Saint Nicholas is a Greek bishop of ancient Asia Minor known for his charity, his love of children and for working a series of miracles, notably restoring three murdered boys to life. So strong is his miraculous power that, even after his own death, his bones are able to heal those who come into contact with them. In modern times, despite the story of his death, he brings gifts to children in various parts of Europe on Saint Nicholas Eve and Saint Nicholas Day, often being known by a contracted or distorted version of his name, such as Sinterklaas, Samichlaus or Mikulas, and usually with the assistance of a number of different companions.
“The story of St. Nicholas consists almost entirely of a series of beneficent deeds, of aid afforded humanity in distress, accomplished either by St. Nicholas during his lifetime or through his intervention after death” (St. Nicholas, ch. 3 — “The Boy St. Nicholas and St. Nicholas the Patron Saint of Schoolboys”).
Santa Claus is a jolly grandfatherly man who brings gifts to people’s homes every December, eventually doing so on a worldwide scale with the assistance of elves and flying reindeer. The earliest texts that describe him make it quite evident that he is the same man as Saint Nicholas, often explicitly referring to him as Saint Nicholas, but most later texts ignore this connection, with a few even refuting it and stating contradictory origins. His name has also been rendered in English‐language texts as Santa‐Claus, Santaclaus, Sancte Claus, Santeclaus, Saint Claas, Santa Klaus, St.a Claus, Santy Claus, Santaclaw, St. Nick and, specifically in Topsy Turvy Land, Clanty Sauce. Quite a few sources claim, whether directly or by implication, that he is the same man as Father Christmas, but other sources indicate that they are clearly two separate men, having participated in the same adventure at least as early as November 1917 and having met one another by 1922. Similarly, a number of sources claim he is the same person as the Christkind or Krishkinkle, even going so far as to name him Kris Kringle, but a number of other sources explicitly refute this, with one asserting that Santa Claus and Kris Kringle are rather identical twin brothers.
Despite his Greek origins and despite the fact that he delivers gifts to children in multiple countries, Saint Nicholas has become very strongly associated with the Dutch people, connected to his Sinterklaas aspect, and has a particular affinity for them, with his even going so far as speaking fluent Dutch and giving Dutch names—Dunder and Blixem—to two of his reindeer.
The chronicles describe Saint Nicholas as “godes druð” (“Sainte Nicholaes godes druð”).
Origin. It is quite clear from the earliest sources to describe Santa Claus that he is the same person as Saint Nicholas, born in the 3rd century. “All accounts agree, that he was a native of Patara, in Lycia” (Lives of the Primitive Fathers). “Nicholas, citizen of the city of Patras, was born of rich and holy kin, and his father was Epiphanes and his mother Johane. He was begotten in the first flower of their age, and from that time forthon they lived in continence and led an heavenly life” (Golden Legend).
Beginning in the late 19th century, numerous texts appear that make assertions about the origin of Santa Claus that contradict these earliest sources.
According to the 1893 book Poems of Two Worlds, … (“Birth and Adventures of Santa Claus”).
According to the 1902 book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, ….
According to the 1907 book Santa Claus’ Twin Brother, ….
According to The San Francisco Call and Post on 13 December 1913, … (“Santa Claus’ Visit”).
According to the 1914 book The Rejuvenation of Father Christmas, ….
According to The Ladies’ Home Journal in December 1921, Santa Claus is born and grows up in Cole’s kingdom along with various nursery‐rhyme figures and so is consequently much younger than could be possible based on his earliest appearances. This text asserts that his father is Mr. Claus, the same man as both the Baker and the Pieman, that his mother is Nellie Claus, the daughter of Mother Goose, and that he has younger brothers named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane”). This assertion that Mother Goose is Santa Claus’ maternal grandmother contradicts earlier sources that claim the two are friends rather than relatives (“Message to Mother Goose” and others), as well as the 1881 text (“Marriage of Santa Claus”) and the similar 1899 text (“Christmas Chimes Cantata”) in which Mother Goose accepts Santa Claus’ proposal of marriage.
In “There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane,” Santa Claus marries a local woman named Bessie before moving with her to the North Country to become toymakers for the children of the world.
Annual gifting. Saint Nicholas has begun bringing gifts to multiple recipients on Saint Nicholas Day in the Modern Era by 1553, when he hides “Apples, Nuttes, and peares … and other things beſide, / As caps, and ſhooes, and petticotes” in people’s homes while the children “at night in ſenseleſſe ſléepe are caſt,” as documented in a text from the Holy Roman Empire (Popiſh Kingdome, 1570 translation). According to a text from 1593, he and his train go “up and down among the towns and the villages” and enter homes through their shut windows “to convey worldly presents of various kinds” (Feſta Chriſtianorum).
Saint Nicholas presumably delivers these gifts across a large portion of Europe, mostly of the Holy Roman Empire. For a time at least, Saint Michael does the same thing on Michaelmas, but most of his workload seems to have been taken over by Saint Nicholas and shifted later in the year. At some point in the Modern Era, the Christkind begins to bring gifts to children on Christmas Eve, evidently in imitation of Saint Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas apparently travels with certain companions on different legs of his annual trip, e.g. with Krampus in Austria and Hungary, with Zwarte Piet in the Netherlands etc. A number of texts state he delivers his gifts only on the date specified therein, with at least one text even stating he is actually unable to leave the North Pole anytime other than Christmas Eve (Santa Claus’ Daughter).
By December 1810, Saint Nicholas has expanded his gift‐bringing from Europe to North America. The first source to document this lists, with the sole exception of the rod brought for naughty children, only food as being among the gifts he brings. Also, it says nothing about his mode of arrival (New York Spectator). The 1812 edition of A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty states that he travels in a wagon drawn by a horse, evidently a flying horse, in the afternoon of what is presumably Saint Nicholas Day, and that he drops the gifts down the chimney. It also indicates that Saint Nicholas has been bringing gifts to New Netherland since the 17th century and that he is apparently selective as to which households receive gifts. “[I]n the ſylvan days of New‐Amſterdam,” notes the narration, “the good St. Nicholas would often make his appearance, in his beloved city, of a holyday afternoon, riding jollily among the tree tops, or over the roofs of the houſes, now and then drawing forth magnificent preſents from his breeches pockets, and dropping them down the chimnies of his favourites.”
Beginning in 1819, after he has already been giving gifts to children on Saint Nicholas Eve and Saint Nicholas Day for centuries, numerous sources from the United States start to make assertions that Saint Nicholas instead arrives on either New Year’s Eve or Christmas Eve. In the week of 9 January 1819, The Weekly Visitor, and Ladies’ Museum reports that Santaclaus leaves toys and sweets in children’s stockings at New Year’s rather than on his own feast day (“Address of the Carrier”), and a small number of later sources echo this statement for decades. Similarly, in the week of 25 December 1819, Ladies’ Literary Cabinet reports that Santaclaus delivers his presents on Christmas Eve, and moreover that he has been doing so “since ages of chivalry” (“Merry Christmas and Happy New‐Year”). Despite this assertion that his bringing gifts on Christmas Eve has been a longstanding tradition of his, it would seem that Santa Claus, once he has expanded his American operations beyond Dutch families in New Netherland, starts to arrive in the US on a later date than in Europe, although this would not actually be confirmed for decades.
By 1821, Santeclaus travels in a large reindeer‐drawn sleigh rather than a horse‐drawn wagon, and henceforth, it is this mode of transport that he is most often portrayed as using. The text in which this is first documented does not specify the number of reindeer, but the accompanying illustration depicts but one, apparently replacing the singular horse (“Old Santeclaus with much delight”). The horse, however, is not retired and continues to make occasional later appearances, particularly when Saint Nicholas is traveling within Europe. On 23 December 1823, The Troy Sentinel reports that, by this point in time, St. Nicholas is traveling with a team of eight reindeer (“Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”), and it is only with rare exception thereafter that the reindeer appear in any other number, although teams of four, six, nine, ten and twelve have been recorded.
By 1850, Santa Claus is employing elves in his workshop to manufacture toys (Little Messenger Birds).
Since the earliest record of Saint Nicholas’ bringing gifts to children on a large scale, and particularly since his expanding this endeavor to North America, a number of texts have appeared offering contradictory explanations for his adopting the tradition.
According to The Ladies’ Home Journal in December 1921, young Santa Claus, already an adept toymaker, is inspired to give toys away after a heroic episode saving the children of Cole’s kingdom from the Pied Piper, breaking the Piper’s spell by promising them toys. Later, it is King Cole who, at the request of Mother Goose, allows Santa to continue to give toys away indefinitely, rather than to have to sell them for a living, by granting him a free toy business with free lodging on the condition that he move to the North Country. Santa marries a local woman named Bessie and they leave for the North Country on their wedding day, taken in a sleigh pulled by reindeer to a gorgeous house (“a great, wide, low building, furnished in log furniture and bearskins, and with a fire blazing in every room!”), all of which originally belonged to King Cole, and the two make toys for the children of the world thereafter. No mention is made of elves (“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane”).
