They gone?
Good! This is because
we have to talk about the whole Santa Claus thing.
Thomas Nast's Santa Claus |
Why? Well, because Santa Claus is a sort of
folklore. An unusual bit of folklore
from a modern perspective, too. At a
basic level, Santa Claus could maybe be considered a legend. I mean, there was a Saint Nicholas,
right? So, he is based on a real,
historical figure of some sort. However,
over the years he’s picked up bits and pieces from other places as people have
chosen to reinterpret this legend. Not
all these influences have been all that folk-y either. The Saint Nicholas Center claims the first
use of the saint as “Sante Claus” came in 1821 with the publication of the
first lithographed book in America
entitled The Children’s Friend. This book depicts the saint as a man who
visits children on Christmas Eve and leaves gentle toys like dolls, tops, balls
and books to good children and left a “long, black birchen rod” for the parents
of naughty children so that they may make them get back into line (and you
thought a lump of coal was bad). The
History Channel actually fills in some other gaps crediting Clement Moore and
his poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” with Santa’s method of entry (chimney),
transportation (sleigh and “eight tiny reindeer”) and his depiction as “a right
jolly old elf”. They also credit
illustrator and political cartoonist Thomas Nast with giving Santa Claus his
home at the North Pole, red suit, wife Mrs. Claus and lists of naughty and nice
children.
Thomas Nast himself. |
Santa’s elves likely first
appeared in a poem in Harper’s Weekly
entitled “The Wonders of Santa Claus”.
Some credit Christmas elves as first appearing in an unfinished work by
Louisa May Alcott entitled Christmas
Elves while others say it was in engravings in Godey’s Lady’s Book in 1873.
However, these are just a handful of the people who have interpreted the
Santa Claus legend among many others including advertising artists with the
Coca-Cola company.
But one thing I want to talk about is what the Santa
Claus legend is. For you see, I keep
using the word “legend” even though it doesn’t fit with how we usually see the
idea of a legend. Usually, a “legend”
suggests some kind of folk narrative.
However, there really is no story for Santa Claus except the ones that
authors wrote for him. I could call it a
tradition, but it’s a unique tradition that has a sense of character to it and
personality. To many children, Santa is
viewed as a real entity and not just something that people do during the
holidays. So, he’s not quite a folk
story and more than a tradition. The
folklore tradition surrounding traditional gift givers and sometimes punishers
of naughty children (and there are plenty of both) is a rather unique one in
general. I'm not even sure what I'd call it.
This brings me to my next question. Is perpetuating the Santa Claus
tradition/character/legend a good idea?
People are split on this one. Lots
and lots of people love the idea of Santa Claus and promoting belief in him to
their children. Others see it as a form
of manipulation as well as lying to children.
One is reminded of Natalie Wood’s character from Miracle on 34th Street and her rather cynical
mother. I can see where they’re coming
from to a certain extent. There is some
degree of lying and sneaking involved.
These are things that many parents would consider to be negative in any
other circumstances. So, there is
probably some feeling by parents that they are being hypocritical. Also, unlike most other forms of folklore,
this is one of the few where some sort of results are expected to be
delivered. Sure, there are legends that
people claim actually happened. There
are also ghosts stories in which people claim things are still happening. However, it’s only in the legend of Santa
Claus and other ceremonial gift givers that parents are expected to provide
gifts and eat cookies as a sort of proof that the legend has some veracity all while
leaving the children none the wiser.
There’s got to be some pressure there.
Maybe this is pressure that parents do not want. I don’t know.
Personally, I’m pro-Santa. It’s
generally my belief that there is a difference between believing a lie and
believing a legend. While lies fool us
and lead us astray, legends often tend to lift us up and point us toward being
better. More than a didactic means of
teaching children good behavior, I see Santa Claus as a way to teach the rather
Christmas-y values of hope, faith, kindness, goodwill and generosity.
So, where do you weigh in on the whole Santa Claus
situation? Pro-Santa? Anti-Santa?
Somewhere in between? Let me know
with your reasons in the comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment