
Contrary to what some believe, Santa Claus was not created by the Coca-Cola Company, but rather was a combination of many myths and legends, cultures and influences.
Snopes confirms that the myth is just that. However, in the spirit of the holiday we have provided a brief history of Jolly Old St Nick.
The American version of Santa Claus was brought to New York by 17th century Dutch settlers. They called him “Sinter Klaas.” The name “St. A Claus” appeared in the American press as early as 1773. But it was Washington Irving who, in 1809, first popularized Saint Nicholas with his History of New York, published under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. Irving described a Claus who rode horseback and arrived each “Eve of Saint Nicholas.” Fourteen years later Clement Clarke Moore penned The Night Before Christmas and gave solidity to the tale with names for reindeer, a distinctive laugh and winks, as well as the famous “lays his finger aside of his nose” (taken directly from Irving’s 1809 description).
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