And the other thing to mention is that this "Santa Claus" character is
nothing at all to do with Father Christmas, who is a much older pagan
survival with close relations to the Green Man - hence the dress style of
the ""Ghost of Christmas Present" in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
Midwinter Festival Greetings to all.
Richard
=========================
Richard Taylor BA MArdAd RMSA
Collections Access Manager
National Railway Museum
Leeman Road
YORK YO26 4XJ
Tel: +44 (0)1904 686289
Fax: +44 (0)1904 611112
Email: [log in to unmask]
=========================
-----Original Message-----
From: Havelock James [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 12:01 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Christmas Moments
Okay, that'll teach me to mention something I hadn't researched!!!
I found this:
1. Santa's red and white robes predate the turn of the century and actually
date back to the historical personage St. Nicholas who was the basis for
Santa Claus. The red and white robes were the colours of the robes of
bishops of the Roman Catholic church.
2. St. Nicholas was born in the ancient Turkish town of Lycia in the fourth
century.
3. St. Nicholas was not commonly referred to during the Protestant
Reformation in most European countries. However, the stories were passed on
by the Dutch and the term "Santa Claus" evolves from the Dutch term for St.
Nicholas.
4. The modern image of Santa Claus in the United States comes from a poem
entitled "The Night Before Christmas" written by Dr. Clement Clarke Moore in
1822, which spread widely in newspapers and magazines throughout the
country.
5. Moore's Santa was still a little different from the modern roly-poly
version. This final version was popularised in a series of Christmas
drawings that the famed cartoonist, Thomas Nast did for _Harper's Weekly_
between 1863 and 1886.
and a passing comment of:
-Santa wears a red and white suit because red and white are the colours of
-Coca Cola... Prior to that time, there was no canonical colour for Santa.
To which [log in to unmask] (William L. Houts) writes: ->No, this isn't
strictly true. Santa Claus as we imagine him now originates with the
(in)famous 19th century political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, who did, in fact,
picture Santa Claus in red and white. Nast's Christmas saint had a slightly
ragged, even sinister, edge to him, but he's essentially who we have now
--colours and all.
sorry for lowering the average wisdom,
James
-> -----Original Message-----
-> From: M Cudlipp [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
-> Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 10:13 AM
-> To: Havelock James
-> Subject: Re: Christmas Moments
->
->
-> Havelock James - I think Santa was around in Red and White
-> long before Coke.
-> Where did that piece of information come from? Michael
-> Cudlipp, CEO History
-> of Advertising Trust Archive
-> ----- Original Message -----
-> From: "Havelock James" <[log in to unmask]>
-> To: <[log in to unmask]>
-> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 3:50 PM
-> Subject: Christmas Moments
->
->
-> > As this group seems to have a very broad quirky knowledge,
-> do you have any
-> > anecdotes about Christmas and its characters that will
-> bring some cheer
-> into
-> > the lives of people that get to hear about them?
-> >
-> > An example would be how the colours of Santa are from an
-> old Coca Cola
-> > advertising campaign.
-> >
-> >
-> > Hope you are all having a merry one,
-> >
-> > James
-> >
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