The trouble with Father Christmas/Santa Claus

Today, 6th December, is the feast day of St Nicolas of Myra. 

​Amongst other things, he was known for his habit of secretly giving gifts and over the years following his death in 343CE, his name gave rise to varients of Santa Claus from such things as the Dutch; Sinterklass from Saint Nicolas.

We would always go to Shinners, the big department store, where my Grandmother worked.  It would either be for the staff children's party or to visit Santa's Grotto.  Either way, we didn't pay to visit Father Christmas as it was part of my Grandma's staff Christmas present.  Other people attending would pay.

I would sit on Santa's lap, tell him what I wanted for Christmas, promise to be good, have our photo taken and be given a gift.

Behind this was the idea that is used across Europe of Saint Nicholas coming and giving a present without the parents having to pay for it. 

I remember there being news reports from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands showing Saint Nicolas handing out presents to children in the streets.

Whilst this may have fallen out of favour and children are given their presents at home, the idea behind a centralised group or charity doing this is very much in the spirit of Saint Nicolas of Myra's secret gift giving.  
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​Because where you have children who have nothing, this way, they would get a present

But behind the random acts of kindness in Saint Nicolas of Myra's history, we now have a Father Christmas or Santa Claus who has lists of naughty or nice children where those on the bad list get lumps of coal.

For me, I like to think of a few years ago when I helped to wrap up presents at the local Salvation Army.  These were being given to families who really have nothing at Christmas.  All said that they were from Father Christmas. 

​For those children who have nothing, a present that their parents didn't have to worry about affording, was literally a God send.

Whilst Christmas has become commercialised, so has Father Christmas.  

A Visit from St. Nicolas by Clement Clarke Moore, published in the early 1820s, brings us the idea of reindeer and also names them. And as this idea of the personification of Merry Christmas merged with the man in the red suit, so he starts to appear in commercials.

By1931, Coca-Cola commissioned ilustration Haddon Sundblom to paint Sanata for Christmas adverts and the trend was born.

In 1939, Montgomery Ward, a Chicago based department store commissioned ad man Robert L. May to create a colouring book as an instore holiday giveaway.  The book; Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer inspired the Jonny Marks song of the say name.  May was Mark's brother-in-law.

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The idea of a kid getting a lump of coal for Christmas does give rise to some great movies, such as Fatman, in a time of Advent when we are supposed to be thinking about the coming of Jesus who will forgive all sins, we are telling small children that if they aren't good, they get a lump of coal and are beyond redemption.

The other issue is with how commercial Christmas has become. As soon as the Halloweven adverts have finish, Christmas toy ads are on TV along with the famous Christmas ads by the various stores, all trying to out do each other.

In the run up to Christmas there will be news articles in the papers of parents who have spent thousands of pounds on presents for their children.  As tone deaf as these are during cost of living crisises, amongst the wealthy, it is even more shocking to see people place themselves into debt to buy presents that they can't afford that will become forgotten or thrown aside before the decorations come down.

In the same article that I've linked about Montgomery Ward, the author suggests you search Santa and cigarette ads on google.  Don't.  You will be horrified to see the number of times Santa was used to promote smoking.

Amongst all the commercialism, I'm reminded of a couple of years ago when I went to the local Salvation Army and wrapped up presents for families who literally had nothing at Christmas.

These gifts, for their children, were marked as from Father Christmas and embodied the real spirit of Saint Nicolas, giving secretly to people who need it.