200 years ago……..

 

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house

Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse…..

A right jolly old elf…….

200 years ago Clement C. Moore wrote the poem to entertain his wife and children, it was shared with family and friends one of whom sent it to a local newspaper. Fifteen years later he takes credit because as a professor of Greek, Hebrew and theology he thought it would hurt his credentials.

I’m sure ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas has survived long past any of his scholarly work. 

The modern Santa of his poem short, plump, short jacket with fur trim and cap with fur trim.  

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. 

Ann

New guy on the shelf

 

The first little project of 2022 finished woohoo what a great feeling.  Father Christmas with a holly wreath on his head. Most of the Christmas decorations have been put away but the Santas are such a jolly bunch I leave them out until the middle of January usually. Brrrrrrr it’s been cold here. Hope you are staying warm. —Ann—

Santa Claus In America

 

.....a little old driver so lively and quick.....

He was dressed all in fur.... He had a broad face and a little round belly...........He was chubby and plump, a tight jolly old elf.

Clement C. Moore penned the poem to amuse his wife and children 199 years ago. It was shared with family and friends, one of them shared it with the local newspaper. Fifteen years later Clement C. Moore finally takes credit for writing the poem. He was a professor of Greek, Hebrew and theology and was afraid his professional credibility would suffer if word got out that he wrote T’was the Night Before Christmas.

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.  --Ann--

Father Christmas

Father Christmas in England held closely to the pagan customs. He was part of the Feast of Fools going back to Roman Saturnalia a topsy turvy time when everyone was equal men dressed as women, masters waited on slaves etc and much feasting. In the Middle Ages traveling entertainers called Mummers added to the chaotic celebration and mix of Roman, Celtic and Christian folklore. Father Christmas wore the holly wreath and presided over the festivities.  --Ann--

Weihnachtsmann

 

Santa was affected by the Reformation, Christmas festivals and traditions were banned in some places depending who was on the thrown. The Lutherans in Germany stripped Saint Nicholas of his church robes and redressed him in furs and a cap. He became known as Weihnachrsmann the Christmas man,

Pelze Nichol, Furry Nick,

Schimmelreiter the rider of the white horse,

Pere Noel, Father Christmas.

Scandinavian

Scandinavian Christmas traditions go back before Christianity when the Norse gods celebrated the winter solstice. Odin would lead the hunt on a great white horse, carrying away the naughty children. Food was left out for Odin and his horse.  Sinter Klaas  of the Netherlands was pictured on a white horse, Norse influence. The earliest inhabitants of Norway and Sweden were a small, dark people who were herders, reindeer, cattle sheep and goats, they were skilled at hiding. These little people were called Nisser in Norway and Tomtar in Sweden. They would cause mischief the night of the winter solstice so again food was left out for them.  As Christianity spread many of the pagan traditions were adapted to fit the new ways.

Scandinavian Santas are usually dwarf sized.

Julenisse in Norway and Denmark,

Jultomte in Sweden, 

Jola Sveinar in Iceland, 

Nisse the old form of Nils or Nicholas 

Some winters Santa came on skis.

I bought this little Tomtar in Sweden the lady in the store said he was a garden Tomtar for good luck in the garden.

Santa coming on a sleigh pulled by reindeer came from the north countries.

--Ann--

Saint Nicholas Russian

As Christinaity spread through the Byzantine Empire and further north into Russia so did the stories of Saint Nicholas and everyone claimed him for their Patron Saint of Children.  Saint Nicholas became known as Nickolai Chudovortis the Wonder Worker.

I found this Santa in Alaska where there is a lot of Russian influence in the architecture.  --Ann--

A breif history of Saint Nicholas

It seems appropriate to begin this short series of posts about the orgins of Saint Nicholas on Saint Nicholas day.  A boy was born to aged parents in the second century in the Roman province of Lycia now a part of Turkey.  The boy was named after his  uncle Nicholas who was Father Superior of a monastery.  It was their hope that he would go into the Church.