Though not directly stated, it is implied that the Queen of Hearts is married to King Cole rather than to the King of Hearts (or perhaps that the King of Hearts and King Cole are the same person). The Baker, the Pieman, the Queen of Hearts, King Cole and Mother Goose are all pivotal to Santa’s acquisition of his gift‐giving job, as King Cole helps Santa partly in thanks for the Baker’s/Pieman’s instructing the Queen in making tarts.
Height, counterparts.
Nature. The earliest sources to describe him give no indication that Saint Nicholas, despite his miraculous powers, is anything other than a normal human being, and the historical record is clear that he eventually dies in the 4th century; nevertheless, he brings gifts to children the world over in the Modern Era, centuries after his supposed death. Although it is true that one text does apparently portray him as a spirit that inhabits and animates a statue (Conte de Noël), nearly all the later texts portray him as just as corporeal a man as in antiquity. The simple solution to this apparent discrepancy is of course that there must be worlds in which Saint Nicholas has died and worlds in which he has not; however, there are also suggestions in some texts that Santa Claus may instead be some sort of imp or elf or fairy, possibly even an impostor who is not Saint Nicholas at all.
Relationships. Shortly after becoming bishop of Myra, Nicholas “eschewed company of women” (Golden Legend), but centuries later, on 29 December 1815, in an ordinance of his own writing published in The New‐York Evening Post in which he describes himself as an “arch‐emperor” rather than a bishop, Sanctus Nicholas plainly states that his consort is the Empress “Santa Claus,” the authoress of a proclamation published the day before, 28 December. Although almost never portrayed thereafter as a queen or empress, Mrs. Santa Claus proves a loyal and helpful spouse over the subsequent years and bears Santa Claus quite a few children, including Kitty Claus, Bertha, Fritz, and the lineup of six bearded boys appearing in Life in the week of 3 December 1914.
With Father Christmas and the Christkind. In the 19th century, Santa Claus starts to become so strongly associated with Christmas, rather than his own feast day, that multiple texts erroneously call him either Father Christmas or some variation on the name of the Christkind (e. g., Krishkinkle, Kriss Kringle). Especially when Father Christmas himself begins to give gifts, it becomes increasingly difficult to tell to which man a given text is referring or illustration is depicting, and there even seem to be worlds in which the two are in fact the same man. Also, Santa Claus seems to evidently give some of his gifts on behalf of the Christkind, and later even goes so far as to confusingly adopt the name for himself. In February 1847, The Child’s Friend documents how Santa Claus tells a girl that, on a future visit, “ he would leave some things which the ‘Christ‐Child’ sent. ” In 1897, Santa Claus says that even his wife “Sometimes … coolly calls me ‘Sir Kriss Kringle’” (Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle, or St. Nicholas).
With Mother Goose.
Locales. Over the hundreds of years Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, has been delivering gifts and having his numerous adventures, he has been to nearly every continent on Earth—certainly to Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Australia—as well as to the Arctic, El‐Fay‐Gno‐Land, Burzee, the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, the Land of Oz, Topsy Turvy Land, Cole’s kingdom and evidently Mother Goose Land and other fairylands and dreamlands. His adventures have also brought him to the moon, to Mars and to other locations across interplanetary space. However, his principal residence and base of gift‐giving operations is limited to a handful of locations, depending on the time in his life and the historical source being consulted.
In antiquity, Nicholas spends all his time in the Near East, specifically in Asia Minor but for an excursion to the Holy Land; as a child, he lives in Patara with his parents and later is ordained a bishop in Myra, and he is documented as visiting a few other Anatolian locations. Where he lives, if anyplace, throughout the Middle Ages and in the early Modern Era is unclear.
When Saint Nicholas begins giving gifts on a large scale in the 16th century, it is within the Holy Roman Empire, suggesting he might live there by that time, although no text actually states this. It seems unlikely, however, that he would still live in Anatolia as it had since fallen to the Islamic conquests and become the heart of the Ottoman Empire. Even as late as the first half of the 19th century, numerous texts refer to Santa Claus’ tradition of giving gifts but very few mention his residence, saying at most that he has a house or den or workshop but without revealing where it is.
Although no text explicitly states it, Santa Claus may have some local satellite office in New York City to serve as an American base of operations. An 1812 text, describing Saint Nicholas’ activities in the 17th century after he has already expanded his gifting to North America, asserts that New Amsterdam is “ his beloved city ” (History of New York), and in December 1815, Sanctus Nicholas and his wife submit a proclamation and two ordinances to a New York City newspaper for publication with all three documents indicating New York City authorship, as if it were the couple’s home (New‐York Evening Post). And in January 1842, Merry’s Museum refers to New York as the place “ where Santaclaus is supposed to be at home ” (“ Christmas ”).
By 1850, Saint Nicholas has moved to sunny Spain and it is therefrom he leaves annually to deliver his presents, as initially documented in a book which explicitly refers to him as the “ Bisschop van Spanje ” (bishop from Spain) (St. Nikolaas en zijn knecht).
Beginning in the latter half of the 19th century, however, a number of sources start to hint that Santa Claus instead has his base of operations at the North Pole or at least some point in or near the Arctic Circle. In the week of 26 December 1857, for example, Santa‐Claus is said to live “ In a wonderful house of snow ” in what is evidently a snowy and icy environment, although an Arctic location is not specified (“ Wonders of Santa‐Claus ”). In 1863, conversely, Santa Claus tells of how snowbanks at the North Pole have delayed his deliveries but doesn’t specifically state it is because he lives there : “ I’ve been ducked up to the chin in some master great snow‐banks—there by the North Pole! This is the very first time the storms have come so heavy as to cover over the end of the North Pole! ” (“ Prudy’s Christmas ”). In the week of 29 December 1866, however, an engraving in Harper’s Weekly confirms that Santa Claus has indeed relocated to the North Pole (“ N. P. ”) in a place called Santa‐Claussville (“ Santa Claus and His Works ” [HathiTrust]). Thereafter, the great majority of texts that make any mention of Santa Claus’ residence or workplace indicate an Arctic or subarctic locale, although a small subset of texts continue to maintain that Saint Nicholas lives in Spain, and a very small subset of texts instead maintain that Santa Claus has moved to the Laughing Valley of Hohaho by 1902.
This Arctic or subarctic settlement where Santa Claus, his family and his employees live is variously portrayed in different sources as constituting only a handful of structures, a village, a city or an entire kingdom, and is known most often as Santa Claus Land (Santa Claus Land, 1873, and others) but also as Santa‐Claussville (“ Santa Claus and His Works, ” 29 Dec. 1866), Santa Clausville (Santa Claus and His Works, 1869), the Kingdom of the North Pole (Santa Claus’ Daughter, 1892), Northland (Christmas Snowflake, 1903), Santa Land (Santa Has the Grippe, 1907, and others) and the North Country (“ There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane, ” Dec. 1921).
Developments. Around 400, the Praxis de stratelatis recounts an episode from the 4th century wherein Bishop Nicholas of Myra ….
The reindeer Cupid is not to be confused with the Roman god of the same name who is the son of Venus. The reindeer Comet is not to be confused with the MLJ character, the Comet. And the reindeer Flossie is not to be confused with the Tooth Fairy.
━━━━━━━━━━
Public‐domain bibliography
Of Sinterklaas and Santa Claus.
