Informative

The History of Santa Claus

Kristian Caushaj, Staff Reporter • December 19, 2024

This image shows the before and after of Santa Claus. The before being St. Nicholas and the after being Santa closer to present time. https://breaolindawildcat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/New-Project-1-900×569.jpg

Everybody loves Santa, the jolly old man who rides around on his reindeer delivering presents in time for Christmas. But how has he changed over time? And where does he first originate from? That is what this article is going to tell you.

St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas is who the modern-day Santa originated from and is based off of. St. Nick was born in what is now modern-day Turkey, and he was admired by the people as being pious and kind. A lot of St. Nick’s charity to the sick and poor came from wealth that he supposedly inherited from his parents as a teenager. Over the years, St, Nicholas’s name spread and he became known as a protector of children. By the Renaissance, St. Nick was one of the most popular venerated Saints in Europe at the time.

Santa Claus

So, is Santa supposed to be St. Nicholas or is that just someone who he is based off of? This is a question that you may have right now. The answer to it is that Santa is a figure used to symbolize St. Nicholas after the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s. Since Saints, like St. Nicholas, were problematic at the time due to the reformation and parents still wanted to give their children presents, many figures were created in different countries. Over time, the majority of these figures combined, becoming similar to a modern-day Santa Claus.

Presents under a Christmas tree. The tradition of Christmas trees came from Pagan-traditions, which were eventually blended.
https://t3.ftcdn.net/jpg/08/61/12/64/360_F_861126475_muaVefAK4JGhKKCv9CxrWByd9nNiNhCq.jpg

Modern Santa Claus

The Netherlands brought the tradition of Santa Claus over to the Americas and other new-world locations. As a result of the reformation, Christmas was shunned in England. Although in the 19th century, this all changed due to writers who decided to make Christmas a family celebration, which also revived St. Nicholas. This tied in with modern-day Santa Claus after Christmas was largely commercialized, leading to the current jolly sleigh riding old man we all know and love.

After reading this article, you should now know the history behind Santa Claus and how he originated.

Works Cited

Handwerk, B., Wentzel, V. K., Japaridze, M., & Nast, T. (2017, November 29). The History of How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/131219-santa-claus-origin-history-christmas-facts-st-nicholas
History.com Editors. (2010, February 16). Santa Claus: Real Origins & Legend. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus
Moriarty, T. (n.d.). The History of Father Christmas. English Heritage. Retrieved December 13, 2024, from https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-father-christmas

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About the Contributor

Kristian Caushaj, Staff Reporter

Hello, my name is Kristian Caushaj. I am a sophomore at Elmwood Park High School. I write for the school’s newspaper as part of my Journalism class and usually write about cars. Some of my interests include watching movies, playing games, and, of course, cars. After high school I would like to go to college and major in Computer Science.