The truth behind Santa

Annmarie McQueen delves into the history of Santa Clause to remind us all of the true Christmas spirit…

Santa Claus: big, bearded man who lives in the North Pole, keeps magical flying reindeer and brings Christmas presents to children. Santa, in all his red-coated glory, has become the face of Christmas. And, though we may adamantly deny it, we all know there was a time when we thought he was real. But who is he really?

Though it may sound surprising, the Santa that we know hasn’t actually been around that long at all. Before 1931, there were all sorts of depictions of Santa. He was drawn as a tall, gaunt man, an angry elf and even a spooky looking gnome figure. The image of our Santa was in fact created by the Coca Cola company, specifically for their special Christmas advert. The design was based on the description in the famous poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. The red coat, however, was chosen purely because red was the colour of the Coca Cola logo.

So, even though the current popular image of Santa may be the product of consumerism, I would like to be the optimist here and say that yes, there is more to Santa than that. In fact, there’s a real person behind Santa, one commonly known as St. Nicholas. Nicholas was a Greek bishop born in the 3rd century. He was renowned for his selfless generosity, his love for children (no, not in a creepy way) and for spending his whole inheritance on helping the poor and sick. Even without flying reindeer, Nicholas spent his life travelling and helping those in need, earning him the title of Saint.

So even though Santa may be a more commercialised, redder and fatter version of the patron saint of Christmas, I believe that under all that beard and hype the real St. Nicholas still exists, symbolising compassion and hope just as he did back in the 3rd century when he was alive. Maybe that’s why it’s called ‘Christmas spirit’. Though I realise that Christmas has become a more commercial holiday, and that large brands are going to use it to prey on innocent parents looking to fill stockings whether we like it or not, I think the most important thing is to remember that there is more to it than that. Christmas is about generosity, kindness and love, something which the Santa Claus figure is there to remind us of, if we look hard enough.