Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1886-01-04
The Original Santa Claus.


Santa Claus is an interesting archaism
carrying the mind agreeabIy back
ward to those old times which always
have such a charm for the critical
investigations or poetic reveries of men.
The cheerful Christmas legend was
quite new thing to most OF us few
years ago, and to those, at least, who
get their ideas of such things from the
literature of our own language Santa
Claus has come, as everybody is aware,
from Germany to the New World;
and the curiosity of this matter IS,
that In thus coming over the sea he
underwent a certain remarkable kind of
transformation sort of sea change.
He was once honored in Deutschland or
Germany (for both these names have
exactly the same meaning in the Celtic
as child, a fact which none of the
German critics or philologers have
condescended to notice, at least in any
distinguishable way.
Santa Claus was one of the oldest
ideas of the Celtic west in pagan times,
as he was of the pagan east before. In
Christian times he was still regarded
with religious reverence, sitting, as he
sat for ages in Egypt and elsewhere,
in the arms of his mother. Santa
Glare ,.,as. in fact ~. -'.iid Jesus in the
Middle Hges and throughout that
period the festive creed of Germany
and all Celtic Europe was that he
visited all family dwellings of good
Christians on the eve of his anniversary,
and brought with him gifts and bless
ings for the children. This beautiful
tradition is still to be found lingering
in Germany, though Santa Claus does
not seem to be specially connected
with it by name. The truth of this
original belief is plainly enough indi-
Gated by the word "claus" which, in the
Gothic or ancient German, means
'child" and "son." Santa Claus
formerly meant the Holy Child.
1t is not very difficult to see how the
change of mems religious beliefs three
or four hundred years ago changed the
character of the sgend. Those who
had put away catholic religion and
wished to have their own of more
dignified sort, thought it too rude and
simple thing to make that Holy Child
bring knicknacks and sweetmeats to
the children down the chimney, and so,
by degrees, altered the old idea,
making it genial, secular fancy in the
person of benevolent and jolly old
man such as the Germans and others
have welcomed for many generations,
and we in this country have generally
recognized of late years. He is such
CHEEKY and felictous old fancy that no
body would ever have thought of chal-
longing him in any respect but for the
great mistake SO long committed of
sending him about the world with that
tell-tale clause pinned on his back, as
it were. He really himself should
have remembered, with the rest of his
recollections, that his name is inter
preted in Schiller or Buxhorn 1--WE
forget which), and should have chosen
another.
This statement, supported as it is by
the old Christian traditions clinging
round the present season of the year,
will commend itself, perhaps, to the
critics Of old customs and old language.
But "the rest of mankind don't see it."
and in reply to that Gothic lexicon ex-
claim, in the words of Giles Scroggin's
ghost, "That's no ruler Santa Claus
will be the old man with the beard and
frosty face frosty but kindly" And,
indeed, very properly. The popular
instinct-that is, in our modern times
was right in setting that image of the
child aside. 1t belonged to a far pro,
founder sentiment than that Of mere
household games, pastime, and festivity
and was enevitably displaced by gen
Grafton in whom the simple old beliefs
and reverence of departed ages lived
no longer. After all, it was lucky that
Santa Claus was turned SO very oppor-
tunley into an old man. The other
dea could never have come down to
such matter of fact as this and our
Christmas would have wanted the
happiest genius of its festiyity--the
Santa Claus of the German vaterland.