Author: Miss Cellania / Source: Neatorama
While there were already artistic images of St. Nicholas/Father Christmas/Santa Claus, the first time we saw the jolly old elf as a fat man with a pointed stocking cap was in 1863, in a political cartoon showing Santa celebrating Christmas with Union soldiers during the Civil War.
He’s playing with a toy effigy of Jefferson Davis in a cartoon that appeared in Harper’s Weekly. In fact, how we think of Santa’s appearance has a bit to do with how political cartoonist Thomas Nast himself looked.In addition to repurposing the imagery of the Moore poem—reindeer pulling a sleigh, sack full of presents—Nast…
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