The History of St. Nicholas and How He Became Santa...Maybe

Santa Claus Worldwide, Tom A. Jerman

It's simple, right? Way back when the United States was just a collection of colonies, the Dutch brought a gift giver named "St. Nicholas" our way. They called him "Sinter Klaus." Years, a poem by Clement C. Moore and an artist named Thomas Nast formed him into the "Santa Claus" we know today. And around the world there are related gift givers like "Father Christmas" (the "English Santa") and "Pere Noël," and a few offbeat ones, like Santa Lucia and La Befana.

Well, hold on, because a lot of the "St. Nicholas brought over by the Dutch in New Amsterdam [today's New York City] lore" was made up by Washington Irving. And there was a poem that proceeded Moore's Visit from St. Nicholas called "Old Sancte Claus" that featured Santa being pulled by...yes, reindeer. And Thomas Nast...

Jerman tries to make sense of all this and all the other "Santa" antecedents, including the grimy companions of St. Nicholas, like Krampus, Pere Fouttard, Pelznichol, Belsnickel, etc. whom he believes are the real ancestors of today's Santa Claus, not St. Nicholas. And along the way we learn more about some of those odd gift givers and Christmas creatures, like the Yule Cat who will attack you if you're not wearing new clothes on Christmas (is this where the socks and underwear gifts come from), the downright creepy Yule Lads with their cringe names like "pot-licker," Frau Perchta who opens up the stomachs of naughty children and stuffs rocks or straw inside them, or more.

Very detailed, but absolutely fascinating, with a detailed bibliography.
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