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Thomas Nast: The Man Who Gave Us Santa Claus
 Thomas Nast is the man who designed Santa Claus as he has descended to us today around 1881.
Saint Nicholas had arrived in America with the Dutch colonists of
New Amsterdam. But their Saint "Nick" was seen as a bishop, proud
and tall, dressed in clerical robes and carrying a birch staff. Thomas Nast, in contrast,
depicted Santa Claus as the rotund, rosy cheeked character who
had been described in his own Bavarian boyhood. He also imaginatively supplied
such details as Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's list of the good
and bad children of the world. |
| Depicting the chubby elf of his imagination came easily to him. Having emigrated to New York at the age of 6 in 1846, he was enrolled in art school by the time he was 13, and just two years later had already begun his career as a newspaper illustrator. Thomas Nast's assignments included many major stories of the day, and by December of 1863 he need a break. Designing the cover for the New Year's edition of Harper's Weekly, he drew a scene of a Union Army camp, but it focused on a fanciful Santa Claus, clad in stars and stripes, handing out toys to bemused soldiers. |
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Every Christmas
for the next 23 years, Mr. Nast took a similar holiday from more serious
subjects. In the process he not only gave form to the figure known as Santa
Claus, but also fixed Santa's activities in the minds of future generations.
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See some of Thomas Nast's Christmas drawings for Harpers Weekly, ranging from 1863-1885 by clicking on the "Next" button. |
