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Nicholas was Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, the city now known as Demre, Turkey. Living his whole life centered on Jesus Christ, Nicholas worked for justice and cared for those in need.
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Bishop Nicholas died on December 6, 343 AD, and was buried in the cathedral in Myra, now Demre, Turkey. Many pilgrims came to his tomb.
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Since the fifth century the Eastern Church has revered St. Nicholas for the many miracles attributed to him and for his inspiring witness as a follower of Jesus Christ.
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Italian sailors took the bones of St. Nicholas to Bari, Italy. This "translation of the relics" is commemorated in Bari with a fantastic festival each year on May 9th.
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French nuns began giving candy and gifts to needy children on December 6th, St. Nicholas feast day. Children still eagerly await his treats in French Alsace and Lorraine and in many other parts of Europe.
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French nuns began giving candy and gifts to needy children on December 6th, St. Nicholas feast day. Children still eagerly await his treats in French Alsace and Lorraine and in many other parts of Europe.
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Scenes from the life of St. Nicholas decorate this black marble baptismal font which was made in Belgium. St. Nicholas has been a favorite subject for church ornamentation.
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All over Europe boys were selected to be the "Nicholas Bishop" from December 6th through the Feast of the Holy Innocents (December 28th). Boy bishops and their retinues collected alms for the poor, but sometimes turned into disruptive roving gangs.
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Nicholas was a popular subject for illuminated manuscripts; this one is from the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duke of Berry.
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Stunning basilica dedicated to St. Nicholas, the much beloved patron, "Father of the Country, Leader and Defender of Lorraine."
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This silver reliquary is in the beautiful St. Nicholas Church in Sint-Niklaas, Flanders, Belgium.
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The tradition of Santa Claus entering dwellings through the chimney may reach back to the tale of Saint Nicholas tossing coins through a window, and, in a later version of the tale, tossing coins down a chimney when he finds the window locked.
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Sinterklaas was Americanized into "Santa Claus" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat.
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Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York describes St. Nicholas as an elfin Dutch burgher, not a saint, thus beginning the emergence of a dinstinctive American figure.
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First publication of the poem that became an American classic—and formed lasting images of an American St. Nicholas.
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A new picture book by Jan Schenkman shaped modern Dutch customs by establishing Sint Nicolaas arrival on a steamboat from Spain with a Moorish assistant. Crowds still enthusiastically greet their arrival each year in mid-November.
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One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.
Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly.The legend that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. -
The first issue of St. Nicholas: Scribner's Illustrated Magazine for Girls and Boys was published. Editor Mary Mapes Dodge named the magazine for the children's saint — the epitome of loving and giving. This new magazine offered gifts to children as he did gifts of fun as well as learning.
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Harper's Weekly features Nast's Santas with flowing beards, rotund shapes, fur suits, and clay pipes.
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St. Nicholas leaves tasty treats for good little boys and girls.
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This enormously popular magazine named for children's patron, St. Nicholas, was published from 1873 until 1940. It featured high quality children's authors and illustrators.
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St. Nicholas visits homes and schools to reward good children who have learned their lessons well.
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Images of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by Coca-Cola or that Santa wears red and white because they are the Coca-Cola colors. In reality, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising – White Rock Beverages used Santa to sell mineral water.
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Each year from 1931 to 1964 Haddon Sundblom created a new Santa for Coca-Cola's "thirst knows no season" campaign. His life-size Santas in white fur-trimmed red suits are now the American Santa Claus. Here is the first one.
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St. Nicholas' donkey helps bring treats to excited and happy children.
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St. Nicholas now rewards all children-whether naughty or nice. Even Coca-Cola once knew the true St. Nicholas.
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a depiction of the story of Santa Claus' origin and early life can be seen in the animated television special Santa Claus is Comin' to Town produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. in 1970 and originally broadcast in the United States by ABC-TV .
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Action committees in the Netherlands tell Santa Claus to stay away until after St. Nicholas Day, December 6th.
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Good Bishop Nicholas rides through the town leading happy crowds to the heart of Christmas—the manger where Jesus was born.
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Following his baptism in Constantinople, Grand Prince Vladimir I brought Christianity and St. Nicholas to Russia. St. Nicholas is Russia's favorite saint.
