HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1971-12-23, Page 10PAGE 10
Santa's W
Who gave Santa his red
suit, broad girth, white beard,
ruddy cheeks and nose, fur -
trimmed hat and coat?
Surprisingly enough, the
donor was a political car •
-
toonist.
The artist's name was
Thomas Nast, cartoonist for
Harper's Illustrated Weekly,
who also created the now -
famous symbols of the Re-
publican elephant and the
Democratic donkey.
The figure of Santa that
Nast drew in 1863, and per-
haps earlier, has proved to be
the definitive one, and even
today the figure as drawn by
Nast appears occasionally on
Christmas greetings.
"Nast's image of Santa was
extraordinary," says Mrs.
Jeannette Lee, director of
design at Hallmark.
"He gave Santa many of
the qualities that have en-
deared hint to children ever
since, and we wouldn't dream
of tampering very much with
them today."
Nast first credited Santa
with keeping books on good
and bad children, having a
Christmas toy workshop and
reading letters sent to him
by children.
Perhaps it was the now -
famous poem, "A Visit from
St, Nicholas," by Dr. Clement
'a•.
eft
to Beard,
Clarke Moore, that inspired
Nast's illustration of Santa,
In this children's classic of
1823, the right jolly old elf,
who looked like a peddler
with a pack on his back, was
first described in print.
Nast followed Dr. Moore's
description of Santa in sev-
eral particulars, but many of
his concepts were original,
At the time of Nast's Santa
Claus drawings the nation
was at Civil War, and fam-
ilies were separated. In a
note to cheer both soldiers
and their waiting families
Nast drew "Santa Claus in
Camp," for Harper's Weekly,
This earliest Santa was
different from any artist's
creations up till then. He was
shown wearing stars and
stripes of the Union and dis-
tributing gifts to soldiers,
Actually, this Santa might
have been meant as a repre-
sentation of Uncle Sam also,
A later, equally moving
Nast illustration featured a
soldier's Christmas home-
coming.
Born in 1840 in the tiny
hamlet of Landau, Bavaria,
Nast probably pictured Santa
as the long -imagined Saint
Nicholas of his childhood.
Albert Bigelow Paine, a
friend and admirer of Nast,
said the artist often revealed
•
9,71•F, r
„T
"HELLO, LPI"1'LF. ONE" WAS 'I'l'I'JJ FOR Allis famed drawing
of Santa, by Thomas Nast. from Harper'.~ Jt 'kly. Nast, a toned
19th century politieu1 cartoonist, was the first 10 illustrate Santa
as a bearded, red -nosed jolly old man whose rotund figure was
clothed in a fur -trimmed red snit, according to r•e•searehcr.
IT'S enLSTM21s
to the x x
world 'E
and peace
to all on r�r>
Christmas 4 s r
Day.
LUCKY DOLLAR FOOD MARKET
ZURICH
Clarence Gascho and Family Ethel Gabel
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1971
Red Suit Come from
to him his love of the Santa
illustrations. He later wrote
in his biography of the car
toonist;
"His own childhood in far-
off Bavaria has been meas-
ured by the yearly visits of
.. St. Nicholas , .. and the
girlhood of the woman who
was to become his wife
(Sarah Edwards of New York)
was intimately associated
with brilliant and joyous
celebrations,
"Nast's children later re-
called there was always a
multitude of paper dolls —
marvelously big and elabo-
rate, a race long since be -
Iconography?
It's Part
Of Today
The ancient Byzantine
art of iconography is a
contemporary art, too, and
very much a part of today.
So declares John Papas-
piliopoulos, leading icon-
ographer and owner -cre-
ator of the Byzantine
Icons Studio, New York.
He points out that the
turn of the century Art
Nouveau technique, which
has influenced much con-
temporary art, is related
to Byzantine religious art.
A non-realistic use of color
and flattening of perspec-
tive are typical.
As an iconographer, Mr.
Papaspiliopoulos leads the
development of a "Byzan-
tine art of the 20th cen-
tury."
Assisted by the artists
of his studio, he has deco-
rated some 30 churches in
the United States, In his
native Greece, he has dec-
orated 19 Athens churches.
Like Byzantine artists of
centuries past, Mr. Papas-
piliopoulos works with tra-
ditionally authentic egg
tempera. He makes his
own tempera from egg,
vinegar and ammonia. To
this emulsion, coloring
agents are added.
He makes extensive use
of gold leaf, another tra-
ditional element in Byzan-
tine art. His work shows
his own personal touch
but always follows the
pure Byzantine style.
`Boeing that Christmas
brings lots of good
things for you, yours,
Ear's Barber Shop
Earl Oesch
ZURICH
come extinct,
"And these the artistic
father —.. more than half a
child himself at the Christ-
mas season — arranged in
processions and cavalcades,
gay pageants that marched
in and about those larger
presents that could not be
crowded into the row of
stockings that hung by the
family fireplace.
"It was a time of splendor
and rejoicing — the festive
blossoming of the winter sea-
son — and it was a beautiful
and sturdy family that made
Merry Christmas riot in the
spacious New York home."
In Nast's day, the idea of
Cartoonist
some sort of Santa was not
new to this country, He was
introduced to North America
by the early Dutch settlers
and his name was St. Nicho-
las, The annual visit of this
kind man, who was thought
to have been a fourth -cen-
tury bishop, was his feast
day, December 6th,
By 1809, Washington Irving
was describing Santa as a
small Dutch citizen who
looked much like Father
Knickerbocker. Irving won-.
dered how the poor old man
could get to all the homes
in a growing America on his
horse, so he invented the fa-
mous reindeer -drawn sleigh,
.As we celebrate the Christmas season,
may the symbols of peace and freedom •
enkindle a fraternal spirit in all.
SHANTZ FARM AUTOMATION
GERALD and CATHERINE SHANTZ
ZURICH
"On earth peace,
good will toward
men." Our best
wishes to you
at Christmas,
ZURICH WOOD PRODUCTS LTD.
The Management and Staff
ZURICH, ONTARIO