THE EVOLUTION OF SANTA CLAUS

 How much do you really know about Santa Claus?  

• To begin, historians identify Bishop Nicholas of Myra, who was born around the year 260 in what is today southwestern Turkey, as the first Santa Claus.  He was known to be a miracle maker, and was known as the patron saint of schoolchildren.

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  But it took until the end of the 11th century for his relics to be transferred to Italy for the cult to begin.
• The Feast of Saint Nicholas (this painting by Jan Steen in the 17th century) was welcomed in the Netherlands, which spread the tradition.
• Around this time, Dutch Calvinists fleeing religious persecution set sail for what became Nieuw Amsterdam, later named New York.  But Sinterklaas was introduced to the New World.  He was also called De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), so who knows where this would have gone if it had prevailed.

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  His Dutch name was Americanized to Santa Claus, as a symbol of resistance against the British around the time of the 1776 Revolution.
• In 1809 Washington Irving (as Dietrich Knickerbocker, who himself originated from the first Irving novel, and wore knickerbockers) published A History of New York, popularizing Santa Claus.

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  In 1823, Clement Clark Moore, a professor at New York's Episcopalian seminary, published a poem...Twas the Night Before Christmas, where Santa was first presented as a cheery fellow with ruddy cheeks.
• Meanwhile, in England around 1850, Santa was dressed in green.
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  From 1862 to 1866, Thomas Nast, the godfather of the American cartoon (who created the Republican elephant, Democratic donkey and Uncle Sam), created 33 Santa Claus drawings for Harper's Weekly, one at first depicting Santa wearing the colors of the American flag, became a Union hero, where President Abraham Lincoln credited Santa Claus as his best recruiting agent.

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  Over time, Nast's Santa gained weight, grew a beard, wore fur and became jolly.
• In 1884, Santa spoke on a brand new contraption patented in the USA in 1876, the telephone.
• Finally, in 1885, he left New York for the North Pole.
• Writer George Webster took over, and in 1886 indicated that Santa built a toy factory and lived buried in the snows of the North Pole.

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  In parallel, Louis Prang (who in 1875 invented the Christmas card in the U.S.) depicted Santa Claus as a jolly grandfather with a long white beard.
• How his outfit became red remains a mystery.  Nast's illustrations were in black and white.  If anything, in those days he was dressed more in brown wearing animal fur.

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  Perhaps it first was Louis Prang in his Christmas card, but no question that in 1931 Coca Cola decided to broaden its market to children, and had Haddon Sundblom depict a paunchy, smiling Santa dressed in red.  After all, Coke is always red.

In an actual survey, 20% of American adults actually believed in Santa Claus.  In another, from BuzFeed News, 43% believed in Santa Claus.  Appropriately enough, the Pew Research Center reported that 17%  did NOT believe in an Afterlife.  And 73% believed in both Heaven and Hell. Makes you wonder about American beliefs.

On other Christmas matters, everyone must know that the best-selling Christmas single in the U.S. is the 1942 White Christmas by Bing Crosby, with sales in excess of 50 million.  He first sang this song on Holiday Inn.  Rotten Tomatoes gave this film 100/86 ratings.  It is also the #1 all-time seller, with Elton John's 1997 Something About the Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind at #2 at 33 million.  On the basis of digital downloads, #1 is Mariah Carey's 1994 All I Want for Christmas is You.

Surprisingly enough, the 2018 The Grinch with Benedict Cumberbatch is the most popular Christmas film with a worldwide gross of $511.5 million.  However, Rotten Tomatoes only gave it 59/51 ratings.  #2 is the 1990 Home Alone at $476.7 million and #3 the 2000 Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  

While many consider this film to be full of joy and happiness, the #1 darkest Christmas movie, and maybe most often shown during the holiday season, is said to be It's a Wonderful Life (1946) with James Stewart.  Happy ending, but compounding tales of woe leading to an almost suicide.  Rotten Tomatoes:  93/95.  #2?  Gremlins (1984), by Steven Spielberg.  

Where is A Christmas Carol? The 1971 animated version is #7.  You know how many productions of this movie?  Here, read about 57 adaptations, ranked.

The past couple of days I featured Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes.  They too wish you a Merry Christmas.

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