Ornaments from Moosehead Historical Society Collection
Santa Claus, the jolly old fellow who today is the signature to Christmas celebrations in America - where did he come from, anyway? Well, sources say he likely was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, a legendary figure who is said to have brought gifts into the homes of good children during the evening and overnight hours of Decenber 24. But the Dutch are not alone, a nearly identical story is attributed by Greek and Byzantine folklore to Basil of Caesarea, with a feast day on January 1. Originally, St. Nicholas was portrayed wearing bishop’s robes, but today his attire has evolved to the red, fur trimmed suit, the image most popular in the United States and Canada.
Christmas celebrations in the early 1900s in the Moosehead region almost certainly included a Santa Claus figure, as evidenced by the collection of decorations held by the Moosehead Historical Society (see picture above). While no specific information is available about these decorations, according to society Executive Director Candy Russell, it is believed they came from the Eveleth, Crafts, Sheridan House, and, for the most part, appear handmade. In addition to a large number of Santa figures, there is also a sleigh, reindeer, and other figures appropriate to the season.
There is an old song whose lines tell a tale of “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go” via horse drawn sleigh for Christmas. Christmas in the Moosehead region in the early 1900s may have been much more simple and surely involved family, according to a member of an old Greenville family, but there wasn’t a lot of sleigh riding to Grandma’s house, as families generally lived three and four generations deep in one house. Christmas would have been celebrated with a family gathering around good food and the simple exchange of gifts, most of them likely homemade.
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