Santeclaus in sleigh by Arthur Stansbury, The Children’s Friend, 1821

Arthur Stansbury created the most influential depiction of Santa that no one ever saw

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...

In an 1821 children’s book called The Children’s Friend, Vol. III, artist Arthur Stansbury created the most influential depiction of Santa that no one ever saw (or hardly anyone). Only two copies survive, and the existence of the book was unknown until it was discovered in the mid-1900s by the American Antiquarian Society.