A-Z CHRISTMAS STEEPED IN TRADITIONS

"F"

IS FOR FATHER CHRISTMAS, FAMILY, FROSTY WALKS

The central figure of most secular celebrations of Christmas is a jolly fellow who delivers presents to well behaved children on Christmas Eve.  In England, this man is known as Father Christmas and although the name has now become synonymous with the American Santa Claus, the origins of our festive figurehead are very different.  


Santa Claus stems from the legend of Saint Nicholas, inspiring the character in Clement Moor's poem The Night Before Christmas (1823); in a red, fur-trimmed suit who brings presents by flying a magical sleigh pulled by reindeer.  Father Christmas, however, was a man who visited homes over the winter period and was associated with feasting rather than gift-giving.  The best illustration of this man was in Dickens' A Christmas Carol where he appears as the Ghost of Christmas Present, a larger-than-life character clothed in green robes who jubilantly feasts on indulgent foods.  

As the popularity of Santa Claus spread across America, with no small thanks to a campaign by Coca-Cola in the 1930s featuring the widely accepted vision of a bearded man in a rich red suit, the two figures became interchangeable, with elements of both woven into the myths of the beloved character.

From English Home Magazine