A CHRISTMAS STORY

 

Have you ever wondered why caribou and reindeer are depicted in almost every Christmas story? It’s hard these days to think about Santa Claus without picturing his team of reindeer, but it hasn’t always been like that! The story of Santa Claus is 200 years in the making and continues to evolve today.

A New Year’s Present

The first known written account of Santa Claus being charioted by a reindeer is the Old Santeclaus with Much Delight poem. The popular children’s story was written by an anonymous author and published in 1821 by New York printer William Gilley in a book called The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve.

Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O'er chimneytops, and tracks of snow
To bring his yearly gifts to you.

 

A Visit From Saint Nicholas

The classic Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (more commonly known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas) was first published anonymously in 1823 by the Troy Sentinel in upstate New York. It is the original source of Santa Claus’ team of eight flying reindeer and their names. North American ideas about Christmas varied greatly before this iconic poem solidified the gift-giving tradition and Santa Claus image. The reindeer now known as Donner and Blitzen were first called Dunder and Blixem, which is Dutch for thunder and lightning.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen,
"On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Dunder and Blixem;
"To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!"

 

Civil War Santa

From 1863 to 1886, Thomas Nast published in Harper’s Weekly a total of 33 illustrations that further ingrained the image of Santa Claus and his reindeer in popular culture. Drawing inspiration from the poem A Visit From St. Nicolas, Nast developed the image of Santa Claus with his reindeer pulling a sleigh stuffed with presents. The illustrations, inconspicuous at first sight, were political statements. His famous 1881 Merry Old Santa Claus image, which depicts Santa Claus holding toys and carrying an army backpack, a dress sword and an army belt buckle, is actually a critique of the government’s reluctance to pay fairer wages to the men of the Army and Navy during the Civil War.

 

Coca-Cola Santa

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Believe it or not, Santa has not always been the figure we all know and love today. Prior to 1931, he was drawn in a variety of figures, from a tall gaunt man, a spooky elf, a Norse huntsman and, most famously, a rotund Civil war hero. It is illustrator Haddon Sundblom who gave Santa his archetypal image as a cheerful man in a red suit. Commissioned by Coca-Cola, Sundblom drew the Santa we know today with a red coat, twinkling eyes, a beard as white as snow and round belly.

 

The Red-Nosed Reindeer

In 1939, Robert L. May, an advertising copywriter for the Montgomery Ward store in Chicago, was asked to create a children's book as a holiday promotion. Having a talent for limericks and parodies, May created a story loosely based on The Ugly Duckling about an insecure red-nosed reindeer. It became a major success and Montgomery Ward distributed over 2 million copies across the USA. After World War II, May was given the rights to The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Montgomery Ward's CEO who never thought the story would amount to much. Little did he know, this was only the beginning of Rudolph’s journey into the ever-expanding tale of Santa’s reindeer!

 

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Up-and-coming songwriter Johnny Marks, Robert L. May's brother-in-law, convinced May to turn The Red-Nosed Reindeer story into a song. The song was picked up by the famous Singing Cowboy Gene Autry and topped the charts in 1949! More than 25 million copies were sold, paving the way for Rankin/Bass’ television special.

 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV Special)

Based on Johnny Marks’ song, the American Rankin/Bass Productions company and the Japanese MOM Productions developed Rudolph’s story in the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas television special. Together, they created the ''Animagic'' stop-motion animation with sound recordings made at the RCA studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a such hit it led to two sequels: Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979). The classic Christmas film airs annually on CBS.

 

Modern Santa

The story of Santa’s reindeer continues to evolve today! From elaborate backstories and special effects to the introduction of new lovable characters, each Christmas movie adds a novel element to the classic Christmas story.

  • Elf (2003) - Santa's reindeer rely on the power of Christmas spirit to fly.

  • Arthur Christmas (2011) - A sleigh with eight reindeer is no longer big enough to deliver all the presents to children around the world! In Arthur Christmas, Santa instead uses a mile-wide, high-tech sleigh that is pulled by five thousand reindeer! 

  • Christmas Chronicles I and II (2018, 2020) - In these two movies, Santa’s reindeer are depicted as females! This is quite rare in Hollywood Christmas movies, but is a sign that the scientific rational for the sex of those guiding Santa’s sleigh is becoming better known. Also, some characters in those movies speak ''Elvish'', which sounds like a mix of Nordic languages.

  • Noelle (2019) - The eight reindeer find a new leader in a young reindeer named Snowcone and the first female Santa is introduced. Time will tell if this is the beginning of a new Christmas era!

  • Klaus (2019) - A toymaker named Klaus uses a horse drawn carriage to deliver presents to children in need. His gift-giving operation grows so large that he recruits five reindeer and seeks help from the Sámi reindeer herders.