A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty: Containing Among Many Surprising and Curious Matters, the Unutterable Ponderings of Walter the Doubter, the Disastrous Projects of William the Testy, and the Chivalric Achievments of Peter the Headstrong, the Three Dutch Governors of New Amsterdam; Being the Only Authentic History of the Times That Ever Hath Been, or Ever Will Be Published, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (pseudonym of Washington Irving), 1809. (vol. 1 and vol. 2, Internet Archive)
2nd edition, 1812. (HathiTrust)
New edition, 1820. (HathiTrust)
“Oh good holy man! whom we Sancte Claus name” (poem), The New York Spectator, 15 Dec. 1810. Reprinted in The Poet of Christmas Eve: A Life of Clement Clarke Moore 1779–1863, by Samuel White Patterson, 1956. (HathiTrust)
Notice of future content (“The proclamation of Santa. Claus is received …”), The New‐York Evening Post, 27 Dec. 1815. (Wordpress)
“A Proclamation,” The New‐York Evening Post, 28 Dec. 1815. (Wordpress)
“Imperial Ordonance [sic],” The New‐York Evening Post, 29 Dec. 1815. (Wordpress)
“Imperial Ordonance [sic],” The New‐York Evening Post, 30 Dec. 1815. (Wordpress)
“Address of the Carrier …,” The Weekly Visitor, and Ladies’ Museum, 9 Jan. 1819. (Blogger) (Blogger)
“Merry Christmas and Happy New‐Year” (poem), by Samuel Woodworth, Ladies’ Literary Cabinet, vol. 1 (new series), no. 7, 25 Dec. 1819. (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
Reprinted as “Holiday Song,” The New‐York Mirror, and Ladies’ Literary Gazette, vol. 1, no. 22, 27 Dec. 1823. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted as “Christmas Gambols,” Melodies, Duets, Trios, Songs, and Ballads, Pastoral, Amatory, Sentimental, Patriotic, Religious, and Miscellaneous: Together with Metrical Epistles, Tales and Recitations, (Nov.) 1826. (HathiTrust)
“Old Santeclaus with much delight,” A New‐Year’s Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve, part 3, The Children’s Friend, vol. 3, 1821. (Yale U. Library)
“Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” by Clement Clarke Moore, The Troy Sentinel, 23 Dec. 1823. (page image online)
Reprinted in The Casket, or, Flowers of Literature, Wit & Sentiment, vol. 1, no. 2, Feb. 1826. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted in Southern Rose Bud, vol. 2, no. 18, 28 Dec. 1833. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted in The United States Speaker: A Copious Selection of Exercises in Elocution; Consisting of Prose, Poetry, and Dialogue: Drawn Chiefly from the Most Approved Writers of Great Britain and America: Including a Variety of Pieces Suitable for Very Young Speakers; Designed for the Use of Colleges and Schools, stereotype ed., 1835. (1836, HathiTrust)
Reprinted as “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” The New‐York Book of Poetry, 1837. (Internet Archive)
The Perennial Calendar, and Companion to the Almanack; Illustrating the Events of Every Day in the Year, as Connected with History, Chronology, Botany, Natural History, Astronomy, Popular Customs, & Antiquities, with Useful Rules of Health, Observations on the Weather; Explanations of the Fasts and Festivals of the Church; and Other Miscellaneous Useful Information …, ed. T. Forster, 1824. (HathiTrust)
“The Seasons” (poem), penultimate stanza, Melodies, Duets, Trios, Songs, and Ballads, Pastoral, Amatory, Sentimental, Patriotic, Religious, and Miscellaneous: Together with Metrical Epistles, Tales and Recitations, by Samuel Woodworth, (Nov.) 1826. (HathiTrust)
“Ode to Saint Claas, Written on a New Year’s Eve” (poem), by Rip van Dam, New York Advertiser and New‐York American, both 4 Jan. 1828. (excerpt, NYPL)
“Knickerbocker Hall, or the Origin of the Baker’s Dozen [Translated from an Ancient Dutch MS.],” by James Kirke Paulding, The New‐York Mirror, vol. 8, no. 26, 1 Jan. 1831. (HathiTrust)
The Book of Saint Nicholas; Translated from the Original Dutch of Dominie Nicholas Ægidius Oudenarde, 1836. (Internet Archive)
“A Legend of St. Nicholas: From a Dutch Manuscript,” by James Kirke Paulding, The New‐York Mirror, vol. 8, no. 45, 14 May 1831. (HathiTrust)
The Book of Saint Nicholas; Translated from the Original Dutch of Dominie Nicholas Ægidius Oudenarde, 1836. (Internet Archive)
“The Revenge of St. Nicholas: A Tale for the Holidays,” by James Kirke Paulding, The New‐York Mirror, vol. 9, no. 26, 31 Dec. 1831. (HathiTrust)
The Book of Saint Nicholas; Translated from the Original Dutch of Dominie Nicholas Ægidius Oudenarde, 1836. (Internet Archive)
“Old Dutch House in New‐Street, Near Wall‐Street,” by James Kirke Paulding, The New‐York Mirror, vol. 10, no. 31, 2 Feb. 1833. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted as “Claas Schlaschenschlinger,” The Book of Saint Nicholas; Translated from the Original Dutch of Dominie Nicholas Ægidius Oudenarde, 1836. (Internet Archive)
“The Ride of Saint Nicholas on Newyear’s Eve,” The Book of Saint Nicholas; Translated from the Original Dutch of Dominie Nicholas Ægidius Oudenarde, by James Kirke Paulding, 1836. (Internet Archive)
“ Christmas, ” Merry’s Museum, vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 1842. (Internet Archive) (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ A Letter for the Children, ” attributed to St. Nicholas, The Mother’s Magazine, and Family Library, vol. 11, no. 2, Feb. 1843. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ New Year Gifts, ” by Rev. W. S. [William Stevens] Balch, Universalist Union, vol. 8, no. 23, 22 Apr. 1843. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ The Young Destructive Tearing His Christmas Books, ” by Elizabeth Oakes Smith, illustration by T. Wrankmore, The Rover, vol. 2, no. 14, 1843–44. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ Is Not Santa Claus a God ?” (poem), Youth’s Penny Gazette, vol. 4, no. 1, 7 Jan. 1846. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ Letter to Frank, ” by B. M. C., The Child’s Friend, vol. 7, no. 5, Feb. 1847. Santa leaves only a bag of ash for an untidy girl and claims that in the future “ he would leave some things which the ‘Christ‐Child’ sent. ” (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ Christmas Morn ; or Mounting the Hobby, ” by E. Oakes Smith, illustration by T. H. Matteson, New York Illustrated Magazine, vol. 3, no. 2, Feb. 1847. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ The Child and Her Father : Santa Claus and a Secret That Is Not a Secret, ” Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. Reprinted in Western Literary Messenger, vol. 9, no. 22, 1 Jan. 1848. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ Santa Claus’ Visit : A Love Story of Christmas Eve, ” Random Gleanings, by Barry Gray, The Rural Repository, vol. 24, no. 8, 1 Jan. 1848. (Google Books) (HathiTrust)
“ A Christmas Legend, ” Mysteries of City Life ; or, Stray Leaves from the World’s Book, Being a Series of Tales, Sketches, Incidents, and Scenes, Founded upon the Notes of a Home Missionary, by James Rees, 1848. (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust) (Mrs. Claus)
“ Old Santa Claus, ” Home Ballads : A Book for New Englanders ; in Three Parts, by Abby Allin, 1850. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Sint Nikolaas en zijn knecht, by Jan Schenkman, 1850. (DBNL) (GKJ) (Zwarte Piet)
The Little Messenger Birds, or, The Chimes of the Silver Bells, by Caroline H. Butler, (Dec.?) 1850. Leo the lion, and a team of twelve reindeer, one of which is named Swift‐of‐Foot. (HathiTrust)
“ Santa Claus, ” Uncle Maynard’s Stories, The Student, vol. 4, no. 2, Dec. 1851. (HathiTrust)
Carl Krinken : His Christmas Stocking, by Susan Warner and Anna Bartlett Warner, (Dec.) 1853. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
“ Pennsylvanian Folk Lore : Christmas, ” by Uneda, Notes and Queries, ser. 1, vol. 8, no. 217, 24 Dec. 1853. Krishkinkle, Pelsnichol. (HathiTrust)
“ The Wonders of Santa‐Claus, ” by Ralph Hoyt, Harper’s Weekly, vol. 1, no. (52?), 26 Dec. 1857. (hymnsandcarolsofchristmas) (morristowngreen)
“ Santaclaus, ” Echoes of Memory and Emotion, 1859. (Internet Archive)
“ The Tour of St. Nicholas, ” The School‐girl’s Garland : A Selection of Poetry, in Four Parts, 1864. (HathiTrust)
“ The Tour of St. Nicholas, ” illustrated, The Children’s Book of Poetry : Carefully Selected from the Works of the Best and Most Popular Writers for Children, 1879. See also other works therein. (Internet Archive)
Arranged by Cora Worrell Alford, Werner’s Magazine, vol. 16, no. 11, Nov. 1894. (HathiTrust)
“Prudy’s Christmas,” by Sophie May (pseud. of Rebecca Sophia Clarke), The Little Pilgrim, vol. 11, no. 1, Jan. 1864. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted in book form in Sister Susy, ch. 3, “Susy’s Christmas,” 1863. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus May Be Recognized” (song), by Benjamin Hanby, public performances, 1864. Published as “Santa Claus,” additional verses by Paulina, Our Song Birds, vol. 4, The Dove, Oct. 1866. Reprinted in Chapel Gems for Sunday Schools; Selected from “Our Song Birds,” for 1866, The “Snow Bird,” The “Robin,” The “Red Bird,” and The “Dove,” 1866. (Internet Archive) (Reindeer)
With altered opening lines (“Up on the housetop the reindeer pause! / Out jumps good old Santa Claus!”) and an illustration as “A Christmas Song,” The First Year Nature Reader, by Katherine Beebe and Nellie F. Kingsley, 1896. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
With added verse (“Here is a gift for thoughtful Fred …”) as “A Visit from Santa Claus,” The Easy First Reader, by Geoffrey Buckwalter, 1905. (HathiTrust)
“St. Nick,” Primary Plans: A Monthly Journal of Practical Aids for Primary Teachers, vol. 4, no. 5, Dec. 1906. (HathiTrust) (See also … etc.)
