Professor Butter Beard and “Merry Old Santa Claus”
“His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.”
Very quietly, on December 23, 1823, a poem called "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" was published anonymously in the Sentinel, the local newspaper of Troy, New York. This instantly beloved holiday poem offered a different take on Santa Claus, a figure who was, until that time, traditionally depicted as a thinner, less jolly, horse-riding disciplinarian, a combination of mythologies about the British Father Christmas, the Dutch Sinterklaas, and the fourth-century bishop Saint Nicholas of Myra.
This poem in the newspaper painted a different picture: it gave Santa eight flying reindeer and even named them. It described a full-grown elf who could magically sneak in and out of homes by sliding down chimneys, and it created the adored, cheerful, chubby icon that is ever-present in holiday cards and movies, animated television shows, and decorated malls everywhere. The poem, of course, is now known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," after its famous first line. Thirteen years after it was published, Clement Clark Moore took credit for its authorship, though his claim to the poem is now in question. According to the Smithsonian, many believe the poem was actually penned by New York writer Henry Livingston.
Prior to the early 1800s, Christmas was a religious holiday, plain and simple. I can easily trace it back to my pagan Celtic roots, but that is a different essay! By the mid-1800s, Christmas began to look much more as it does today. “From a season of misrule characterized by drink, of the inversion of social roles in which working men taunted their social superiors, and of a powerful sense of God’s judgment, the holiday had been transformed into a private moment devoted to the heart and home, and particularly to children,” writes Fiona Halloran in “Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons.”
It was into this world that the Bavarian immigrant and political cartoonist Thomas Nast arrived in the United States, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Doing his first sketches as a teenager, he became a staff illustrator for Harper’s Weekly, one of the most popular magazines of the day. Fiona Halloran also explains that Harper’s Weekly wasn’t just for serious subjects: “It provided political news and commentary on national and international events, but it also offered readers sentimental fiction, humor and cultural news.” This was the perfect venue at the perfect time for Nast to bring his meticulously detailed images to life. And so, beginning with the January 1863 drawings, Nast began to immortalize the mythic figure of Santa Claus.
Lorraine Boissoneault, writing for the Smithsonian, reports that though they varied from year to year, Nast’s Santa drawings appeared in Harper’s Weekly until 1886, amounting to 33 illustrations in total. In addition to actualizing the imagery of the Clement Moore poem - flying reindeer pulling a sleigh, a bulging sack full of presents, and a “jolly old elf” - Nast also found inspiration in his surroundings. “He based Santa’s bountiful beard and little round belly partially on himself and used his wife and children for other characters,” writes Ryan Hyman, a curator at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum. Located in Nast’s hometown of Morristown, New Jersey, the museum holds a large collection of his work. “The outside pictures that show rooftops and church spires were all here in Morristown,” Hyman adds.
Thomas Nast went on to give us the donkey for the Democrats and the elephant for Republicans, and ferociously took on corrupt New York City politicians. But for me, he gifted us by realizing our childhood dreams and creating the twinkling eyes and merry dimples that inspire us to think outside ourselves and gift of our talents and love. Speaking of gifts, don’t forget how much Santa appreciates those plates of deliciously crisp cookies alongside a welcome swig of milk. Try offering him five or six of these Glazed Gingerbread Shortbreads. I can promise you the reindeer will fly faster, and it won’t be coal you find in your stocking!
Photograph of Thomas Nast by Napoleon Sarony, taken in Union Square, New York City c. 1870.
Glazed Gingerbread Shortbreads
Four dozen cookies
Cookies:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 Tbsp ground ginger
1 ½ Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
Zest of one large orange
1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
Glaze:
1 ½ cups confectionary sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Juice of the one large orange
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 Tbsp warm water
1) Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt and spices. Whisk in the orange zest. Set aside.
2) In a standing mixer, cream together the four sticks of butter and the granulated sugar (about 3-4 minutes).
3) With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry mix until the dough begins to gather.
4) Turn the dough onto a countertop, gather into a ball and cut into three equal portions. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill two hours (preferably overnight).
5) When getting ready to bake, let the dough sit on the counter 30 minutes to bring to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line four baking sheets with parchment.
6) Roll the first portion of dough to a thickness of ¼ inch. Use a 2 ½” cookie cutter (I prefer a snowflake) dipped in flour and gently place no more than one dozen cookies on a tray to bake. Gather the scraps together and add to the second portion when rolling out to cut.
7) Dip a cookie press (see photograph) in flour and press down onto each cookie to imprint with the design.
8) Bake the cookies for five minutes, rotate the pan, and then bake for five minutes more until the edges are just beginning to brown.
9) Let the cookies cool on the pan for five minutes and then place them on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
10) Whisk together the confectionary sugar and ginger for the glaze, then whisk in the butter, juice, vanilla paste and 1 Tbsp water (adding more water only if necessary). You want a glaze that you can easily paint on with a pastry brush.
11) Paint each cookie with the glaze and let sit for another 15 minutes to harden the glaze.
The author (age three) and Santa, 1964.
