Until the beginning of the 19th century, Father Christmas was pictured as a tall, thin stately man who wore a bishop's robe and rode a white horse. In 1809, Washington Irving, the creator of Rip Van Winkle, published 'Knickerbockers History of New York' in which St. Nicholas was described as a stout, jolly man who wore a broad brimmed hat, huge breeches and smoked a long pipe. Irving's St. Nicholas rode over tree tops in a wagon and filled children's stockings with presents. Clement Clarke Moore ( 1779 - 1863) added to the picture in a ballad written for his children which is now well known and begins, 'Twas the night before Christmas '

Moore was a Hebrew scholar and Professor of Greek and Oriental Literature at New York's General Theological seminary from 1821 to 1850. He is said to have composed 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' to amuse his children at Christmas. In 1822 and, unknown to him, a house guest copied it and gave it to the press. The poem was first published anonymously in the New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823. In Moore's poem, St. Nicholas appears as a stout, jolly man with twinkling eyes and a red nose, riding a sledge pulled by eight reindeer. Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist, completed the present day image of Father Christmas in a series of drawings for Harpers Weekly Magazine between 1863 and 1886.The drawings show Santa Claus with a white beard, working in his shop, driving a sleigh led by reindeer and placing Christmas presents in stockings over a fireplace.

Earlier in Holland, Father Christmas's name had become Sinter Klaus, and when Dutch settlers arrived in the New World and founded New Amsterdam (later renamed New York), they took their Sinter Klaus customs with them and named their first church after him. The Americanised pronunciation of Sinter Klaus became Santa Claus and this became established as his name. By the 1870's, this benign figure had arrived in Britain and was quickly merged with Father Christmas.

Although today people in many parts of the world are familiar with Santa Claus, he is primarily an American invention. In the past Santa Claus had dressed in a whole range of different colours, wearing a long cloak and heavy boots. Clement Moore had described him as being 'dressed all in fur from his head to his foot and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot'.

All this was to change in the 1930's with a Coca Cola promotion in which Haddon Sundbloom redesigned Santa Claus. His colours now were specially chosen to match the trade colours of Coca Cola being red and white. A thigh -long red tunic with white trimmings was held in place by a broad black belt. On his head was a floppy nightcap, red with white what edgings and a white pom -pom and to complete the picture his red trousers were tucked into a pair of heavy black boots. From that time on, the western world's Santa followed Sundbloom's design and is now firmly established in the hearts and minds of people everywhere.

Coming down the chimney is a curious way to enter a house and Moore's poem is the direct source. He wrote 'And there on a twinkling I heard on the roof, The prancing and pawing of each little hoof, As I drew in my head and was turning around Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound'.

Moore was a scholar well versed in anthropology and had researched the ancient myths and legends of Christmas before writing his poem. He knew that the Lapland dwellings were small, igloo-shaped tents covered with reindeer skins and sunk into the ground with the entrance being a hole in the roof to allow the smoke from the fire to escape. In the poem, when Santa Claus arrives, his reindeer can be heard on the roof which covers the Lapp's abode. He enters with a single bound in the manner of someone leaping down the chimney. Before Moore's poem, Father Christmas either walked or rode a white horse. Moore would also know of a Finnish legend concerning Old Man Winter. The belief was that with winter's onset this mythical creature would drive his reindeer down from the mountains bringing snow with him. There is a link here with reality for the fierce mountain winter would drive the reindeer down into the plains to seek shelter. Moore incorporated this into his ballad, naming the eight reindeer. The number eight was chosen because Odin, a Teutonic god, rode an eight-legged horse. Once the poem was published and became immensely popular, Santa Claus's transport would, forever after, be a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. Moore's romantic image will doubtless last for as long as Christmas is celebrated.