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Vintage Santa Figurines and Collectibles
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The modern-day American concept of "Santa Claus" emerged around 1863. Of course, the legend of an elderly, bearded winter gift-giver appeared long before that, but he was known by other names—St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas,...
The modern-day American concept of "Santa Claus" emerged around 1863. Of course, the legend of an elderly, bearded winter gift-giver appeared long before that, but he was known by other names—St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Belsnickel, and Sinterklaas.
The idea of Santa may have originated from an ancient 12-day Norse winter festival called Yule. A god named Odin was believed to arrive on an eight-legged horse in the form of a bearded cloak-wearing old man. Late at night, he would put treats in the children's shoes. Others attribute Santa to the story of a Turkish Greek bishop named Saint Nicholas who is believed to have lived in the 300s A.D. Nicholas of Myra was said to be a wealthy man who gave away every piece of gold he had, even dropping treasure bags into chimneys of the poor. Both Odin and St. Nicholas were depicted as tall, slender men carrying staffs.
Stories of solemn St. Nick were popular in Holland, where his name was pronounced "Sinterklaas." In the winter, Sinterklaas was said to travel down chimneys to put presents in children's shoes. But as this mythology spread around Europe, St. Nick got a companion to deal with the unruly, misbehaving children who didn't deserve gifts. Krampus—also known as Knecht Ruprecht, Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), or Cert—was often portrayed as a horned and long-tongued beast. Sometimes Krampus left switches, but other times, he carted off bad children in baskets to torture them until they promised to behave.
During the Protestant reformation in the 1500s, Martin Luther railed against the St. Nicholas myth. But European Protestants who wanted to continue the tradition attributed the presents to the Christ Child, or "Christkindl." While the Christ Child was at first depicted as a cherub-like white baby, eventually "Kris Kringle" came to look an awful lot like Old St. Nick.
In 15th-century England, stories developed about an old man who personified Christmas and spread the word about the miracle of Jesus Christ's birth. At first, he was called “Nowell” or “Sir Christmas,” but by the 18th century, he was known as "Father Christmas," a guy who went around in a green cloak bearing gifts. Puritans were not at all happy about this development and came to America hoping to establish a pure, pagan-free Christmas.
But the Dutch who settled in New York brought Sinterklaas, while Germans who settled in Pennsylvania, known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, brought a guy named “Belsnickel” or “Pelznickel," meaning "fur-Nicholas." The stern, sooty, fur-wearing geezer was said to be one of St. Nicholas' companions, like Krampus, and he brought both sweet treats to good kids and switches to bad ones. Today, collectors are fond of papier-mâché Belsnickel candy containers from the 19th century, which often show the gift-bringer holding a tiny Christmas tree.
St. Nicholas became short and chubby in 1809 when Washington Irving published "Knickerbocker’s History of New York" to satirize Dutch American culture. The idea of the magical, joyful, and round gift-giver we all know and love solidified in 1823, when an anonymous poem called A Visit From St. Nicholas was published in the "Troy Sentinel" newspaper in upstate New York in 1823. Widely known by its first line, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the piece has been credited to Clement Clarke Moore and Henry Livingston Jr. In it, St. Nicholas rides an enchanted sleigh led by eight reindeer. The "right jolly old elf" with a belly "like a bowl full of jelly" comes down the chimney with a bag of toys slung over his shoulder. He puts the presents in stockings, not under a Christmas tree—that practice wouldn't become popular for at least another 25 years.
The name "Santa Claus" really took hold when Thomas Nast, an illustrator with Germanic heritage, began to create Christmas illustrations that ran in “Harper’s Weekly Magazine,” from 1863 to 1886. His portly little Santa had a workshop with both a trimmed Christmas tree and stocking hung over the chimney. Santa's favored color was red, and across the pond in the United Kingdom, Father Christmas' cloak became red, too. As Santa got American children more involved in Christmas celebrations, Father Christmas did the same for British kids. Around the same period, Christmas poems began to suggest that Santa also had a gaggle of Christmas elves who worked away to make treats and toys for the stockings.
Santa Claus became the main character in late 19th-century Christmas-themed board games and puzzles. Children's fairy-tale books would be republished with Santa-themed titles and covers. Christmas jack-in-the-boxes were made with Santas popping out of them. Santa's image would be burned into wood boxes holding Christmas presents. Glass ornaments were blown into the shape of Santa. The development of chromolithography led to Santa-themed postcards, die-cut paper ornaments, and paper dolls. But the image of a tall, slender St. Nicholas still appeared on objects like thin, embossed cardboard ornaments made in Dresden, Germany.
In the 1920s, both Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker painted magazine illustrations of a rotund red-clad Santa Claus. That same decade, Macy's in New York City started hosting a big Christmas parade (which evolved into its Thanksgiving Day Parade) led by Santa, his helpers, and live reindeer. Cities around the United States copied this idea, and these parades reinforced the idea that Santa came to town with the eight reindeer named in "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
It was Coca-Cola illustrator Haddon Sundblom who made Santa a taller, hefty, and wholesome grandpa figure with a white beard and apple cheeks in 1931. While Santa had appeared in a red fur-trimmed suit before, Sundblom's depiction made this the standard Santa outfit. Sundblom drew variations of this character, a comforting figure during the Depression and World War II, for Coke ads up until 1964. His images were used for calendars, posters, and plush dolls, produced by Rushton.
