German Belsnickle candy container c.1890

Papier mache candy containers made in Germany between roughly 1890 and 1910

Perfection

Santa Claus Worldwide distills the cheerful essence of Christmas from many sources and studies, old and new. In addition to his wide reading, author Tom A. Jerman has brought a wealth of personal experience

Great Read!

Santa Claus Worldwide describes gift givers throughout the world in history from the pagan god Odin to the present day Father Christmas, Weihnachten, Père Noël, Ded Moroz, and Santa Claus. Mr. Jerman’s thorough research of this subject, takes the reader on a journey...

Amazing!

Until now I’ve been especially interested in Clement C. Moore and his transcendent poem The Night Before Christmas. Tom Jerman puts Moore’s classic in perspective with a broad and highly informative look at the international history of Santa Claus. For my own...

This book is REALLY impressive

I’m not a historian (I work with a lot of historians, but I’m not one!) but this book REALLY impressive piece of work! Extensively referenced and Tom Jerman does a great, scholarly job of telling the “stories” that should be told with the support of a lot of...

These photographs show what became known in America as “Belsnickles,” papier mache candy containers made in Germany between roughly 1890 and 1910, all of which show a stern figure with arms crossed and a tree or switch in the crook of its right arm. In ads, Belsnickle figurines were sold as Weihnachtsmann in Germany and Santa Claus in the U.S.

Opnamedatum: 25 11 2013

Sint Nicolaas Te Paard Gezeten Ja Aldag 1833

Ziet Bisschop Niklaas Sint Kindren Hier Te Paard 1806

Here comes Sinterklaas

This 1798 illustration shows the Dutch gift-giver Sinterklaas in bishop’s garb riding his horse through the streets of Holland while tossing gifts to a trailing mob of children.