KC Newsletter Did You Know Column

Who is Sante Claus?
St. Nicholas, the origin of our Santa Claus, is believed to have been born in 280 in what is present-day Turkey. He was a bishop known as a protector of children and sailors. He died on Dec. 6, 343 and is entombed in the port city of Bari, Italy. By the 1500s he was regarded as the most popular saint in Europe.
The Vikings set up a cathedral to him in Greenland. On Dec. 6, 1492, Columbus founded St. Nickolas, a port in Haiti.
The Netherlands celebrated him as Sinterklaas, and Dutch settlers brought his tradition to New York. The Sons of St. Nicholas was set up in New York City in 1773 as a counterpoint to the British societies Sons of St. George. Then in 1804 the New York Historical Society distributed images showing him in a blue tricorn hat, red coat and yellow stockings. Five years later, author Washington Irving wrote about him as the patron saint of NYC.
In 1821 a “Children’s Friend” was the first illustrated book in the U.S. to depict Sante Claus (their spelling) in a sleigh with flying reindeer. This was also the first time he was shown coming on Christmas Eve instead of Dec. 6. The next year, the book’s publisher friend and neighbor, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” for his children.
In 1841 a Philadelphia store featured Santa Claus in a Christmas ad. Forty years later Thomas Nast, drew a Santa cartoon, with Mrs. Claus, elves and their North Pole workshop for “Harper’s Weekly.” By the 1890s the Salvation Army had introduced a Santa ringing a bell to collect for the poor.
Different countries use different names for parts of the Santa story. In Belgium Sinterklaas arrives by Dec. 6 on a boat, accompanied by his assistant Zwarte Pieten. (There were protests this year over the “Black Peter” image.) In Germany and Switzerland Christkind/Kris Kringle is the Christ child who brings gifts, often with Sinterklaas. France has Pere Noel and in England, Father Christmas. Scandinavian countries have a Jultomton, a goat pulling a sleigh. In Italy, La Befana, a good witch, puts gifts in stockings. And in Russia, Babouschka leaves gifts on Jan. 5, as atonement for misdirecting the Magi so Baby Jesus received nothing; her hope is that one stocking she fills will be for Christ.
And now you know!
ACH