In a week, the children will prepare milk and cookies in the hope that Santa Claus will bring them nice gifts. But where does the red and paunchy character who marks the holiday season each year really come from?
From religious figure to cultural icon, this is the journey that led to modern Santa Claus.
What you first need to know is that Santa Claus comes from a mixture of several cultures and influences, historian Marie-Ève Ouellet immediately indicated in an interview with the QMI Agency.
However, the character is associated with Saint-Nicolas, a very important bishop in the Orthodox Church who truly existed in the third century AD. He was considered the patron saint of ancient Russia, and his cult quickly became very strong in Europe.
“There was already this idea of gifts which were associated with Saint-Nicolas, in the Middle Ages and a little after. On the eve of Saint Nicholas, which was at the beginning of December, the little ones could place [des souliers] in front of their fireplace and the saint was going to place small gifts in [ceux] good children,” explained the specialist, who also co-wrote the book Christmas in the time of carts with Émilie Guilbeault-Cayer, published in 2019 by Septentrion.
Several detours
The character thus made several detours before arriving in North America, in the 19e century.
It is in New York, formerly called New Amsterdam, that the Dutch will introduce the character of Sinterklaas, or Saint-Nicolas in Dutch, underlined Yvan Fortier, ethnohistorian at Parks Canada.
Note that Saint-Nicolas remained an important holiday among the Dutch, despite the Protestant reform which abolished it in several European countries in the 16e century.
“It was through literature that we saw the reappearance of this Saint Nicholas who was called Sinterklaas. It’s very close to Santa Claus, so the name has been transformed,” also mentioned Marie-Ève Ouellet, who specifies that it is in these works “that we see the prototype appear [du père Noël, soit] this person who comes in through the chimney to bring gifts and this idea of a flying cart.”
Its presence is notable in a novel by Washington Irving, published in the 1800s, and in the famous poem The night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, in 1823.
It is through these stories and poems that Santa Claus gradually earned his place in American culture, through multiple new works and the perpetuated tradition of gift giving. Then, with the appearance of illustrated newspapers, we slowly saw it become what we know today.
The illustrator Thomas Nast notably contributed to the evolution of his image by drawing the famous character for 30 years towards the end of the 19e century, adapting its “look” little by little to give it its modern appearance.
The role of Coca-Cola
We have often heard: “Santa Claus was invented by Coca-Cola and that’s why he is red. If it had been Pepsi, it would be blue.” However, this statement is false.
On the other hand, it is true that Coca-Cola contributed to shaping the image we have of it today, by adding more jovial features, including rosy cheeks, to already existing illustrations, according to the historian Marie-Ève Ouellet.
“Every year between 1931 and 1964, the American illustrator Haddon Sundblom drew him with his characteristic beard, his red coat and his heavy boots […] Without Coca-Cola and Sundblom, there would still have been Santa Claus – perhaps he would have a completely different look,” we can also read on the Coca-Cola website.
Thus, the company stood out by being one of the first to use it for marketing purposes, explained Benoit Duguay, professor in the Department of Urban and Tourism Studies at UQAM.
“Coca-Cola did not make Santa Claus more popular: Santa Claus allowed Coca-Cola to develop markets,” he explained.
Because Coca-Cola’s ads came at a time when the company was seeking to attract younger markets, M recalled.me Ouellet.
“They are taking a character that already exists, that is already popular, […] to seek to [conquérir] a slightly younger audience and to make advertisements aimed at younger people. We go [donc] use this character who is already known,” she explained.
Christmas parades, the presence of Santa Claus in shopping centers and advertisements: many companies, such as Eaton’s or Macy’s, then followed suit by using the paunchy character for marketing purposes.
Little Jesus or Santa Claus: who gives the gifts?
The arrival of Santa Claus in Quebec took place later, since it was long thought that the gifts were brought to good children on New Year’s Eve by the Child Jesus.
It is therefore through American and English-speaking culture that Saint-Nicolas gained the upper hand with colonization, but also with the arrival of newspapers from elsewhere in the world.
The character first appeared in Quebec culture with his English name before he became Santa Claus in the 1920s, a sign of English-speaking influence.
The two characters then rubbed shoulders for several years before Santa Claus took over at the turn of the Second World War.