“Up on the House Top,” School Education, vol. 30, no. 3, Nov. 1910. (HathiTrust)
“The Story of Santa Claus’ Ride,” The Bay View Magazine, vol. 22, no. 3, Dec. 1914. (HathiTrust)
“Lilly’s Secret” (poem), by Emily Huntington Miller, The Little Corporal, Dec. 1865. Reprinted as part of “Aunt Judy’s Correspondence,” Aunt Judy’s Magazine, vol. 6, no. 35, Mar. 1869. (HathiTrust)
“Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,” [music by James Ramsey Murray,] School Chimes: A New School Music Book, 1874. (Internet Archive)
General Lee and Santa Claus: Mrs. Louise Clack’s Christmas Gift to to Her Little Southern Friends, by Louise Clack, 1866. (Internet Archive)
Santa Claus Frolics (play), [by George Melville Baker,] 1866. (HathiTrust)
“Mrs. Santa Claus and Jessie Brown,” Harper’s Weekly, vol. 13, no. 628, 9 Jan. 1869. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“A Letter from Santa Claus,” by Mrs. T. Bailey, The Nursery, vol. 5, no. ?, 1869. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus and His Works, by George P. Webster, 1869. (U. of Florida)
“A Night with Santa Claus,” by Annie R. Annan, Our Young Folks, vol. 7, no. 1, Jan. 1871. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (plus New Year, p. 11)
Reprinted in The Second Book of Stories for the Story‐Teller, ed. Fanny E. Coe, 1913. (HathiTrust)
Hidden Treasure; or, The Good St. Nicholas: A Goblin Story for Christmas, by Nathan Boughton Warren, 1872. (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus Land, by Amanda M. Douglas, 1873. (oclc)
Introduction by Mary Mapes Dodge, St. Nicholas, vol. 1, no. 1, Nov. 1873. (Internet Archive)
“The Merry Christmas of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe,” by George M. Baker, Our Boys and Girls Monthly, vol. 14, no. 245, Dec. 1873. (HathiTrust) (Google Books)
The Exhibition Drama: Comprising Drama, Comedy, and Farce, Together with Dramatic and Musical Entertainments, for Private Theatricals, Home Representations, Holiday and School Exhibitions, 1875. (Internet Archive)
The Merry Christmas of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, 1902. (HathiTrust) (Google Books)
“How the Umbrella Ran Away with Ellie,” by Susan Coolidge, initial by Addie Ledyard, Mischief’s Thanksgiving, and Other Stories, 1874. (HathiTrust)
“A Song of Saint Nicholas,” Rhymes and Jingles, by Mary Mapes Dodge, 1874. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) Makes no mention of reindeer, but instead claims that Saint Nicholas is able to visit every child’s home because he travels via their dreams. (“Not over mountains, not over streams, / But gliding swift through the children’s dreams. / Soon as their eyelids in slumber close, / Hither and thither Saint Nicholas goes.”)
Illustrated by Sarah S. Stilwell, 1904 ed. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Lill’s Travels in Santa Claus Land,” Lill’s Travels in Santa Claus Land and Other Stories, by Ellis Towne, Sophie May Farman and Ella Farman, Doll Doctor series, 1877. (Project Gutenberg)
Reprinted with minor changes as “Santa Claus Island,” credited to Harriet Dolsen, Cloud Islands, 1880. (Internet Archive)
“Left Out” (poem), by A. G. W., St. Nicholas, vol. 5, no. 2, Dec. 1877. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Who Comes down the Chimney?,” by H. E. Krehbiel, [illustration by Karl Jauslin,] Golden Hours, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 1878. (HathiTrust)
“Gifts for St. Nicholas (poem), by Emma E. Brewster, St. Nicholas, vol. 5, no. 4, Feb. 1878. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
A Visit to El‐Fay‐Gno‐Land, by Mrs. M. M. [M. Malonia] Sanford, uncredited illustrations, 1879. Mrs. Claus. (Internet Archive)
“December” (poem), by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, The Autograph Birthday Book for Young Folks: Twelve Original Month Poems by Leading American Poets; Selected Day‐Verses from All the Poets, ed. Amanda B. Harris, 1881. Actually about Kriss Kringle. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Reprinted with altered opening lines as “Kriss Kringle,” Mercedes, and Later Lyrics, 1883. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Hidden Treasure; or, The Good St. Nicholas: A Twelfth Night Play in Three Acts, by Nathan Boughton Warren, 1881. Dramatization of 1872 work above. (HathiTrust)
“The Marriage of Santa Claus,” The Reading Club and Handy Speaker: Being Serious, Humorous, Pathetic, Patriotic, and Dramatic Selections in Prose and Poetry, for Readings and Recitations, no. 9, ed. George Melville Baker, 1881. (Internet Archive) (Reindeer)
Also printed in Dick’s Recitations and Readings, no. 13, ed. Wm. B. Dick, 1881. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted with an uncredited illustration in The Home School Speaker and Elocutionist: Select Entertainments – Programs for All Occassions [sic]; Containing the Best Orations, Humorous, Dramatic and Pathetic Readings and Recitations[,] Dialogues, Drills and Tableaux in National, Patriotic, Old Time and Modern Costume[,] Selections Especially for Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, Decoration Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Birthdays of Authors and Statesmen[,] School, Church, Home, Soldiers’ Re‐union, Temperance Meetings, Labor Days, Old Settlers’ Meetings, and All Miscellaneous Gatherings, by Henry M. Soper, 1902. (HathiTrust)
“The False Sir Santa Claus (A Christmas Masque for Young and Old),” by E. S. Brooks, St. Nicholas, vol. 10, no. 1, Nov. 1882. (Internet Archive) (Jack Frost and wife [Snow Maiden?], Bad Wolf, Big Bugaboo [Bogeyman?], Curly‐Locks)
“Boreas Bluster’s Christmas Present,” by Helen Ashe Hays (Mrs. William J. Hays), Harper’s Young People, vol. 5, no. 215, 11 Dec. 1883. (Internet Archive) (Mrs. Christmas)
The Adventures of Prince Lazybones and Other Stories, 1912. (HathiTrust)
“Lucy Lee from High Dundee” (208), by A. Brennan, “Fun‐Beams” (226), by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, illustration by Frank T. Merrill, and “Santa Claus and the Mouse” (236) by Emilie Poulsson, illustration by Mrs. C. Siedle, St. Nicholas, vol. 11, no. 3, Jan. 1884. (Internet Archive)
“Santa Claus and the Mouse,” illustration by L. J. Bridgman, In the Child’s World: Morning Talks and Stories for Kindergartens, Primary Schools and Homes, 1893. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus: A Novel Christmas Festival” (25), presumably by Mrs. Kavanaugh, and “Santa Claus’ Speech at a Christmas Tree Entertainment” (118), by Thos. W. Butts, Kavanaugh’s New Speeches, Dialogues and Recitations for Young Children Containing Easy Pieces in Plain Language, Readily Understood by Young Children and Expressly Adapted for School Exhibitions, Christmas and Other Juvenile Celebrations, by Mrs. Russell Kavanaugh, 1884. (HathiTrust)
“Death of Santa Claus” (poem), Buttercups and Clover, by Alice M. Ball, 1885. (Internet Archive)
“Sancte Claus, Bishop” (“Sinter Klaas, Bisschop”) and “St. Nikolaas” (poems), New Amsterdam Gazette, vol. 2, no. 7, 27 Feb. 1885. (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus on a Lark,” by Washington Gladden, illustration by Sol Eytinge, St. Nicholas, vol. 13, no. 2, Dec. 1885. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus on a Lark and Other Christmas Stories, 1890. (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus’s Summer Outing,” by Katherine D. McIlvaine, Harper’s Young People, vol. 7, no. 353, 3 Aug. 1886. (Internet Archive)
“Santa Claus in the Pulpit,” by Washington Gladden, illustrated by Mary Hallock Foote and R. F. [Rudolph F.] Bunner, St. Nicholas, vol. 15, no. 12, Dec. 1887. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus on a Lark and Other Christmas Stories, 1890. (HathiTrust)
“A Christmas Song,” music by Franz Wiedermann, Royal Gifts for the Kindergarten: A Manual for Self Instruction in Friedrich Frœbel’s Principles of Education; Together with a Collection of Songs, Games and Poems for the Home, the Kindergarten and the Primary School, by Frances Post van Norstrand assisted by Alice H. Putnam, 1888. (Internet Archive)
