By Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell
Santa Claus has been banned from many places as he is deemed by some to be a satanic figure. Why? Because he wears red, because he is deemed a pagan figure, because in Austria he takes Krampus (a hairy devil in chains) with him to punish the bad children and grown ups? I honestly don’t know why he is disliked and vilified and as Unravel the Gavel is a rational paper for thinking antique-ers I feel they can make up their own mind. I truly believe in him and the concept of Santa-Saint Nicholas-Father Christmas, whatever one chooses to call him. And no, Nick isn’t from Old Nick, which is the devil. I find it difficult to understand that people can so fervently believe in evil, but not in good. Santa personifies that which is good in all of us and shows the way down the path to being a good, giving, caring person. I personally would love to hug every Salvation Army Santa I go by. Doing good deeds isn’t my idea of what a devil would do.
Let’s look at the image of Santa, the gift giver, through the ages. Until Thomas Nast came along Santa was a beautiful, saintly looking old gentleman often with a long white beard. Usually, the earlier an item is and the higher the quality the better chance it is that he will look like this, especially if it is a foreign produced image. England and Germany produced the most images and countries like Ireland precious few. The Santa in an Irish Jaunting Cart is very rare and can cost you approx. 400.00. Hold to light images start at 75.00 and rise steadily from there. Die cuts or Victorian scraps like these shown sell for about 60.00 each but small one and heads for a few dollars. The larger and more intricate the die cut the more expensive they are as they had such a propensity to damage as they were often hung on Christmas trees as well as glued into scrap books. These were pre 1900 and buyers must be aware of the reproductions and modern ones being produced today in Germany and sold here as pre WWII. Many items are also, being produced in the former Soviet Block countries. Beware of Russian “Dresden Ornaments” as well.
Santa under his many names and in his many forms has always been a very popular image for a very good reason; he makes us feel special because we are good. One would think the only ones that would fear him are those that lead less than exemplary lives. Unfortunately, over the years Santa has been turned into a giant elf holding a coke bottle and has lost much of his mystery and saintly charm. One of the reasons the early die cuts, scraps, and advertising cards are so desirable is that the beauty of his deeds shows through his demeanor, or written all over his face.
Dressed in many colors, not just the red we expect today, Santa’s dress, as well as his mode of transportation, were very different between 1860-1920. Long robes, robes of green, blue, yellow, purple or brown, sometimes embellished with silver and gold, long coats and boots for the snow, Bishops miters, Santa had a variable wardrobe to choose from way back when before he was made into a one outfit fat man. Before he became just another advertising symbol Father Christmas gave a bit of elegance to Christmas advertising. Cafes Torrefies L’Abeille D’or gave out a card in Belgium, that had the 1903 calendar on the reverse. The saintly figure was shown on many cards of this era.
Real photo cards with Santa are scarce but a tinted one with Black Peter driving the gift giver down the road in a blue car (circa 1930 in the Netherlands) is rather unusual and can sell as much as 40.00. Even the Edaville Giant Santa in the South Carver, Mass. Christmas display, is not as rotund as the soda guzzling type. His value however, is only $8.00.
Whiney Publishing (Whitney Made, Worcester, MA produced the Nimble Nicks, which were a Kewpie type figure in Santa type outfits. Even Whitney’s adult Santa looked like an oversized Kewpie. Some of the best ones of these are novelty , which means they could be a rebus or they were easel press outs so that they would stand up on their own for a three-dimensional effect. It is a pity that we know little or nothing about the artists that worked for Whitney. The company burnt down and all their records were lost.
During the Art Deco period companies, such as Curteich produced some delightful graphics but the Santa had become bell shaped and was already lacking the mobility of face and form Santa once had. It is difficult to imagine this shaped Santa getting very far delivering presents on Christmas Eve no matter how many time zones there are.
As children we were taught to believe in Santa, and we were brought up properly. When Christmas starts back up in the stores just before Easter, it is difficult to keep the spirit of giving alive and the spirit of spending and corporate greed from tainting this most beautiful of holidays. How many children today are being robbed of their dreams and belief in someone whose goodness is as bright and shinny as candlelight on tinsel? People forget that Santa is in the heart. Looking back at the old images made out of paper, paper mache, composition etc, we see Santa as he really is not as Madison Avenue has depicted him. So who or what is the real Santa? Perhaps he is a conglomeration of all the images and appears differently to everyone. Certainly on Christmas postcards, greeting cards, sheet music, etc the images of Santa, from around the world are as varied as varieties of cereal that have made it on to the grocery shelves over the past hundred or so years.
An early 1870s greeting depicts him as a dwarf like creature wearing a yellow cloak; another shows him looking down from the moon wearing green and a brown fur hat. Santa is often shown with mistletoe and holly, which are pagan symbols of protection, longevity, and happiness. In a Raphael Tuck publishing card, cloaked in brown his saintly face looks out of a tree with a holly garland on it. This could be reminiscent of the Greenman, who is seen in cathedral carvings. The booklet of Rules for family games depicts Santa more as we see him today. Regardless of how we imagine him, how he is depicted, or what his origins are, it cannot be denied he is the bringer of happiness and goodwill. In Charles Dickens‘s “A Christmas Carol” the spirit of Christmas present is depicted looking very much like, and acting similar to the Santa in the F.A. Kennedy’’s Holiday Biscuit greeting. His is the glow of happiness at Christmas time. No wonder there are so many collectors of this wonderful character and so many of us that are happy to welcome him into our homes and hearts.
Merry Christmas to all and may Santa make yours “a cool Yule” and the best one you have ever had.