In the mid-century, American pop culture turned the Santa Claus myth up to full-blast. You had Montgomery Ward's 1939 coloring book Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 1946 Gene Autry song, “Here Comes Santa Claus,” and the 1947 movie, “Miracle on 34th Street” all piling onto the legend.
Santa was everywhere. He appeared on all manner of Christmas-tree ornaments; on a wide variety of ceramic figurines and cookie jars by the likes of Lefton, NAPCO, and Holt Howard; on ashtrays, Christmas plates, and candy bowls; as chocolate molds and on mugs. Companies like Waterford and Woolco mass-produced Santa figurines for decades. Many other vintage Santa decorations are unique works of folk art, having been hand-crafted from papier mâche and other materials.
On the kitschier side, Santa became a popular figure for light-up blow-mold lawn ornaments, as well as smaller indoor light-up blow-mold décor and figural Christmas lights. In the 1950s, you could even buy plastic novelty Santa brooches with light-up noses.
Even though Santa Claus is an old-fashioned guy who's been around for 150-plus years, he's constantly evolving. Throughout the 20th century, his image was used in advertisements promoting adult vices, like tobacco or alcohol. Over the years, Santa has been depicted both in his medieval reindeer-drawn sleigh and also taking the most modern mode of transportation, whether it's a dirigible, motorbike, airplane, or car. In the Space Age, he was shown flying spaceships and rockets. African-American Santas, or black Santas, started appearing in the 1960s. Rushton, for example, started making a black version of its popular plush Santa doll during that decade.
Continue readingThe modern-day American concept of "Santa Claus" emerged around 1863. Of course, the legend of an elderly, bearded winter gift-giver appeared long before that, but he was known by other names—St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Belsnickel, and Sinterklaas.
The idea of Santa may have originated from an ancient 12-day Norse winter festival called Yule. A god named Odin was believed to arrive on an eight-legged horse in the form of a bearded cloak-wearing old man. Late at night, he would put treats in the children's shoes. Others attribute Santa to the story of a Turkish Greek bishop named Saint Nicholas who is believed to have lived in the 300s A.D. Nicholas of Myra was said to be a wealthy man who gave away every piece of gold he had, even dropping treasure bags into chimneys of the poor. Both Odin and St. Nicholas were depicted as tall, slender men carrying staffs.
Stories of solemn St. Nick were popular in Holland, where his name was pronounced "Sinterklaas." In the winter, Sinterklaas was said to travel down chimneys to put presents in children's shoes. But as this mythology spread around Europe, St. Nick got a companion to deal with the unruly, misbehaving children who didn't deserve gifts. Krampus—also known as Knecht Ruprecht, Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), or Cert—was often portrayed as a horned and long-tongued beast. Sometimes Krampus left switches, but other times, he carted off bad children in baskets to torture them until they promised to behave.
During the Protestant reformation in the 1500s, Martin Luther railed against the St. Nicholas myth. But European Protestants who wanted to continue the tradition attributed the presents to the Christ Child, or "Christkindl." While the Christ Child was at first depicted as a cherub-like white baby, eventually "Kris Kringle" came to look an awful lot like Old St. Nick.
In 15th-century England, stories developed about an old man who personified Christmas and spread the word about the miracle of...
The modern-day American concept of "Santa Claus" emerged around 1863. Of course, the legend of an elderly, bearded winter gift-giver appeared long before that, but he was known by other names—St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Belsnickel, and Sinterklaas.
The idea of Santa may have originated from an ancient 12-day Norse winter festival called Yule. A god named Odin was believed to arrive on an eight-legged horse in the form of a bearded cloak-wearing old man. Late at night, he would put treats in the children's shoes. Others attribute Santa to the story of a Turkish Greek bishop named Saint Nicholas who is believed to have lived in the 300s A.D. Nicholas of Myra was said to be a wealthy man who gave away every piece of gold he had, even dropping treasure bags into chimneys of the poor. Both Odin and St. Nicholas were depicted as tall, slender men carrying staffs.
Stories of solemn St. Nick were popular in Holland, where his name was pronounced "Sinterklaas." In the winter, Sinterklaas was said to travel down chimneys to put presents in children's shoes. But as this mythology spread around Europe, St. Nick got a companion to deal with the unruly, misbehaving children who didn't deserve gifts. Krampus—also known as Knecht Ruprecht, Zwarte Piet (Black Peter), or Cert—was often portrayed as a horned and long-tongued beast. Sometimes Krampus left switches, but other times, he carted off bad children in baskets to torture them until they promised to behave.
During the Protestant reformation in the 1500s, Martin Luther railed against the St. Nicholas myth. But European Protestants who wanted to continue the tradition attributed the presents to the Christ Child, or "Christkindl." While the Christ Child was at first depicted as a cherub-like white baby, eventually "Kris Kringle" came to look an awful lot like Old St. Nick.
