esterday I met an acquaintance who told me that Dutch Santa was at the Dutch Shop to greet the kids. I took Dezi the dog to The Dog Spot to see the Dog Santa (I got my free bag of dog food, she got scared). At the Fantasy of Trees there was another Santa for children to visit with. They are all the white-haired, portly, red-suited Santas, with a generous smile and hearty laugh.
Santa is so beloved. How did we get such a wonderful icon? Santa started out as a legendary figure of Western culture. The tradition started with the historical Saint Nicholas, a fourth-century Greek bishop.
The first moment of our notion of Santa really came in 1823 with a poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" - now titled "The Night Before Christmas".
And the 'Santa' creation happened with Thomas Nast, caricaturist and political cartoonist. He created the famous image of Santa as the portly, white-haired, jolly man in 1881 and associated it with the poem. This image has been maintained and reinforced ever since.
So take a look at "pictures of Santa Claus" that come up from a google search. You will be presented with an unending sea of red suits and white beards all smiling, waving, gift-giving. They are happy and generous. It is one of the few searches where the results are on track for the search terms - to me it is a testament to how much the Santa icon is respected.
Take a look at 'biker santa claus' or 'tropical santa claus' or 'australian santa claus' or 'garden santa claus' or 'train santa claus'. It is hilarious.
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