Thomas Nast: Creator Of Santa Claus
AND The Political Cartoon In
America
I suppose you once believed that Santa Claus has been with us since
time began. Well, think again, because he was actually born in the
latter half of the 19th century and is a comparative youngster as
legends go. He was created during the American Civil War by Thomas
Nast, a German immigrant who was also the father of the political
cartoon in America.
Nast was born in 1840 in Landau, Germany. His father was a
liberal-minded trumpeter. To escape political oppression in his
homeland he emigrated to America with his family in 1846.
This was none too soon, for in 1848 a revolution broke out in
Germany and many democratically inclined citizens were jailed.
Others, many of them highly educated, fled to America where they
became known as the 48ers in the growing German community.
As America’s foremost cartoonist Nast often struck fear into the
hearts of corrupt politicians such as Boss Tweed of New York’s
Tammany Hall. It was mainly due to Nast’s caricatures that Tweed was
eventually thrown out of office.
During the election campaign in 1874 Nast created the elephant and
the donkey as symbols for the Republican and Democratic parties
respectively. As a republican he took a subtle swipe at the
Democrats by choosing a donkey to represent their party.
This did not go unnoticed by German-Americans because the German
word for donkey is “esel” which is also a synonym for ‘dummy.” Nast
also popularized the caricatures of John Bull, Uncle Sam and
something we see practically every day – at least some of us do –
the dollar sign, “$.”
However, Nast is best remembered at Christmastime for the new image
of Santa Claus he created.
Where did he get the idea for Santa Claus? Most likely it came from
his German heritage. Though only six years old when he was brought
to America, he probably remembered the old Nikolaus of his youth. A
tall, tired old man who wore a green fur-trimmed coat and came on
foot during the night at Christmas to bring gifts for good little
boys and girls.
Nast made Nikolaus a saint of sorts by calling him “Santa,” the
Spanish designation for a female saint, and naming him “Claus” the
familiar short form for Nikolaus. He also made him short, fat and
jolly. Nast’s Claus wore a short fur-trimmed red coat with a wide
black belt and black boots, and he traveled by sleigh drawn by a
span of reindeer. Many say ‘Santy Claus” (saint-Ni-Klaus) is an
Americanization of the German words for “Saint Nikolaus.” Many
German speaking immigrants lived in America.
The first illustration of the Santa Claus we know so well appeared
in Harper’s magazine during the American Civil War, in articles
entitled “Christmas Eve” and “Santa Claus in Camp.” These drawings
particularly appealed to Union soldiers who had to spend Christmas
away from home.
Nast’s popularity grew in leaps and bounds and in 1889 Harper’s
brought out a Christmas special entitled “Thomas Nast’s Drawings for
Mankind.” These included many of his Christmas illustrations. It was
a huge success and made Nast a household name in America.
Nast’s biting political cartoons were instrumental in getting former
Union General Ulysses Grant elected president of the United States.
Grant gave him credit for this when he wrote: “Two things helped me
to win this election, Sheridan’s sword and Nast’s pen.”
Unfortunately Nast’s financial success was short-lived. Together
with Grant, he established a publishing house, which failed, leaving
him and Grant practically penniless.
Theodore Roosevelt, too, felt sorry for the impoverished Nast and
made him U.S. consul in Ecuador, the land of eternal spring. Nast
died there in 1902 of yellow fever, for which there was no cure at
the time. It was a sad end for a man who contributed so much to
honesty in politics and brought joy to generations of Americans with
his Santa Claus.
Nast may be dead, but Santa Claus lives on and continues to bring
joy to children all over the world every year at Christmas time
by
Frank Schmidt
This article was published Dec. 18, 2006 in the American Free Press
We extend our gratitude to Frank Schmidt of Heimat Publishers for
giving his permission to republish it here for your reading
pleasure.