopped production “and just as you may think you are there, they are off in a frosty mist… But once upon a time a cunning boy saw this sign upon the gate, ‘Nobody can ever enter here who lies a-bed too late: Let all who expect a good stocking full, Not spend too much time in play; keep book and work all the while in mind, And be up by the peep of day.’”
The story continues: “Believe you are guessing who he is, and the country where he came. Why, he was born in Germany, and Saint Nicholas is his name…”
But wait, a German home address? What of Santa’s famous North Pole headquarters, not to mention his origins in Scandinavian, English, and the Middle Eastern traditions?
In acknowledging St. Nick’s German ancestry, the author points to larger cultural shifts occurring in the mid-1800s, as massive waves of German immigration introduced religious, social, and cultural norms to the fabric of everyday life like nothing the United States had experienced before.
As with the introduction of the Christmas tree and town lighting ceremonies during the 1850s, German customs influenced other aspects of American culture.
These included an increased emphasis on taking the Sabbath as a day of recreation in addition to prayer, the importance of alcohol in social gatherings, and the practice of maintaining old world customs and languages within families over several generations.
Newly emerging technologies also affected various details of this pre-Nast tale: The reliance on sea and air travel to deliver countless presents by Christmas day.
The story continues: “December’s four and twentieth day through its course was almost run, his goods were packed in a great balloon, near by [sic] were his house and sleigh; he had his skates upon his feet and a ship getting weigh. For he was to travel by sea and land, and sometimes through the air, and then to skim the rivers smooth, when the ice his weight would bear.”
St. Nick’s flight path took him from Amsterdam to France, and then from Ireland to America, “when all were good and went to church, and heeded what they heard, and children never learned to speak a bad or saucy word… With plenty smiling every where [sic], like Christmas, every day, content and love at every hearth, O what rare times were they!”
Unlike later depictions of Santa retreating by flying sleigh to the North pole after a long night spent traveling the globe, in 1857 he was busy working off some of those holiday calories with a little exercise: “But long before all this was said, the stockings were all filled, and Santa-Claus was skating home, with his nose a little chilled.”
Sources:
- Harper’s Weekly. North Jersey History & Genealogy Center Collections
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