“A Captured Santa Claus,” by Thomas Nelson Page, illustration by William Allen Rogers, Harper’s Young People, vol. 10, no. 475, 4 Dec. 1888. (Internet Archive)
Among the Camps or Young People’s Stories of the War, 1891. (Internet Archive)
Illustration by W. L. Jacobs, A Captured Santa Claus, 1902. (Internet Archive) (Internet Archive)
“Says Santa” (rhyme), by P. S. C., Wide Awake, vol. 28, no. 1, Dec. 1888. (HathiTrust)
“Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh‐Ride,” by Katharine Lee Bates, Wide Awake, vol. 28, no. 1, Dec. 1888. (HathiTrust) (Jack Frost, reindeer, Man in the Moon)
Sunshine and Other Verses for Children, 1890. (Internet Archive)
Christmas in Song, Sketch, and Story: Nearly Three Hundred Christmas Songs, Hymns, and Carols with Selections from Beecher, Wallace, Auerbach, Abbott, Warren and Dickens, ed. J. P. McCaskey, 1890. (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus’ Daughter: A Musical Christmas Burlesque in Two Acts … to Which Is Added Description of the Costumes—Cast of the Characters—Entrances and Exits—Relative Positions of the Performers on the Stage, and the Whole of the Stage Business, by Everett Elliott and F. W. Hardcastle, Ames’ Series of Standard and Modern Drama, no. 309, (Dec.) 1892. (Internet Archive) Santa Claus is portrayed as a king, “Ruler of the Kingdom of the North Pole,” who has a “Snow Castle” or “Snow‐palace” and a “dude” (dandy) of a male secretary named Gussie DeSmythe who prepares the annual directory of gift recipients. (Mrs. Santa Claus should logically be the queen but she is not described as such.) The kingdom is defended by “Amazons” composed of a band of “Snow‐fairies” with their own queen, as well as personifications of the holidays Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Santa Claus is said to be hundreds of years old and that “one of the conditions of [his] becoming immortal and the Christmas Saint” is his not being allowed to leave the North Pole but once a year. Before he leaves on his flight, his teen daughter Kitty, feeling isolated living in such a remote location, requests that her father bring back a man for her. He kidnaps a crass Irishman in the hopes that his daughter will no longer want any man from the world of mortals after meeting him, but when Kitty is surprisingly intrigued by him, an elaborate ruse by Gussie convinces him to leave and no one short of Erin (Ériu), the Goddess of Ireland, shows up to transport him away.
“Dresden China: A Christmas Pantomime in One Act,” by Ellen Douglas Deland (111), “A Song of Kriss Kringle’s Tree,” by Margaret E. Sangster (114), and “A Visit to Santa Claus’s Warehouse,” by Margaret Fezandié (117), Harper’s Young People, vol. 14, no. 684, 6 Dec. 1892. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Puck, Punch, Judy, Mrs. Claus)
“Birth and Adventures of Santa Claus,” Poems of Two Worlds: Containing The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (An Allegory), Oo‐La‐Ita (A Legend of Minnesota), and Other Historical, Legendary, Allegorical, Humorous, Moral and Spiritual Poems, by William Cotter Wilson, 1893. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Mr. Kris Kringle: A Christmas Tale, by Silas Weir Mitchell, 1893. Does not mention Saint Nicholas. (HathiTrust)
“Where Santa Claus Lives, and What He Does,” The Santa Claus Story Book, 1893. (U. Florida) (Internet Archive)
“The Conquest of Santa Claus: A Christmas Entertainment,” by Caroline A. Creevey and Margaret E. Sangster, Harper’s Young People, vol. 16, no. 787, 27 Nov. 1894. (Internet Archive) (Mrs. Claus, Bertha and Fritz)
A Christmas Tale: In One Act (Conte de Noël), by Maurice Bouchor (d. 1929), 1895, trans. Barrett H. Clark (d. 1953), 1915. (Internet Archive)
“Santa Claus’ Assistants,” The Wonderful Fairies of the Sun, by Ernest Vincent Wright, illustration by Cora M. Norman, (July) 1896. (Internet Archive) (Son and Daughter)
At the Court of King Winter: A Christmas Play for Schools, by Lizzie M. Hadley, The Practical Teachers’ Library, (Oct.) 1896. (HathiTrust) (Jack Frost, Dame Nature, King Winter, feminine personification of Christmas Day)
“St. Nicholas Day in Holland,” by Annie C. Kuiper, St. Nicholas, vol. 24, no. 3, Jan. 1897. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Christmas Entertainment: New Songs to Old Tunes, Fancy Drills, Acrostics, Motion Songs, Tableaux, Short Plays, Recitations in Costume, ed. Alice M. Kellogg, Practical Teacher’s Library, (Nov.) 1897. “A large proportion of the material in this collection was contributed to The School Journal.” (Internet Archive) (1918, HathiTrust)
“Is There a Santa Claus?” (essay), by Francis Pharcellus Church, The Sun, 21 Sept. 1897. (Wikimedia)
Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. Nicholas, illustrations by E. Gaucher (from signatures), (Dec.) 1897. (Internet Archive) (Mrs. Claus)
“Santa Claus’ Visit,” Gymnastic Stories and Plays for Primary Schools: Physical Exercises for the First Two Years of School, by Rebecca Stoneroad, (Jan.) 1898. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
How Polly and Ned Found Santa Claus, by Anna Chapin Ray, illustration by A. W. B. Lincoln, (June) 1898. (Internet Archive)
“How Christmas Came to the Santa Maria Flats,” Ickery Ann and Other Girls and Boys, by Elia W. Peattie, 1898. Reprinted in The Children’s Book of Christmas Stories, 1913. (Internet Archive)
A Vision of St. Nicholas: Affectionately Inscribed to My Friend George Jules Denis and the “Placens Uxor” in Memory of the Fair Goddess Nicolina, in Whose Worship We Have Joined Under the Hospitable Umbrage of Bonnie Brae, by Holdridge Ozro Collins, (Dec.) 1898. (Internet Archive)
“Christmas Chimes Cantata or Santa Claus’ Dilemma,” by Maude M. Jackson, Practical Programs for School and Home Entertainments …, 1899. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Queen Titania, Prince of the Brownies, King of Elves)
“Christmas Eve at the North Pole,” Toyon: A Book of Holiday Recitations for the Children of the School, the Home, and the Church, ed. Allie M. Felker, 1899. Santa Claus uses seals rather than reindeer. (Internet Archive)
“Christmas at the North Pole,” Normal Instructor, vol. 19, no. 2, Dec. 1909. (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus’s Partner, by Thomas Nelson Page, 1899. (Internet Archive)
The Christmas Angel, by Katharine Pyle, 1900. No mention of Santa Claus, but Kris Kringle and grandmother Mrs. Kringle, along with Santa Claus’ reindeer, live in the Wonder Country. (Internet Archive)
“Santa Claus’ Deputy,” My Mysterious Clients, by Harvey Scribner, (May) 1900. (Internet Archive)
“A Messenger from Santa Claus,” A Messenger from Santa Claus and Other Christmas Stories, 1904. (HathiTrust)
Santa Claus: A Monologue, by J. L. McClelland, Baker’s Edition of Plays, 1901. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
“The People Who Help Santa Claus” (5), by Jeannette Steele Porter, illustrated by C. M. Relyea, and “The Revolt of Santa Claus” (play) (19), by Ednah Proctor Clarke, headpiece by C. A. Strehlau, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 19, no. 1, Dec. 1901. Also John Bull, Rob Roy. (HathiTrust)
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum, illustrations by Mary Cowles Clark, 1902. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Always Reliable (A Christmas Story),” by Cad Walad, The Cambrian, vol. 22, no. 12, Dec. 1902. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“A Christmas Mistake,” by Edwin L. Sabin, illustration by Otto W. Beck, St. Nicholas, vol. 30, no. 2, Dec. 1902. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Ketchin’ Santa Claus” (poem), Glympses of Hoosierdom, by Deamor R. Drake, (Jan.) 1903. (Internet Archive)
The Surprising Adventures of the Man in the Moon, Showing How, in Company with Santa Claus, Robinson Crusoe, Cinderella and Her Prince, Jack the Giant Killer, Little Red Riding Hood, Old Mother Hubbard, Jack Sprat and His Wife, Tommy Tucker and Some Others, He Made a Remarkable Tour over Land and Sea and Through the Air, by Ray M. Steward (pseudonym of Edward Stratemeyer), illustration by L. J. Bridgman, 1903.
