How Santa Claus was born,

Santa Claus generally comes from two sources. One is a Nordic myth thousands of years ago. There, he was an omnipotent god, in charge of wisdom, art, poetry, and especially war, and once won warmth for mankind. One is Saint Nicholas, who strongly advocates that Jesus Christ is the trinity of the Father (God), the Son (Lord Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. Nicholas (AD 270-343) came from a rich family. He would throw gold coins from the chimney to the poor and needy. 1 1,1in the 2nd century, activities to commemorate him began to appear in western Europe. The date was 65438+February 6th, and people would give gifts to their children. Santa Claus is called Saint Nicholas or Sintirklass in Dutch.

But neither Norse mythology nor saints are the Santa Claus we "see" today.

Perhaps surprisingly, modern Santa Claus was born in America. This can be divided into four stages.

In the first stage, Dutch immigrants brought the images of Cindy Glass and Saint Nicholas to new york. It is said that the image of Saint Nicholas in the Dutch immigrant circle has some elements of Santa Claus that we see now, but it is limited to the small circle of Dutch immigrants.

In the second stage, 1822, the poet and theologian Clement Clark Moore (1779- 1863) wrote or translated the poem "A Visit from saint nicholas" (see attachment). It is said that this poem is more often called "Christmas Eve". In this poem, the image of Saint Nicholas (= Santa Claus) is embodied for the first time: a leather coat (covered with coal ash instead of red), a potbellied belly, a red face, a white beard and a cherry nose.

The third stage is the cartoon published in Harper's Weekly during the American Civil War 1863: Santa Claus in the camp, a little old man distributing gifts to the northern army led by President Lincoln. The author is a satirical cartoonist named thomas Nast (1840- 1902). The American Civil War ended two years later, but one after another, Santa Claus described by nast was more popular than Santa Claus described by any other cartoonist. However, including Santa Claus who arrived at the military camp, in the original works, Santa Claus has not yet put on the iconic red dress. Even in color cartoons including nast, Santa Claus is mostly dressed in blue and red. Santa Claus in nast didn't wear burgundy until 188 1.

Why Santa Claus wears red clothes is said to have something to do with his prototype Saint Nicholas, because Saint Nicholas was a bishop before his death, and the bishop's clothes were red.

The fourth stage is the popularization of Santa Claus in red. This is due to an advertisement of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company first advertised Santa Claus in the 1920s, but the image of Santa Claus at that time was not divorced from nast's cartoons, but more like a short elf. 1930, the advertisement of Santa Claus in Coca-Cola Company was a step closer to the real person and was widely welcomed. So at 193 1, entrusted by Coca-Cola Company, cartoonist Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976) drew a picture. After that, Santa Claus of Sundblom spread to many corners of the earth with the popularity of Coca Cola, and finally became the present Santa Claus.

Although it is hard to believe, the Santa Claus we "see" now is actually the product of a successful business operation to a considerable extent. This can also be seen as an example of the strong infiltration of American culture.