The Onymous November-December 2013, issue 7 | Page 10

10 Saint Nicholas Day
Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of
sailors, travelers, bakers, merchants, and especially children,
had become a popular symbol of
gift giving in many European
countries by 1100. According to
legend, he brought presents to children on the eve of his feast day,
December 6. In some countries,
including parts of the Netherlands,
Germany, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, and Hungary, Saint
Nicholas visits homes on Saint
Nicholas Eve, December 5. He
leaves small presents in shoes that
the children put near the fireplace
or outside the door, depending on
the country, to be opened the next
day.
How Saint Nick became Santa
In parts of the Roman Empire the
tradition of giving presents on a
certain day at the end of the year
was common before Christianity
was well established. Saint Nicholas, already being a symbol of giving, was adapted from Saint Nicholas Day to also be a gift-giving
character of Christmas when
Christmas became popular.
The Dutch people brought Saint
Nicholas to New Amsterdam, later
renamed New York by the English.
In fact, the first Dutch settlers who
came to North America had a figure of Saint Nicholas on the front

Issue 7 November-December 2013

of their ship. They maintained their
traditions, and in time, English
settlers adopted the legends and
festivities associated with Saint
Nicholas. The Dutch name for the
saint, Sinterklaas, was understood
as ‘Santa Claus’ by the English, and
Santa Claus became a popular legend there too.
In 1809 Washington Irving published History of New York, in which
he described Saint Nicholas as a
stout, jolly man who rode over
treetops in a wagon and filled children’s stockings with presents.
On December 23, 1823, a poem
called ‘An Account of a Visit from
Saint Nicholas’ came out in New
York in the Troy Sentinel. It was
published anonymously. Clement
Clarke Moore, an American
scholar, is generally believed to be
the author, although Henry
Livingston Jr., an American land
surveyor, may have written it. In
the poem, ‘Saint Nick’ appears as ‘a
little old driver, so lively and

An advertisement in 1868.