The Truth About Santa Claus, by Charlotte M. Vaile, illustration by William E. Mears, (Sept.) 1903. (Internet Archive)
“Is There a Santa Claus?,” by Jacob A. Riis, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, Dec. 1903. (HathiTrust)
Is There a Santa Claus?, 1904. (Internet Archive)
“A Visit to Santa Claus,” A Messenger from Santa Claus and Other Christmas Stories, by Harvey Scribner, 1904. (HathiTrust)
“A Defective Santa Claus” (poem), by James Whitcomb Riley, Collier’s Weekly, vol. 34, no. 10, 3 Dec. 1904. (HathiTrust)
A Defective Santa Claus, 1904. (Internet Archive)
“A Kidnapped Santa Claus,” by L. Frank Baum, illustration by Fred Richardson, The Delineator, vol. 64, no. 6, Dec. 1904. (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
“A Message to Mother Goose,” by Ellen Manly, St. Nicholas, vol. 32, no. 2, Dec. 1904. (Internet Archive)
Arctic Hospitality or Queen Summer at the Pole, by Annie Stetson Perkins, 1905. (HathiTrust)
Trouble in Santa Claus Land: A Christmas Entertainment in Two Scenes, by Orissa W. Gleason, 1905. Mrs. Santa Claus, Spirit of Christmas. (HathiTrust)
Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Winsor McCay, 17 Dec. 1905. (Internet Archive)
Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Winsor McCay, 24 Dec. 1905. (Internet Archive)
“Mrs. Santa Claus,” by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, adapted from a story collected from Frances Newton, For the Children’s Hour, ed. Carolyn Sherwin Bailey and Clara M. Lewis, 1906. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive) (Mrs. Claus, Reindeer)
Reprinted with a different illustration in A Third Reader, ed. Kate Louise Brown, Robert C. Metcalf and Arthur Deerin Hall, The Metcalf‐Hall Readers, 1911. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Santa Is Coming” (song), by W. A. Hodgdon, Melodic First Reader, Natural Music Course, 1906. (Internet Archive)
“The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe,” by Anna Marion Smith, illustrated by Reginald B. Birch, St. Nicholas, vol. 34, no. 2, Dec. 1906. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Google Books)
Reprinted as “Old Woman in a Shoe,” Mother Goose and What Happened Next, 1909. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Google Books)
Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Winsor McCay, 16 Dec. 1906. (Internet Archive)
Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Winsor McCay, 23 Dec. 1906. (Internet Archive)
“A Ballad of Santa Claus” (poem), by Henry van Dyke, Charter, Constitution By‐Laws and List of Members of the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York …, 1907. (HathiTrust)
The Grand Canyon and Other Poems, 1914. (Internet Archive)
Jack Frost’s Mistake: A Very Clever One Act Operetta, for Thanksgiving or Any Time, by Clara J. Denton, 1907. (HathiTrust)
“A Perjured Santa Claus,” Wards of Liberty, by Myra Kelly, 1907. (Internet Archive)
Santa Claus’ Twin Brother, by Frances Trego Montgomery, illustrated by Hugo von Hofsten, 1907. (synopsis, HathiTrust)
Santa Has the Grippe, by Harriet D. Castle Carmichael, music by Ira B. Wilson, (Sept.) 1907.
The Goblins’ Christmas, by Elizabeth Anderson, 1908. (Internet Archive)
The Mother of Santa Claus: A Christmas Entertainment for Children in Two Acts, by Bertha Currier Porter, 1908. (HathiTrust)
“The Philanthropist’s Christmas,” by James Weber Linn, The Youth’s Companion, vol. 82, no. ?, — 1908. Reprinted in The Children’s Book of Christmas Stories, 1913. (Internet Archive)
The Syndicated Santa Claus: A Christmas Entertainment for Children in Two Acts, by Bertha Currier Porter, 1908. (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
Tommy Trot’s Visit to Santa Claus, by Thomas Nelson Page, 1908. (Internet Archive)
“How Christmas Was Saved, or The Sorrows of Santa Claus (A Christmas Play),” by Catharine Markham, illustration by Albertine Randall Wheelan, St. Nicholas, vol. 36, no. 2, Dec. 1908. Also William Tell, Lo the Poor Indian, Robinson Crusoe, Friday, Captain Kidd, Robin Hood, Pocahontas. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus’s Note‐book,” by Lilian B. Miner, illustration by W. T. [Władysław Teodor] Benda (d. 1948), St. Nicholas, vol. 36, no. 2, Dec. 1908. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Santa’s Surprise Party,” by Gladys Hyatt Sinclair, illustrated by George Varian, St. Nicholas, vol. 36, no. 2, Dec. 1908. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Closing of Santa Claus’ Door,” Your Child and Mine, by Anne Warner, 1909. (Internet Archive)
The Road to Oz[,] in Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow’s Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed It All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, illustration by John R. Neill, 1909. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus,” The Giant and the Star: Little Annals in Rhyme, by Madison Cawein, 1909. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (AmVerse)
The Story of Santa Klaus Told for Children of All Ages from Six to Sixty, by William S. Walsh, 1909. (Internet Archive)
“Is Santa Claus a Fraud? A Christmas Play for School or Parlor,” by Carolyn Wells, illustration by C. B. Dillon [Corinne Boyd Dillon], The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 27, no. 1, Dec. 1909. Also Father Time, Pierrot, Saint Valentine, Jack‐o’‐Lantern, Goddess of Liberty/Columbia, plus various other personifications: History, Poetry, Tradition, Folk‐Lore, Dame Rumor, Mistletoe, Holly, May Queen, April Fool. (HathiTrust)
“The Real Question” (poem), by Charles J. Stowell, St. Nicholas, vol. 37, no. 2, Dec. 1909. (Internet Archive)
“A Boy’s Visit to Santa Claus,” Some Great Stories and How to Tell Them, by Richard Thomas Wyche, (June) 1910. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust, US access)
“A Child’s Christmas Prayer,” Songs with Silver Linings, by James W. Foley, 1910. (HathiTrust)
The Good Saint Nicholas, 1911. (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus,” by Mrs. Charles H. Toby, Wafted Melodies for Piano, 1911. (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus’s Baby” and “Little Miss Santa Claus,” Santa Claus’s Baby and Other Christmas Stories, by John Coleman Adams, 1911. (HathiTrust)
“The Christmas Conspiracy: A Christmas Play for Boys and Girls,” by Elizabeth Woodbridge, St. Nicholas, vol. 39, no. 2, Dec. 1911. (Internet Archive)
A Christmas Party for Santa Claus, by Ida M. Huntington, 1912. (Internet Archive)
“Santa’s Stocking,” by Katharine Lee Bates, The Churchman, vol. 106, no. 26, whole no. 3545, 28 Dec. 1912. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted in Fairy Gold, 1916. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Little Girl’s Christmas,” by Winnifred E. Lincoln, and “Jimmy Scarecrow’s Christmas,” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Children’s Book of Christmas Stories, 1913. (Internet Archive)
“Saint Nicholas” (111), “Is the Story True?” (117), “The Ride of Saint Nicholas” (118) etc., Holland Stories, by Mary Estella Smith, illustrated by Bonnibel Butler, 1913. (1928, HathiTrust) (Zwarte Piet)
“Santa Claus Land” (52), “My Dolly” (55) and “Tom’s Christmas Party” (59), At the Open Door, by Louise Robinson, illustration by Clara E. Atwood, 1913. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Santa Claus’ Visit,” by Arthur L. Price, illustration by Fred L. Packer, The San Francisco Call and Post, vol. 115 (94), no. 12 (143), 13 Dec. 1913. (Library of Congress)
If Only I Were Santa Claus, by Edgar Guest, 1914. (HathiTrust)
“Little Madcap’s Journey: A Fairy Extravaganza in Three Acts,” libretto by Isabel Weld Anderson (Perkins), music by John Loud and Julia Ward Howe, illustration by Junius Cravens, Everyboy and Other Plays for Children, 1914. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Mrs Claus)
Mrs. Santa Claus, Militant: A Christmas Comedy, by Bell Elliott Palmer, 1914. (HathiTrust) Mrs. Santa Claus gets tired of making toys in Iceland while Mr. Santa Claus (whom she calls “Jolly”) gets all the credit, so she waits for him to take a nap and then steals his sleigh and attempts to deliver the presents herself, mixing some of them up due to her inexperience. The final gifts are delivered to a squalid New York City tenement where Mr. Santa Claus catches up to her (having received a ride in Jack Frost’s airplane) and declares that she shall ride with him every year thereafter. There are repeated references to the reindeer throughout the play, with Santa Claus mentioning two of them as D. & B. (Dunder and Blixem).