In 15th-century England, stories developed about an old man who personified Christmas and spread the word about the miracle of Jesus Christ's birth. At first, he was called “Nowell” or “Sir Christmas,” but by the 18th century, he was known as "Father Christmas," a guy who went around in a green cloak bearing gifts. Puritans were not at all happy about this development and came to America hoping to establish a pure, pagan-free Christmas.
But the Dutch who settled in New York brought Sinterklaas, while Germans who settled in Pennsylvania, known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, brought a guy named “Belsnickel” or “Pelznickel," meaning "fur-Nicholas." The stern, sooty, fur-wearing geezer was said to be one of St. Nicholas' companions, like Krampus, and he brought both sweet treats to good kids and switches to bad ones. Today, collectors are fond of papier-mâché Belsnickel candy containers from the 19th century, which often show the gift-bringer holding a tiny Christmas tree.
St. Nicholas became short and chubby in 1809 when Washington Irving published "Knickerbocker’s History of New York" to satirize Dutch American culture. The idea of the magical, joyful, and round gift-giver we all know and love solidified in 1823, when an anonymous poem called A Visit From St. Nicholas was published in the "Troy Sentinel" newspaper in upstate New York in 1823. Widely known by its first line, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the piece has been credited to Clement Clarke Moore and Henry Livingston Jr. In it, St. Nicholas rides an enchanted sleigh led by eight reindeer. The "right jolly old elf" with a belly "like a bowl full of jelly" comes down the chimney with a bag of toys slung over his shoulder. He puts the presents in stockings, not under a Christmas tree—that practice wouldn't become popular for at least another 25 years.
The name "Santa Claus" really took hold when Thomas Nast, an illustrator with Germanic heritage, began to create Christmas illustrations that ran in “Harper’s Weekly Magazine,” from 1863 to 1886. His portly little Santa had a workshop with both a trimmed Christmas tree and stocking hung over the chimney. Santa's favored color was red, and across the pond in the United Kingdom, Father Christmas' cloak became red, too. As Santa got American children more involved in Christmas celebrations, Father Christmas did the same for British kids. Around the same period, Christmas poems began to suggest that Santa also had a gaggle of Christmas elves who worked away to make treats and toys for the stockings.
Santa Claus became the main character in late 19th-century Christmas-themed board games and puzzles. Children's fairy-tale books would be republished with Santa-themed titles and covers. Christmas jack-in-the-boxes were made with Santas popping out of them. Santa's image would be burned into wood boxes holding Christmas presents. Glass ornaments were blown into the shape of Santa. The development of chromolithography led to Santa-themed postcards, die-cut paper ornaments, and paper dolls. But the image of a tall, slender St. Nicholas still appeared on objects like thin, embossed cardboard ornaments made in Dresden, Germany.
In the 1920s, both Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker painted magazine illustrations of a rotund red-clad Santa Claus. That same decade, Macy's in New York City started hosting a big Christmas parade (which evolved into its Thanksgiving Day Parade) led by Santa, his helpers, and live reindeer. Cities around the United States copied this idea, and these parades reinforced the idea that Santa came to town with the eight reindeer named in "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
It was Coca-Cola illustrator Haddon Sundblom who made Santa a taller, hefty, and wholesome grandpa figure with a white beard and apple cheeks in 1931. While Santa had appeared in a red fur-trimmed suit before, Sundblom's depiction made this the standard Santa outfit. Sundblom drew variations of this character, a comforting figure during the Depression and World War II, for Coke ads up until 1964. His images were used for calendars, posters, and plush dolls, produced by Rushton.
In the mid-century, American pop culture turned the Santa Claus myth up to full-blast. You had Montgomery Ward's 1939 coloring book Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 1946 Gene Autry song, “Here Comes Santa Claus,” and the 1947 movie, “Miracle on 34th Street” all piling onto the legend.
Santa was everywhere. He appeared on all manner of Christmas-tree ornaments; on a wide variety of ceramic figurines and cookie jars by the likes of Lefton, NAPCO, and Holt Howard; on ashtrays, Christmas plates, and candy bowls; as chocolate molds and on mugs. Companies like Waterford and Woolco mass-produced Santa figurines for decades. Many other vintage Santa decorations are unique works of folk art, having been hand-crafted from papier mâche and other materials.
On the kitschier side, Santa became a popular figure for light-up blow-mold lawn ornaments, as well as smaller indoor light-up blow-mold décor and figural Christmas lights. In the 1950s, you could even buy plastic novelty Santa brooches with light-up noses.
Even though Santa Claus is an old-fashioned guy who's been around for 150-plus years, he's constantly evolving. Throughout the 20th century, his image was used in advertisements promoting adult vices, like tobacco or alcohol. Over the years, Santa has been depicted both in his medieval reindeer-drawn sleigh and also taking the most modern mode of transportation, whether it's a dirigible, motorbike, airplane, or car. In the Space Age, he was shown flying spaceships and rockets. African-American Santas, or black Santas, started appearing in the 1960s. Rushton, for example, started making a black version of its popular plush Santa doll during that decade.
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