{"id":34407,"date":"2024-12-04T13:04:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T20:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/?p=34407"},"modified":"2024-12-04T13:04:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T20:04:47","slug":"the-history-of-santas-list-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/the-history-of-santas-list-day\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Santa&#8217;s List Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The legend of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus has many elements, one of the oldest being a letter or a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/santaupdate.com\/2024\/12\/04\/wish-list-day-at-the-north-pole\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wish list sent to Santa<\/a><\/strong> to share what one wants for <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The idea has ancient roots in the origin story of Saint Nicholas, the benevolent 4th century Bishop known for kind acts and generosity. As Saint Nicholas would hear of a need he would work anonymously to fulfill it. As time passed the power of word of mouth transformed into notes and letters to St. Nicholas.<\/p>\n<p>Like other parts of the <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> story the passing of notes grew over time and place. By the time \u201cSt. Nicholas\u201d came to America in the early 19th century his legend as a night-time gift bringer was fully established.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmymerrychristmas%2Fvideos%2F486928971328341%2F%3Fref%3Dembed_video&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>In an 1824 newspaper account from the New York American a story is told of an adult man who had a noisy encounter with <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus on <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> Eve. Not knowing who this strange man was making all the noise in the dead of night, he asked his host:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWell, said I, who is this <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The host replied, \u201cOh? You don\u2019t know who <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus is? He is an old fellow who brings us good things every <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a>!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This idea perplexed the man. \u201cOld? He is the noisiest old coger I know of. But what is he like?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The answer did little to resolve the question. \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know, we never see him; all we do is we hang a stocking on the bed post on <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> Eve, and the next morning all good boys and girls find it stuffed with sugar plumbs, candy and toys, and all the bad ones find rod\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This was quite the common <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> tale in early 19th century America. As it passed from person to person, and then as curiosity built thanks to the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, it was only natural for children and believers to want to get to know <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus.<\/p>\n<p>What better way to do that than to write a note that might express a wish or defend one from questionable behavior?<\/p>\n<p>In fact, as time passed, engaging with <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus on any level became something of a <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> tradition. New York had a <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> tradition of \u201cmumming\u201d, a practice of going door-to-door to share holiday greetings, songs and goodies such as wines, wassail, candies and cookies.<\/p>\n<p>From 1826, in the Providence Patriot dated January 11th, the news story is shared of a man named who went door-to-door with a friend, carrying a sack with Santa\u2019s picture on it, collecting cookies at every stop. After an evening of making merry and collecting cookies, they had a very full sack, which they then took a local orphanage, <em>\u201ccourtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Children between the years of 1820 and 1840 would fondly recall <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> decades later by writing their memories to be published in local newspapers during the week of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a>. One man, in sharing his memory with an Albany, New York newspaper in 1868, said he wrote a letter to St. Nicholas of his intention to use his father\u2019s stocking on the fireplace mantle instead of his own and he \u201cdidn\u2019t want <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> to think he had extra big feet\u201d.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34411\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mmc-220a5.kxcdn.com\/x\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/santa-and-his-works-dec-29-1866.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34411\" class=\"size-full wp-image-34411\" src=\"https:\/\/mmc-220a5.kxcdn.com\/x\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/santa-and-his-works-dec-29-1866.jpg\" alt=\"Thomas Nast art of Santa Claus 1866\" width=\"1200\" height=\"840\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-34411\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>An 1866 work of Thomas Nast showing the works of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>The era of the Civil War in America did a lot to advance the long distance <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a>. Train travel became popular, allowing people to quickly cover large distances to reunite with family.<\/p>\n<p>Postal services expanded home delivery, making the sending of messages faster and cheaper. And the media exposure of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus and his legend spread every <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> as his exploits were shared far and wide. <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a>, officially declared a national holiday in 1870, became something of a <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/sneaking-christmas\/\">commercial<\/a> fad with <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus at the dead center of it.<\/p>\n<p>The industrial revolution brought ever more new goods to market along with a well spring of marketing, fueled by the engine of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> gift giving. <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus was simply more fuel for the fire. Santa\u2019s image was used by stores, who increasingly had a <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> on site, to <em>\u201cvisit with the kiddies\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>As more and more families with children learned of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> the more it seemed they wanted to communicate with him. \u201cLetters to Santa\u201d were published in local newspapers to such a degree that it became something of a fad to send a letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> by mail to a newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Soon the US Postal Service began accepting letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> because they came \u2013 with stamps attached \u2013 and the post office had nowhere to deliver them. Before long well-meaning groups and associations popped up to deal with Santa\u2019s mail. Volunteers would meet together during the holiday season to send responses to letter writers on Santa\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n<p>In the city of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus, Indiana, the city\u2019s postmaster, James Martin, started answering the city\u2019s large pile of <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> letters himself, then tapped local volunteers as the city\u2019s name brought in ever-more mail for the man in the red suit. Those efforts have continued to this day.<\/p>\n<p>The US Postal Service established <em>Operation <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus<\/em>, an coordinated nationwide effort some felt were necessary when fraud was exposed by some independent groups who pocketed donated funds sent in letters to <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The program evolved after being spotlighted in the climactic courtroom scene in <em>Miracle on 34th Street<\/em> in 1947, then enjoyed a significant boost when Johnny Carson made a practice of reading several letters each December on \u201cThe Tonight Show,\u201d urging viewers to take part in the program.<\/p>\n<p>Pop culture has done it\u2019s part to keep the sending of wish lists to <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> alive. In 1934, the song <em><a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> Claus is Comin\u2019 to Town<\/em> extended the idea of lists by suggesting that \u201cSanta is making a list, and checking it twice\u201d \u2013 to find out which children are naughty or nice.<\/p>\n<p>While <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/santaupdate.com\/2013\/12\/15\/santa-talks-about-being-naughty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Pole experts contend that Santa does not really have a naughty list<\/a><\/strong>, the idea that a letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> could create some clemency for a wayward believer has always been popular.<\/p>\n<p>Why is December 4th considered Santa\u2019s List Day?<\/p>\n<p>With just 20 days between December 4th and <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/mr-christmas-of-the-19th-century\/\">Christmas<\/a> Eve it\u2019s just enough time to craft a note and send it to <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/celebrating-20-years-of-the-merry-forums\/\">Santa<\/a> will accept a wish list to the last possible second it\u2019s just good form to do it on Santa\u2019s List Day, December 4th. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/santaupdate.com\/north-pole-post-office\/send-santa-your-wish-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to send your wish list to Santa<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The legend of Santa Claus has many elements, one of the oldest being a letter or a wish list sent to Santa to share what one wants for Christmas. The idea has ancient roots in the origin story of Saint Nicholas, the benevolent 4th century Bishop known for kind acts and generosity. As Saint Nicholas [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"History of Santa's List Day | MyMerryChristmas.com","_seopress_titles_desc":"December 4th is Santa's List Day, an interesting side-note in the history of Christmas.","_seopress_robots_index":"","iawp_total_views":1050,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,4,2],"tags":[954],"class_list":["post-34407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas-history","category-christmas-legends","category-christmas-news","tag-wish-list-for-santa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}