In Search of Santa - The Gallery

To tie-in with this year's very special Christmas podcast series on the history of Santa Claus, here is a selection of Santas from down the ages!

1686 Woodcut from Josiah King’s The Examination and Tryal of Father Christmas 

1810 December 6th New York Historical Society hosted its first St. Nicholas anniversary dinner and Pintard commissioned the artist Alexander Anderson to draw an image of the saint to be handed out at the dinner

1821 Booklet published by William B. Gilley A New Year’s Present - To The Little Ones From Five To Twelve. Part III: The Children’s Friend introduced Sante Claus in a poem

Circa 1830 the first illustration from the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, a woodcut by Myron King in the Troy (New York) Sentinel newspaper holiday broadside

1837 St Nicholas by Robert Weir

1840 illustration by William Croome for A Visit from St. Nicholas in the anthology Poets of America

1840 Illustration for the book Merry Christmas showing Father Christmas by ‘Phiz’ (pen name of artist Hablot Knight Browne) 

1843 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens published 19th December. Scrooge's Third Visitor by John Leech - the Ghost of Christmas Present

1844 Early depiction of Santa Claus in the Dollar Newspaper (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) December 25, 1844

1848 First separately published book version of A Visit from St. Nicholas from Henry M. Onderdonk, illustrated with engravings by Theodore C. Boyd

Circa 1850 Santa Claus and Jenny Lind, advertisement believed to have been devised by PT Barnum for the tour by opera singer Jenny Lind

Circa 1850 Cover of book version of A Visit from St. Nicholas, Fisher & Denison of Baltimore

Circa 1850 Santa as depicted inside A Visit from St. Nicholas, Fisher & Denison of Baltimore

1855 Old Father Christmas from Forrester's Pictorial Miscellany for the Family Circle 

1856 illustration from Santa Claus, or, The night before Christmas

1857 Harper and Brother illustration for A Visit from St. Nicholas in Harper's New Monthly Magazine

1857 The Wonders of Santa Claus from Harper's Weekly December 26, 1857

1858 Santa Claus in Harper's Weekly

Circa 1858 The Night Before Christmas or Kriss Kringle's Visit, published by Willis P. Hazard and illustrated by "Nick"

1859 Saxon Christmas or King Winter, from The Illustrated London News 

1860 Father Christmas on an early Christmas card

Circa 1850s embossed Father Christmas on a Victorian Christmas card

1862 James G. Gregory edition of A Visit from St. Nicholas illustrated by Felix Octavius Carr Darley

1863 First Thomas Nast Santa drawing in Harpers Weekly, January 3rd, Santa at Camp

1863 Christmas Eve by Thomas Nast from Harper's Weekly January 3rd

1864 A Visit from St. Nicholas illustrated by Louis Prang

1866 Santa and his Works by Thomas Nast 

1870 A non Nast Santa Claus from Harper's Weekly looking like a British Father Christmas

1874 Charles Goodall and Sons Father Christmas card

1874 Three British Father Christmases from cards by Thomas de la Rue

1879 a fuzzy Santa John A. Hows from Christmas In Art And Song 

1886 Father Christmas cartoon by Sir John Tenniel in Punch

1886 Father Christmas in an Australian advert

Circa 1880s Santa in a Boot and Shoe store Pennsylvania advert

1890 Father Christmas from British Christmas card

1894 British children's book 

1895 Father Christmas from The Life of Happy Children by E. Nesbit

1899 A Visit from Santa Claus by McLoughlin Brothers of New York

circa 1890s Raphael Tuck Christmas card

1900 Santa Claus by Willian Holbrook-Beard

1902 Leopard print Santa! 

1902 Magazine cover by Australian artist Frank Arthur Nankivell

1905 Old Father Christmas's Visit from Picture Companions 

1915 White Rock Ginger Ale advert

1920 a Norman Rockwell Santa

1923 Saturday Evening Post cover by JC Leyendecker

1931 ‘My hat’s off to the pause that refreshes’ by Haddon Sundblom