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This was the first ever appearance of a reindeer in connection with Santa.
In 1823, most of the rest of Santa's apparatus appeared, thanks to the anonymous poem 'A visit from St Nicholas'. This poem adds the _eight_ named reindeer, the jolly laugh, the big belly, and the motif of flying -- though St Nicholas only 'flew' to get from the ground to the rooftop by the chimney. 7/
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It's fascinating to watch the popular reputation of the 'library of Alexandria'.
The biggest shift came in 1980: Carl Sagan's largely fictitious account in 'Cosmos'. But the subsequent history is intriguing too.
A superb article on the library's pre-1980 reputation: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2709356
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Just one major new element arrived in 1939, when the company Montgomery & Ward commissioned an employee, Robert L. May, to devise a Christmas story. May's story was a poem about a ninth reindeer, the red-nosed Rudolph. Ten years later Johnny Marks turned May's story into the well-known song. 13/
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In the 1840s the English-speaking world went bananas over Christmas.
The influence came largely from England, where some German customs were adopted, like the Christmas tree and Advent wreath; and Charles Dickens began publishing his Christmas books, starting with A Christmas Carol (1843). 10/
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🔥 Top post: While some elements of Santa are older than the 1820s, and some · 23 likes + reposts
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It's fascinating to watch the popular reputation of the 'library of Alexandria'.
The biggest shift came in 1980: Carl Sagan's largely fictitious account in 'Cosmos'. But the subsequent history is intriguing too.
A superb article on the lib…
The classical Athenian calendar operated on the Metonic cycle, and drifted against the actual solar year at a rate of 37.375 days per century.
The Julian and Alexandrian calendars work on the Kallippan cycle, and drift 0.783 days per centu…
Just one major new element arrived in 1939, when the company Montgomery & Ward commissioned an employee, Robert L. May, to devise a Christmas story. May's story was a poem about a ninth reindeer, the red-nosed Rudolph. Ten years later John…
Most of the rest of Santa's iconography was invented in the 1860s by Thomas Nast, a German-born New Yorker.
Nast's cartoons, designed to reflect Northern optimisim in the Civil War, created Santa's workshop; his list of children's behaviou…
The influence reached America, leading Charles Clement Moore to claim authorship of 'A Visit from St Nicholas'. Christmas books published in Pennsylvania now fully identified the Christkindl -- now 'Kriss Kringle' -- with St Nicholas/Santa…
In the 1840s the English-speaking world went bananas over Christmas.
The influence came largely from England, where some German customs were adopted, like the Christmas tree and Advent wreath; and Charles Dickens began publishing his Chris…
An 1821 report from North Carolina has the Christkindl coming at Christmas, anglicised as 'Christkinkle'. He isn't identified with St Nicholas yet, but he does bring gifts to good children, and rods to naughty children, just like St Nichol…
The poem also reintroduces elements seen in Washington Irving: pipe-smoking, and laying a finger to the side of his nose.
No one claimed authorship of the poem until the 1840s.
In the meantime, German colonists in Pennsylvania brought with…
This was the first ever appearance of a reindeer in connection with Santa.
In 1823, most of the rest of Santa's apparatus appeared, thanks to the anonymous poem 'A visit from St Nicholas'. This poem adds the _eight_ named reindeer, the jol…
The Northern Hemisphere experienced very cold weather in the 1810s. In 1817-1820 New York, the Hudson River was closed by ice for over 100 days each year.
In 1821 'Santeclaus' first appears in a fur suit and a sleigh pulled by one reindeer…
The history of Santa proper begins here.
The modern elements were mostly invented in 1820s New York:
- the sleigh
- the reindeer
- flying in the air
- the fur suit
- the big wobbly belly
- coming at Christmas instead of 6 December. 5/
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