“Unveiling the Secret: The Surprising Destination of Santa’s Letters Revealed!”
First, a brief background on the whole sending letters to Santa thing. Throughout the surprisingly long history of some version of Saint Nick, there have been a variety of manifestations of this bastion of holiday cheer. Things started to solidify into more of what we typically think of as Santa today during the 19th century. Specifically, on December 23, 1823, the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known today as The Night Before Christmas, was first published. The poem appeared in the New York Sentinel with no author listed, having been delivered for publication by a friend of Clement Clarke Moore, who was a professor of Greek and Oriental literature and who is generally considered today to have been the author. However, Moore didn’t claim authorship of the poem until long after it was published. It is thought he was initially hesitant because he was a very well respected scholar and didn’t want to be associated with what is essentially a fantastical children’s poem. However, he was later convinced by his own children to include it in his 1844 anthology of his works, and from then on reluctantly admitted he wrote it.
In any event, as alluded to, before this poem was published, traditions surrounding St. Nicholas were numerous with no real set, near universally accepted idea of “Santa Claus” like we have today. Elements of the Santa tradition that ended up being popularized by this poem include: the names and number of Santa’s reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen, with the latter Donder and Blitzen meaning “Thunder” and “Lightning” by the way); Santa’s means of transportation; that Santa Claus visited houses on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day; the overall appearance of Santa Clause; and that Santa brought toys to children.
