10. Santa Claus evolved from Dutch legends in the mind of Clement C. Moore
The modern American Santa Claus, his sleigh and reindeer, and his unusual means of entering homes during his night of work emerged from the Dutch folklore of Sinterklaas. The poem A Visit from St. Nicholas was published in 1823 in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, and though it was published anonymously it was quickly attributed to Clement C. Moore. Moore did not submit the poem, it was delivered to the paper by a friend, because Moore did not want his serious literary reputation harmed by writing the obviously for children poem. Many of the attributes of the modern Santa Claus, including an arrival on the night of Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, are derived from the poem.
At the time of the poem’s appearance, the celebration of Christmas Day as the main winter holiday, replacing New Year’s Day, was somewhat controversial, with many protestant denominations considering the celebration of Christmas to be a Catholic event being taken over by the Roman Catholic Church. German Catholic congregations were growing in many American cities as the first wave of German immigration came to America. The Americanized version of Moore’s Santa Claus quickly became a part of American folklore, joined by the eight reindeer, which were borrowed from the Dutch. In the poem, Santa is identified as a “jolly old elf”, the first such depiction of the gentlemen. The poem remains one of the most popular in the English language.