Santa Claus: The Real History Behind Father Christmas

Santa Claus is the jolly, red-suited bringer of Christmas gifts, but the real man behind the legend was a fourth-century Greek bishop named Saint Nicholas who lived in what is now Turkey. Over roughly seventeen centuries, a generous, miracle-working saint travelled across Europe, sailed to America with Dutch settlers, picked up a sleigh, eight reindeer and a workshop at the North Pole, and finally became the cheerful figure we welcome into our homes every Christmas Eve. Here is the full story, plus where he lives, why he wears red, and how he became Father Christmas here in Britain.

Who was the real Santa Claus?

The man at the very start of the story was Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop born around 280 AD in the town of Patara, on the coast of modern-day Turkey. He was never fat or jolly. By all accounts he was a fierce, determined defender of his faith who spent years in prison during the Roman persecution of Christians before the Emperor Constantine ended it in 313 AD. What made him beloved was his quiet generosity. Having inherited wealth, he gave it away to the poor and the sick.

One story did more than any other to turn him into a gift bringer. A poor father had three daughters and no money for the dowries that would let them marry. On three separate nights, Nicholas secretly tossed bags of gold through the family's window, saving the girls from a desperate fate. Some tellings say the gold landed in stockings left to dry by the fire, which is often pointed to as the origin of hanging up stockings on Christmas Eve. Nicholas died on 6 December in the mid-fourth century, and that date became his feast day, still celebrated across much of Europe today.

From Saint Nicholas to Sinterklaas to Santa Claus

For centuries Saint Nicholas was the great gift bringer of the Christmas season, honoured on 6 December rather than on the 25th. After the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s, veneration of saints fell out of favour across much of northern Europe, and in many places his role passed to other figures. The Dutch, however, refused to give him up. They kept their beloved Sinterklaas and carried him across the Atlantic to the colony of New Amsterdam, which we now know as New York.

In America the name softened from Sinterklaas into Santa Claus. The figure was reshaped by a handful of nineteenth-century writers. Washington Irving poked fun at the old Dutch traditions in his 1809 history of New York, picturing Saint Nicholas soaring over the rooftops to drop gifts. The biggest leap came in 1823, when a poem called A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known today as The Night Before Christmas, was published. It gave Santa his sleigh, his eight reindeer, his round belly and his way of coming down the chimney. The poem, as one historian put it, simply went viral.

Why does Santa wear a red suit?

A popular myth says Coca-Cola invented the red-suited Santa in the 1930s. It is a lovely story, but it is not quite true. The American cartoonist Thomas Nast had already standardised the modern look in the late nineteenth century, drawing a plump, grandfatherly Santa for Harper's Weekly from 1863 onwards. Nast is the one who gave him a home at the North Pole, a toy workshop, and a big book listing which children had been naughty and nice. Before then, nineteenth-century artists had dressed Santa in all sorts of colours, including blue, green and purple.

What Coca-Cola did do, through illustrator Haddon Sundblom's adverts from 1931, was lock the image in place for good: a warm, portly, white-bearded gentleman in a red suit with white fur trim, a black belt and black boots. So the red came first, and the fizzy drink made it famous.

Santa Claus or Father Christmas? The British twist

In Britain we often use Santa Claus and Father Christmas as if they mean the same thing, and today they more or less do. But they began as two separate characters. Father Christmas is much older and very English. He started as a personification of the festive season itself, a jovial figure of feasting, games and good cheer who appeared in midwinter celebrations long before he had anything to do with presents or children. He was a symbol of the holiday rather than a gift bringer.

When the American Santa Claus crossed back over the Atlantic in the late nineteenth century, the two slowly merged. The gift-giving, chimney-climbing habits of Santa attached themselves to the older British Father Christmas, and the green-robed reveller of old England quietly took on the red suit and the sack of toys. That is why, in Britain, the two names now point to the same beloved figure.

Where does Santa Claus live?

Thanks to Thomas Nast, the traditional answer is the North Pole, where Santa is said to spend the year making toys with Mrs Claus and an army of elves, reading the letters that children send him. In Europe, though, many families place his home in Lapland, the far north of Finland, where the town of Rovaniemi welcomes visitors to Santa Claus Village all year round. Both answers feel right, because the snow, the reindeer and the long polar nights belong to the very top of the world.

However you picture him, the magic of Santa lives just as happily at home. A decorated tree, a plate of mince pies left out on Christmas Eve, and the whole family in matching festive knitwear go a long way towards making him feel close. A cheerful Christmas jumper is the easiest way to dress for the occasion, and our children's Christmas jumpers turn the youngest believers into Santa's little helpers.

For a properly coordinated family photo by the tree, matching family Christmas pyjamas are hard to beat, especially for that first sleepy moment on Christmas morning when the stockings are finally full.

Santa traditions around the world

Santa Claus is not the only gift bringer. As the saint's legend spread, every culture shaped its own version. In France he is Père Noël, in much of Europe the older Sinterklaas still visits on 6 December, and in Russia the equivalent figure is Grandfather Frost, or Ded Moroz, who traditionally arrives at New Year in a long blue coat rather than a red one. Some northern European traditions even paired the kindly gift bringer with a fearsome companion to keep children on their best behaviour. What every version shares is the same warm idea at its heart: a magical visitor who rewards kindness and good cheer in the darkest, coldest days of the year.

That is the real gift of Santa Claus. Whatever name you call him, and wherever you imagine his workshop, he turns a long winter night into the most magical evening of the year.