From Saint Nicholas

to

Santa Claus

The Story Of A Saint

"After you stop believing in Santa Claus, The whole world just goes downhill."
(Tom Clancy, The Sum of All Fears)

Contents

The Life of Saint Nicholas

The Reformation

Saint Nicholas Comes to the New World

The Father of Santa Claus: Washington Irving

A Visit from St. Nicholas – The Poem

Moore or Less – Disputed Authorship of the Poem

Santa Gets a Helping Hand: The Elves

Santa Gets A Face: Thomas Nast

Santa Claus and His Works – The Illustrated Poem

The Christmas Revival Continues – A Christmas Carol

The Christmas Card

"Is There A Santa Claus?"

The Family Grows – Santa Takes a Wife

The Modern Santa Evolves – Norman Rockwell and Haddon Sundblom

The Family Grows Again – Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

The Evolution Continues

Demise of a Saint

The Contemporary Dutch Tradition

Bibliography

Appendix A. Henry Livingston, Jr.

Appendix B. Answering the Inevitable Question

Images of St. Nicholas from Catholic Forum

Write your letter to Santa Claus at SantaSearch
(not just from "one to ninety-two!")

Track Santa's Progress on Christmas Eve!
NORAD Tracks Santa Website (in six languages, with lots of extras; after November 25)
NASA's Santa Track

In past years, NORAD has been assisted  by NOAA (according to a 2001 press release from NOAA).  It's uncertain whether such a spirit of cooperation will be extended in future years, or whether NOAA would consent to assist NASA as well.  Time will tell.

Please note that NORAD's efforts are the result of volunteer individuals and organizations, and provides this service at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.

On the topic of flying reindeer, generally, one person to talk to is Tony Vecchio, Director of the Oregon Zoo, who is compiling scientific data for his research on reindeer flight. His website, World Reindeer Sightings, contains tips on sighting reindeer, a world map to see where other reindeer have already been sighted, a press release, and a video interview with Mr. Vecchio. There is also an email address for reporting sightings!

Note that this seasonal site has been taken down; the link above is to the press release from the Oregon Zoo.

Other Links Of Interest

Santa: The Real Story - Extensive Santa Claus site; includes a version in French: Père Noël: L'Histoire vraie

St. Nicholas: Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus.  Outstanding site.

WWW This Site   Hymns & Carols Poetry & Prose Links Search Page What's New / F A Q Table of Contents Site Map Privacy Policy News & Sports Weather Collections of Christmas Carols & Poetry Compiled and Edited by Douglas D. Anderson Victorian Visions A Christmas Poetry Collection Divinely Inspired A Christmas Poetry Collection The Bridegroom Cometh Poetry For The Advent Coming Soon! Once A Lovely Shining Star A Christmas Poetry Collection   So Gracious Is The Time A Christmas Poetry Collection   How Still The Night The Christmas Poems of Father Andrew, S.D.C.   Father and Daughter Christmas Poems by Frances and William Havergal Now, Now The Mirth Comes Christmas Poetry by Robert Herrick   What Sudden Blaze Of Song The Christmas Poems of Rev. John Keble   A Holy Heavenly Chime The Christmastide Poems of Christina Georgina Rossetti   All My Heart This Night Rejoices The Christmas Poems of Catherine Winkworth A Victorian Carol Book Favorites from the 19th Century — Still favorites today! Please Visit Douglas Anderson's Christmas Storefront All purchases help support this web site. *** Errata *** See additions and corrections to these published works.   The Hymns and Carols of Christmas Douglas D. Anderson © Copyright 1996, All Rights Reserved. (See Frequently Asked Questions for additional details) The Hymns and Carols of Christmas is not responsible for the content of external sites.   Advent - Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B. (ca. 1841)   Looking For These Songs   My Daily Devotions   News and Sports and The Weather   Search Page   Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam charity christmas cards     Visit My Mini Mall - shop online and save your feet! Proceeds help support this site.   This ChristmasWebring site owned by Doug Anderson. Previous| Next| Random Site | List Sites | Join     Powered by WebRing.   Sing We Now Of Christmas   Bringing together those who love to sing, or want to get involved in group singing, at the time of year that is most closely associated with singing, a project of the Huntsville Community Chorus Association. For singing events all year round, visit Sing We Now.       Do you know somebody who loves to sing? Join us in the Barbershop Harmony Society or The Sweet Adelines and sing to your heart's content!      Christmas in the Northwest 10 Since 1985, Christmas in the Northwest artists have been lighting up the holidays, and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Children's Hospitals through the sale of the Christmas in the Northwest CD series. Available at multiple outlets in the Pacific Northwest, and on-line at Amazon.com See The Series! The Video Behind The Series Christmas In The Northwest http://www.christmasinthenorthwest.com/index.asp Accessed October 23, 2006 Best-Loved Christmas Carols  by Ronald M. Clancy The new edition from Sterling Publishing published October 2006.      The originals released by The Millennia Collection: Best-Loved Christmas Carols (2000) American Christmas Classics (2001) Children's Christmas Classics (2002) Christmas Classics, Ltd See the three-minute movie about this series:  http://www.impactmovie.com/christmasclassics (accessed November 14, 2006).       AuthorTitleKeywordISBN           I recommend the Opera, Mozilla and Firefox Browsers, which support the Noteworthy Composer plug-in.       Visit the Online Shopping Mall.   Please take a walk down the center aisle, and select a kiosk. Books   Computers Entertainment   Flowers and Gardening Fragrances and Jewelry   Movies Gifts   Music and Musical Instruments Gifts for Children   Sports Equipment and Apparel Gifts of Food   Travel Plus ... the Holiday Music and Books Annex A gift for yourself or another! Favorite Holiday Music   Favorite Christmas Books More Favorite Holiday Music   Christmas Sheet Music English Chorale Tradition   Personal Favorites (Internet Explorer and Firefox) Free JavaScripts provided by The JavaScript Source And while you're at it,     When one of my books needs repair, I call       Please visit and support these outstanding organizations. Project Gutenberg the first producer of free electronic books. Internet Archive Media, text, audio, moving images, web content and software for public use. The Open Library. Public domain literature. Read Print a free online library, offering thousands of free books for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast. Internet Public Library a public service organization and a learning/teaching environment at the University of Michigan School of Information ibiblio The public's library and digital archive ManyBooks.net Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook reader. LibriVox Public domain audio recordings of public domain literature.     And Visit These Websites For Great Open Source Software:   The Open CD Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society Portable Apps.Com Instead, just take 'em with you. Free Software Foundation's   Free Software Directory     I recommend the Christmas International Group at Yahoo.com.   Click to join ChristmasInternational     Sharon Chekroun Authentic Art