An epidemic went through the area killing both his parents. His uncle instructed him to give away all his worldy goods.  Legend tells that a neighbouring family fell on hard times leaving the three daughters without a dowery for marriage.  Nicholas heard of their plight, disguised himself and tossed a bag of coins through their bedroom window.  The bag  of money landed in a shoe or a stocking starting the tradition of leaving socks or shoes out on Christmas eve.  Nicholas threw a bag a coins in the window a second and third night but was caught by the girls father.  Nicholas swore him to secrecy but alas the story has been told for centuries.
I studied my Santa collection and chose a few who I think look most like the original Saint Nicholas.  The one above looks like the man who carved him.

Nicholas did enter the Church and went on a pilgramage to Jeruslalem which had been destroyed by the Romans.  A storm blew up on his return voyage, he prayed and the sailors prayed with him.  They were delivered safely to Myra the capital of Lycia just east of Patera where Nicholas was born.  Nicholas found a church where he planned to give thanks but the current bishop was retiring and the convocation declared that the first person to enter the church would be worthy of the title.  Nicholas is now the Bishop of Myra and became the patron saint of sailors.  He preformed miracles and spread the word of Christ throughout the region.

This little needlepoint was one of my first and I got a bit caried away with the French knots in the beard.  He looks like a cartoon character that had soap on his toothbrush rather than toothpaste.  He has the bishops hat.

Below is the book Who is Santa Claus by Robin Crichton published in 1987 so no longer in print and hard to find except in used books.  --Ann--

Santa and goose

                                                                                                       --Ann--

believe

believe
--Ann--

Christmas

There is my Christmas tree skirt and all the leftover yarn is now in my last needlepoint Santa.  My Santas are in front of the fireplace,  below the stair rail, on the window sills in the sunroom which did not photo well, in and on the secretary and sadly a few are still in boxes.  But this is a jolly bunch.      Merry Christmas.  --Ann--

Santa finish

Another Santa to add to the collection.  I would work on him a little bit at a time until my fingers would get sore from pulling the needle through the holes, the size of the needle eye and thread makes a difference in how easily it pulls through. I forget those little details when a project is 4 years in the making.  I was also having trouble finding a spot to sit with lots of light, I even moved a lamp closer to my chair and put in a working 3 way bulb.  But the real solution to being able to see the little holes was buying a pair of 3.0 reading glasses!  What a difference those made!!!  The fur trim is turkey work and after it is trimmed it feels almost like velvet.  I did a long and short stitch with an angora yarn in the beard.  Then I took him to my sewing room to turn and stuff.  This was first time I have had movers remorse because I threw away all the bags of batting scraps, you know the little 1 or 2 inch strips from trimming a quilt that everyone else throws in the trash as they trim the quilt.  I threw all those away.  What do I stuff him with short of cutting up quiltable pieces of batting?  Aha!! old yarn! I had yarn from a couple decades ago back when I made a cross stitch Christmas tree skirt on burlap.  Wadded up yarn is perfect for stuffing and no calories.  One skein of white was exactly the right color for the cording in combination with a fuzzy novelty thread.  Thinking about painting another Santa.........maybe next year.  --Ann--

believe

believe...................................

Santas and Christmas Tree

 --Ann--

smiles everyone

Squeeze together, everyone look at the camera............smiles.............needlepoint Santas I have stitched beginning in 1989.

"tell Klaus to take off his hat" "Arnold, put the book down"  "I'm checking the list"  "Sven, the goose"  "watch the candle"..............and the hand carved that I have been collecting since........equally as long.

And to all a good night..........--Ann--

More Vintage

 Crepe paper Santa I remember him taped to a door in the house and surprisingly it has green label tape in a couple spots. He is 18 inches tall.

 The cut outs are from the late 1950's or early 1960's. The book is early 1900's.

 The pages are in pretty good shape but the cover is falling apart. So sad.

Isn't that beautiful handwriting!!?!
--Ann--