CHRISTMAS IN CAPE MAY 1984

Christmas Traditions: Santa and All

By Moya Hansen Just what makes a "traditional" Christmas for you and your family? Chances are, your Christmas traditions are slightly different from your next door neighbor's or the family down the street.

Yet we all think of certain customs as being traditional. Where did they originate? TRADITIONS, here in the melting pot of America, have come from many different countries and cultures — some of them even have their origins in the pagan rites which marked the winter solstice. But perhaps the most beloved and most American of all these traditions is the visit from Santa Claus. Santa had his origins in St. Nicholas who was born in the village of Myra, which is now a part of modem Turkey. Bom into a wealthy family. Nicholal later become the Bishop of Myra and numerous legends surround him, making him the patron saint of sailors, pawnbrokers and children. The most famous legend identifies him as the giftgiver who comes in secret. THE LEGEND involves a once-wealthy nobleman who had lost his fortune and could not provide food and clothing for his three daughters, let alone the requisite dowry for their marriages. Nicholas, who was not yet a bishop, had inherited a large fortune and wanted

to help, but did not want his identity known. So, during the night, he went to the nobleman's house and threw a bundle of gold coins through an open window. IN ALL HE did this three times and the third time was caught by the father, who thanked him profusely. Nicholas insisted that he tell no one, but after Nicholas's death, the story was revealed. As St. Nicholas's legend traveled with Christianity to western Europe, he replaced the pagan giftgivers — Woden and Berchta — of the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples. On the eve of his feast day, Dec. 6, he was believed to ride through the sky on a pale gray horse (as did his predecessors) bringing gifts and sweets to good children and birch switches to the bad. DURING THE Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Catholic saints fell into disfavor, but Nicholas's influence remained strong in Belguim, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and especially in the Netherlands. Some sources say that the early Dutch settlers brought the saint with them to the colonies. But since most of the Dutch who came to America were thoroughly Protestant, they probably did not celebrate his feast day. Credit for reviving the patriarch has been given to John Pintard, who founded the New York Historical Society in 1804. With the American Revolution fresh in people's minds, British traditions were in great disfavor, so Pintard gathered together all the Dutch traditions to preserve New Yorkers' early heritage. O^E OF THESE traditions concerned the early Dutch Sinter Claes. (In Middle Dutch, Sinter means Saint and Claes is a shortened form of Nicholas.) Pintard's saint, still dressed in his bishop's robes and miter and carrying a staff, became popular in New York. But he was pictured as a stern, gaunt

old man who bears no resemblance to our modern day Santa. IN 1809 Washington Irving wrote his Knickerbocker Tales and took the first step toward our image of Santa. St. Nicholas became known to thousands of readers as the patron saint of the early Dutch colony and he was a sturdy Dutchman who smoked a pipe and rode through the sky in a wagon filled with gifts Some twenty years later, an unknown illustrator of children's books depicted the saint riding in a sleigh drawn by one reindeer. The biggest change in St. Nick's image, however, came when Clement Clark Moore wrote the still beloved Christmas poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas." MOORE, OF course, described him as "dressed all in fur from his head to his foot," having a beard "as white as the snow," and as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf." Moore also gave Santa not one, but eight reindeer, and named each of them. L Moore wrote this poem for his children and gave it no more thought. But a relative had asked him for a copy and then passed it on to a friend who took it to the editor of the Troy Sentinel. It was published by the paper in 1823, a year after it was written. Other newspapers printed it, an finally in 1837. Moore acknowledged the fact that he had written the poem From Historic Denver News.

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Walking Way Into History CAPE MAY - Providing an entertaining orientation, walking tours of Cape May's historic district, sponsored by the MidAtlantic Center for the Arts, are especially designed for those who like history close-up and in detail. SPICED WITH historical insights into the customs and traditions of the Victorians and their ornate, delightful architecture, these tours provide an intimate insight into Cape' May's intriguing past, present, and future. Each tour takes about one and one-half hours and begins at the Information Booth on Washington Street Mall. For information, contact MAC at 884-5404. See schedule elsewhere in this special section for dates and times.

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