Did you know that Thomas Nast is credited with creating our popular image of Santa Claus? Above is one of Thomas Nast's earliest published works of Santa Claus and Christmas Traditions. Nast's illustrations appeared in Harper's Weekly newspapers in the years 1863 -1865. This is a fabulous source of information on the History of Santa Claus, and the origins of our Christmas Traditions. It can be seen that our popular image of Santa was first introduced by Nast during the Civil War. Thomas Nast's picture of Santa would continue to evolve over the years, but it is fascinating to study these early images and spot all the Santa traditions that we still practice today.
Above is a very early Nast drawing of Santa Claus created in 1865. This is a nice detailed drawing of Santa Claus, and you can see that Santa has not changed much in the last 140 years. This drawing helped to launch our image of Santa Claus that endures today. The illustration is surrounded by inset images showing Christmas traditions of the Civil War years.
Hi Sandy,
ReplyDeleteThought I'd just drop you a line to say that your photo of Santa is not coming through to my computer. Is it coming from an image saved on your hard drive? or is it a photo you have copied from the internet?
Of course it may just be at my end.
Cheers
Hi Helsie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know you can't see the photo of Santa. My hubby copied it from the internet and inserted in my blog cause I couldn't do it. I'll have him (he's my tech guy) look at it again to see if the problem is at my end. It does show on my blog.
Teacup Lane (Sandy)
Hi Sandy....Cute post!
ReplyDeleteand love your tree topper!
Left a note for you in the comments section of my post today...Where you can find the snowflake sprinkles, xoxo~Kathy @ Sweet Up-North Mornings...Ho Ho Ho!
Hey Helsie,
ReplyDeleteCan you see the Santa photo now? Hubby downloaded it and then uploaded it on our site rather than up cut/paste to clipboard. Hubby said you may have to refresh your page to see it.
Teacup Lane (Sandy)
That is very interesting! I did a little reading up on where Santa Claus came from too. Have a blessed day! Elena
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a nice sweet and short history of Santa. The picture is great too.
ReplyDeleteNow that's interesting, he is a jolly old elf isn't he! Your Mr. Jolly is really cute!
ReplyDeleteValerie
Yes I can see it now. You always have to save stuff on your hard drive first otherwise all you have with a copied photo is a pathway with the link broken. I have learnt these things through experience!
ReplyDeleteThought I would wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas as you may not be blogging in Ohio.
Drive carefully. Take lots of photos and we will compare your cold cosy Christmas with my hot muggy one.
I will miss your cheery messages every day, my lovely new bloggy friend.
Cheers
Helen