STORY:
Where Santa Comes From Part 2

The All-American Santa - How Santa became a rotund bearded man dressed in a red suit

The European origins of Santa Claus, begin with the real-life St. Nicholas and ending in the 1600s when Dutch immigrants brought the tradition of "Sinterklass" to the New World at the colony of New Amsterdam, now New York. Washington Irving, the author of "Tales from Sleepy Hollow," wrote about Sinterklass in his 1809 book "A History of New York." Irving described Sinterklaas as a rotund little man in a typical Dutch costume, with knee breeches and a broad-brimmed hat, who traveled on horseback on the Eve of Saint Nicholas (Dec. 6).

But, like so many other immigrants, Santa adopted a new look and a new lifestyle after he showed up on our shores. Clement Clark Moore, a poet and professor of theology, established the basis of the American Santa in his 1822 poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas"). Moore's Santa is a "jolly old elf" who flies around in "a miniature sleigh with eight tiny reindeer"--Dasher, Dancer, and the rest--on Christmas Eve.

Thomas Nast, the political cartoonist who created the donkey and elephant images to depict Democrats and Republicans, contributed his own vision of Santa for Harper's Weekly magazine from 1860 until the late 1880s. Nast depicted Santa in a red, fur-trimmed suit and a wide leather belt. Each year he added more details to his version of the Santa legend, including the home-workshop at the North Pole and the lists of good and bad children.

Santa's visual image was further refined in the 1930s with magazine ads for Coca-Cola by illustrator Haddon Sundblom. He made Santa a plump human rather than an elf, with a jovial air and a debonair bearing. Of course, the Coca-Cola Santa also firmly tied the gift-giver with brand-name advertising, another trend continuing today.

Another advertising tie-in came in 1939, Robert May wrote a story for the Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog about a young reindeer who was first taunted for being different, but in the end proved himself to have special, valuable talents. Songwriter Johnny Marks later set the story of Rudolph to music. In 1963, both May and Marks helped Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass expand the Rudolph story for an animated TV special.

Where Santa Comes From, Part 1
The Saint Behind the Legend - From Asia Minor to a Major Holiday Figure
Full Story

More info:
History of Santa by The North Pole.com