The Rejuvenation of Father Christmas, by J. Edgar Park, 1914. (HathiTrust)
The Dilemma of Santa Claus, by Lloyd C. Douglas, [1915?]. (HathiTrust)
“Santa Land” (song), by Harriet D. Castle, music by J. A. Parks, Second Year Music, Hollis Dann Music Course, 1915. (HathiTrust)
The Pixie in the House, by Laura Rountree Smith, illustrated by Clara Powers Wilson, (Nov.) 1915. (Internet Archive) (1925, HathiTrust) (Jack and Jill)
“The Spirit of Christmas” (126), by Edith Houghton Hooker, illustration by C. Clyde Squires, and “Mr. S. Claus’s Predicament (Prelude for a Christmas‐Tree Distribution)” (164), by J. D. Whitney, illustrated by Norman P. Rockwell, St. Nicholas, vol. 43, no. 2, Dec. 1915. (Internet Archive)
“A Happy Solution,” by Margaret Johnson, illustration by Shirley Kite and Leighton Haring Smith, St. Nicholas, vol. 43, no. 3, Jan. 1916. (Internet Archive)
“Where Santa Claus Came From,” by Rose Ranson, The College Greetings, vol. 19, no. 4, Jan. 1916. (Internet Archive)
“Christmas Island” and “Santa Claus’ Riddle,” Fairy Gold, by Katharine Lee Bates, 1916.
“Anita’s Secret or Christmas in the Steerage,” The White Christmas and Other Merry Christmas Plays, by Walter Ben Hare, illustrated by Buckton Nendick, 1917. (Internet Archive)
A Reversible Santa Claus, by Meredith Nicholson, illustrated by Florence H. Minard, 1917. (Internet Archive)
St. Nicholas: His Legend and His Role in the Christmas Celebration and Other Popular Customs, by George H. McKnight, 1917. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
When I Was a Girl in Holland, ch. 8, “St. Martin and St. Nicholas,” by Cornelia de Groot, 1917. (HathiTrust)
“Santa’s Allies” (play), by Anita B. Ferris, uncredited illustrations plus a photograph on p. 321, Everyland, vol. 8, no. 7, July 1917. (HathiTrust) (Female Spirit of Christmas.)
“The Road to Christmas” (play), by Anita B. Ferris, uncredited headpiece, Everyland, vol. 8, no. 11, Nov. 1917. (HathiTrust) (Befana, Father Christmas)
A Department Store Santa Claus: A Christmas Play in Three Scenes and a Tableau, by Ernest Godfrey Hoffsten, 1918. (Internet Archive)
The Luck of Santa Claus: A Play for Young People, by B. C. Porter, 1918. (Internet Archive)
When Santa Claus Went to the Front, by Ethel E. Reed and Martha G. Kendall, 1918. (Internet Archive) (Rip Van Winkle, Shylock, Mrs. Claus)
Telephoning to Santa Claus, by John D. MacDonald, 1919. (Internet Archive) (Mrs. Claus)
A Christmas Dilemma, by Katharine Van Etten Lyford, 1920. (Internet Archive) (Mrs. Claus, New Year)
“Raggedy Andy’s Smile” and “The Wooden Horse,” Raggedy Andy Stories: Introducing the Little Rag Brother of Raggedy Ann, by Johnny Gruelle, 1920. (HathiTrust)
The Christmas Chain, by Lilian Pearson, 1921. (Internet Archive)
“Down the Chimney,” “Up the Chimney” and “The Christmas Dinner,” Three Christmas Plays, by Shepherd Knapp, 1921.
Santa Claus Gets His Wish: A Christmas Play in One Act for Young Children, by Blanche Proctor Fisher, 1921. (Internet Archive) (Sand‐Man)
“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane: A True Account, If Only You Believe It, of the Life and Ways of Santa, Eldest Son of Mr. and Mrs. Claus,” by Sarah Addington, illustration by Gertrude A. Kay, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 38, no. 12, Dec. 1921. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted as The Boy Who Lived in Pudding Lane: Being a True Account, If Only You Believe It, of the Life and Ways of Santa, Oldest Son of Mr. and Mrs. Claus, 1922. (Internet Archive) (U. Florida)
“ The Christmas Elves, ” Five Plays and Five Pantomimes, by Sidney Baldwin, illustration by Mary Rose Donovan, 1922. (HathiTrust)
The Merrie Adventures of Robin Hood and Santa Claus, by J. Edgar Park, illustration by W. H. Montgomery, 1922. (HathiTrust)
Queen Christmas : A Pageant Play, by Carolyn Wells, 1922. (Internet Archive)
“ Santa in His Aeroplane ” (song), by Edna Everett, Kindergarten and Primary Songs : Fifty More Songs for the Kindergarten and for First, Second and Third Grades, rev. ed., 1922. (HathiTrust)
“ Sing a Song of Sleepy Head : A Play for Grownups and Children, ” Sing a Song of Sleepy Head : Being Readable Rhymes for Curious Children, by James W. Foley, 1922. Wife is Merry Christmas, and four reindeer are named : Snowflake, Whitefur, Crystal and Dew. (HathiTrust)
A Strike in Santa Land : A Play in One Act, by Effa E. Preston, 1922. Mrs. Santa Claus, brownie, Tree. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“ The Great Adventure of Mrs. Santa Claus, ” by Sarah Addington, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 39, no. 12, Dec. 1922. (HathiTrust)
“The Joke on Santa: A Play for Small Children,” The Christmas Gayety Book, by Effa E. Preston, 1924. Also multiple other works in book. (HathiTrust) (Mrs. Santa, reindeer)
Santa Claus’ Busy Day: A Play in One Act, by Z. [Zoe] Hartman, 1924. (HathiTrust) (Mrs. Santa Claus)
Santa Claus Comes to America, by Caroline Singer and Cyrus Leroy Baldridge, 1942. “ Published simultaneously in Canada …. ” (HathiTrust)
The Christmas Forest, by Louise Fatio, 1950. (HathiTrust)
The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture, ch. 2, “The Social Role of Santa Claus,” by James H. Barnett, 1954. “Published simultaneously in Canada.” (HathiTrust)
Festivals of Western Europe, by Dorothy Gladys Spicer, 1958. Entries for “Sint Nikolaas Vooravond or La Veille de Saint Nicolas (Saint Nicholas’ Eve)” (p. 19), “La Saint Nicolas (Saint Nicholas’ Day)” (49), “Sankt Nikolaus‐Abend and Sankt Nikolaus‐Tag (Saint Nicholast [sic] Eve and Saint Nicholas Day)” (81), “Neklosdag (Saint Nicholas’ Day)” (118), “Sint Nicolaas Avond or Sinterklaas Avond (Saint Nicholas or Santa Klaus Eve)” (144), “Sint Nicolaas Dag (Saint Nicholas’ Day)” (147), “Samichlaus Abend (Santa Claus Night)” (238). (HathiTrust) (Zwarte Piet)
The Southern Christmas Book; The Full Story from Earliest Times to Present: People, Customs, Conviviality, Carols, Cooking, by Harnett T. Kane, 1958. (HathiTrust)
“Santa’s Story,” Postal Life, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov.–Dec. 1981. (HathiTrust)
Of Saint Nicholas.
Praxis de stratelatis, ca. 400. Published in Hagios Nikolaos: Der Heilige Nikolaos in der griechischen Kirche …, vol. 1, by Gustav Anrich (d. 1930), 1913, with a German synopsis. (HathiTrust).
“Sainte Nicholaes godes druð” (song), by Godric of Finchale, 1100s. (BL) ✓
Published in Bibliographia poetica: A Catalogue of Engleish Poets, of the Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth, Centurys, with a Short Account of Their Works, by Joseph Ritson, 1802. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints, by Jacobus da Varagine, 1260, vol. 2, translated by William Caxton, 1483. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
Regnum papiſticum: Opus lectu iucundum omnibus ueritatem amãtibus; in quo Papa cum ſuis membris, uita, fide, cultu, ritibus, atqꝫ cæremonijs, quantũ fieri potuit, uerè & breuiter deſcribuntur, diſtinctum in Libros quatuor; … Adiecta ſunt & alia quædam huius argumenti, lectu non indigna, bk. 4, by Thomas Naogeorgus, (Feb.) 1553. (Google Books) (Google Books) (Google Books)
The Popiſh Kingdome, or Reigne of Antichriſt, trans. Barnabe Googe, 1570. (U. Mich.) (1813, HathiTrust) (1879, HathiTrust) (1880, Internet Archive)
Feſta Chriſtianorum; hoc eſt: De origine, progreſſu, ceremoniis et ritibus feſtorum dierum Chriſtianorum liber unus; in quo oſtenditur ex probatis authoribus, ueram primitiuam Eccleſiam paucißima habuiſſe feſta; progreſſu autem temporis prodigioſè à ſuperſtitioſis hominibus numerum eorum accumulatum, & multiplices errores in obſeruatione illorum introductos eſſe: adeoq́ꝫ à ueræ antiquitatis ueneranda ſimplicitate ac ueſtigijs Eccleſiam hac etiam in parte longißimè receßiſſe, by Rudolf Hoſpinian, 1593. (Google Books)
San Nicola di Bari (oratorio), libretto by Silvio Stampiglia, music by Giovanni Bononcini, 1693.
The Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints: Compiled from Original Monuments and Other Authentic Records: Illuſtrated with the Remarks of Judicious Modern Critics and Hiſtorians, vol. 4, by Alban Butler, 1759. (1800, vol. 12, HathiTrust) (1813, vol. 12, HathiTrust) (1842, vol. 12, Internet Archive)
“Saint Nicholas, good holy man!” (“Sancte Claus, goed heijlig man!”) (song), collected (and possibly translated) by John Pintard, broadsheet, 1810. (Wikimedia)
History of the City of New York, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, by Mary L. Booth, 1859. (Internet Archive)
In “A Glimpse of an Old Dutch Town,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, vol. 62, no. 370, Mar. 1881. (HathiTrust)
New Amsterdam Gazette, vol. 2, no. 5, 15 Dec. 1884. (HathiTrust)
“Christmas Hymns,” Dutch Nursery Rhymes of Colonial Times, ed. Mrs. M. P. Ferris, 1890. (HathiTrust, US access only)
“St. Nicholas’s Day (Sixth of December),” Observations on Popular Antiquities: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, vol. 1, by John Brand, arranged and revised, with additions, by Henry Ellis, 1813. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Greatly expanded since the 1777 edition [HathiTrust].)
“Die Geſchichte von den ſchwarzen Buben,” Luſtige Geſchichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 ſchön kolorierten Tafeln für Kinder von 3–6 Jahren, by Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann, 1845. (1879, Internet Archive)
“The Story of the Inky Boys,” The English Struwwelpeter or Pretty Stories and Funny Pictures for Little Children, uncredited translator, [1885]. (Internet Archive) (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (1919?, Internet Archive)
“The Story of the Little Black Boys,” Struwwelpeter or, Merry Rhymes and Funny Pictures, uncredited translator, [1903]. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Blackamoor,” trans. Annis Lee Furness, Favourites of a Nursery of Seventy Years Ago; and Some Others of Later Date, 1916. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (1918, Internet Archive)
“St. Nicholas of Myra,” A Handbook of Legendary and Mythological Art: With Descriptive Illustrations, by Clara Erskine Clement, 1871. (Internet Archive)
“How the Good Gifts Were Used by Two,” by Howard Pyle, Harper’s Young People, vol. 7, no. 339, 27 Apr. 1886. (Internet Archive)
Der hl. Nikolaus und ſeine Verehrung, by Dr. Joh. Praxmarer (d. 1934), 1894. (HathiTrust)
The Mother of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus): A Story of Duty and Peril, by Grant Balfour (pseudonym of James Miller Grant), 1899. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 11, 1904. (HathiTrust)
Vol. 20, 1919. (HathiTrust)
“Saint Nicholas,” Stories of the Saints, by Caroline van Dusen Chenoweth, 1907. (HathiTrust)
“The Legend of St. Nicholas (An Old French Chanson),” A Posy of Folk Songs, by R. L. Gales (d. 1927), 1912. (Internet Archive)
“A Legend of Saint Nicholas” (play), by Beulah Marie Dix, (Dec.) 1912, published in Poet Lore, vol. 25, no. 5, Sept.–Oct. 1914. (Internet Archive)
“The Fairing of St. Nicholas” (poem), by R. L. Gales (d. 1927), The Vineyard, vol. 7, no. 39, Dec. 1913. (HathiTrust, US access only)
Reprinted as “The Ballad of St. Nicholas,” David in Heaven & Other Poems, [1914]. (Internet Archive)
“A Story of Saint Nicholas” and “Elijah the Prophet and St. Nicholas,” Russian Folk Tales (Translated from the Russian), by Alexander Afanasyev, trans. Leonard A. Magnus, 1915. — (Internet Archive)
Hagios Nikolaos: Der Heilige Nikolaos in der griechischen Kirche …, by Gustav Anrich (d. 1930), 1913–17. (vol. 1, 1913, HathiTrust) (vol. 2, 1917, HathiTrust)
Review by Fred. C. Conybeare (d. 1924), Review of Theology & Philosophy, vol. 10, no. 5, (Nov.?) 1914. (HathiTrust)
“Saint Nicholas and the Children,” Canadian Fairy Tales, by Cyrus Macmillan, 1922. (Internet Archive)
Life of Saint Nicholas: A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, ed. Mary Sinclair Crawford, 1923. (HathiTrust)
How to Distinguish the Saints in Art by Their Costumes, Symbols, and Attributes, by Arthur de Bles, 1925. (HathiTrust)
“About Saint Nicholas,” Gay Legends of the Saints, by Frances Margaret Fox, 1942. (HathiTrust) (Man in the Moon)
Saints and Their Attributes with a Guide to Localities and Patronage, by Helen Roeder, 1956. “Made and printed in Great Britain.” (HathiTrust)
See “The Literary Development of the ‘Life’ of St Nicholas of Myra (= Santa Claus),” by Roger Pearse, 3 Feb. 2015, and multiple pages on the St. Nicholas Center site, for early appearances. — Scott Norsworthy, “Santa Claus Comes on New Year’s Eve,” Melvilliana, 31 Dec. 2017.
Mrs. Santa Claus is, by most accounts, the wife of Santa Claus, who carries out a number of tasks to help him ahead of his annual gifting trips and who has, on at least a few occasions, also accompanied him thereon. The couple have been married at least since 27 December 1815, possibly since the 10th century, and they are the parents of Kitty Claus, of Bertha and Fritz, and of a number of other offspring. Mrs. Claus’ real name is almost never mentioned, but a text from 1897 states it is Kreche Kindly and texts from December 1921 and December 1922 state it is Bessie. A few sources suggest that Mrs. Santa Claus and Mother Christmas may be the same woman, but insofar as Santa Claus and Father Christmas are certainly two different men, so must their respective wives be different women, and that Mrs. Santa Claus and the feminine personification of Christmas are indeed two different women is most clearly demonstrated when they participate in the same adventure together on at least two occasions (in 1892 and 1905). (Two texts claim that Santa Claus is instead married to Mother Goose rather than to Mrs. Claus.)
On 27 December 1815, The New‐York Evening Post announces that a proclamation by Santa Claus will be published in a forthcoming issue, stating that the manuscript therefor was submitted “in a lady’s hand writing,” and when it is published the very next day, 28 December, the authoress refers to herself therein as “Santa Clause, Queen and Empress of handsome girls, women married and unmarried, not excepting ugly girls, and old maids of all sorts, phizzes, sizes and descriptions,” and signs the proclamation, spelling her name slightly differently, “Santa‐Claus[,] Queen and Empress of the Court of Fashions.”
Texts from 28, 29 and 30 December 1815 explicitly describe the wife of Sanctus Nicholas as a queen and empress (“Proclamation” and others), but this circumstance receives little corroboration in later texts. Even when an 1892 play portrays Santa Claus as “Ruler of the Kingdom of the North Pole,” that his wife would therefore logically be the queen goes unmentioned (Santa Claus’ Daughter).
Two stories (“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane” and “The Great Adventure of Mrs. Santa Claus”) give Mrs. Santa Claus the name Bessie.
In “The Marriage of Santa Claus,” Santa Claus is portrayed as a lonely bachelor trying to determine the best candidate to be his wife. Concluding it should be someone who loves children as much as he does, he rushes off to propose to Mother Goose. After she accepts, the reindeer immediately carry her and her “children” (numerous nursery‐rhyme and fairy‐tale figures) to live in Santa Claus’ “great palace,” apparently before even any wedding ceremony. The 1899 story “Christmas Chimes Cantata” presents a very similar story.
Of a girl called Miss Santa Claus
“Little Miss Santa Claus,” by John R. Coryell, Harper’s Young People, vol. 7, no. 318, 1 Dec. 1885. (Internet Archive)
“Little Miss Santa Claus,” by T. Everett Harry, Harper’s Bazar, vol. 41, no. 12, Dec. 1907. (HathiTrust)
“Little Miss Santa Claus,” Santa Claus’s Baby and Other Christmas Stories, by John Coleman Adams, 1911. (HathiTrust)
Little Miss Santa Claus (theatrical sketch), Harry Moore & Co., 1913. (synopsis, Internet Archive)
Miss Santa Claus of the Pullman, by Annie Fellows Johnston, 1913. (Internet Archive)
Placeholder.