By Don Steen ~ Staff Writer • reporter@psci.net
SANTA CLAUS – Author Pamela McColl returned to the Santa Claus Museum Saturday to sign copies of her book, “Twas The Night – The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem”. This was her first stop in a month-long tour across the country highlighting the rich history of how the modern Santa legend came to be.
She had previously visited Santa Claus last summer to promote the bicentennial anniversary of the Clement Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. McColl plans to be back next year as well, with a new book in tow centering on Santa’s ever-helpful wife.
Originally published anonymously in 1823, the now-famous poem was claimed by Moore 14 years later. This was not disputed during his lifetime, though textual and handwriting analysis has led some scholars to speculate that others may have been responsible.
Regardless, the poem was a seminal moment in the modern story of Santa Claus, laying down the ground rules of how the Jolly Old Elf operated. Even the reindeer’s canonical names derive from the work.
McColl’s book is an effort to offer readers a comprehensive cultural history of the Santa Claus legend, all the way back to Saint Nicholas himself. “Twas the Night” presents more than 200 illustrations, showing how the kindly Patron Saint of Children gradually eased into existing seasonal traditions across the Roman world and beyond.
This all serves to explain the background of how the Santa of 1823 eventually hit the scene, and why that depiction has endured over the last two centuries.
McColl has another book in the works at the moment, centering on the introduction of Mrs. Claus into the canon of modern Christmas. She expects the book to be ready in time for next year’s holiday season, and hopes to incorporate Pat Koch’s story as “Santa’s Daughter” into her book to further demonstrate how the Claus family narrative has grown over the centuries.
McColl said a historical study of Mrs. Claus was not initially on her radar, as she didn’t expect that story to compare to narrative evolution of the big man himself. As it happens, Mrs. Claus has quite a story to tell after all.
“I found all this literature about her,” said McColl.
She noted that one of her big memories of Mrs. Claus was a joke from the Charlie Brown cartoons, when Sally’s letter inquired about Santa’s wife keeping her maiden name of “Mary Christmas”. Another depiction from the 1970 television special, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, pegs Mrs. Claus’ first name as Jessica. In that story, Jessica is a prim-and-proper schoolteacher that dutifully adheres to the oppressive rules of Sombertown until Kris Kringle’s arrival causes her to question, and eventually rebel against, the Burgermeister’s laws.
Both references to Mrs. Claus hint at the Women’s Liberation Movement during the latter half of the Twentieth Century, but that legacy goes back much further than one might think. The first mention of Santa’s wife was in the short story, “A Christmas Legend”, published in 1849.
Additional literary references began to pop up, building on the character in their own ways. Mrs. Claus first made her presence on stage in a somewhat unusual place, however.
McColl pointed out that the very first account of a Christmas play featuring Mrs. Claus was performed by the residents of the State Lunatic Asylum in Utica, New York in 1854. In that story, Mrs. Santa Claus is featured dancing to a holiday song with a baby in arms.
Read more on this story in this week’s issue of the Spencer County Leader
Featured Image: Author Pamela McColl presents her book at the Santa Claus Museum
More photos from the book signing
