Page 16 - Dec_BoomerTimes_2020

From The December Cover Look for BoomerTimes & SeniorLife inserted monthly in

The Miami Herald*
Three Wise Men Who Reinvented Christmas (N. Miami-Dade and in Broward County)
By Richard Lederer December 2020 issue inserted December 16
In 1822, the Reverend Clement Clarke Moore, a literature professor __________________
at a theological seminary in New York City, wrote for his children what January 2021 issue inserted January 20
many believe is the best-known poem in the English language, “A Visit (Subscriptions are also available—srlife@gate.net)
from Saint Nicholas.”
The poem, usually titled “The Night Before Christmas” from its first *A complimentary copy is randomly inserted in home delivery in
line, powerfully influenced the iconography of Santa Claus—his plump the following zip codes:
and jolly white-bearded look, his means of transportation, the names 33004 Dania 33179 North Miami Beach
of his reindeer and the tradition of his delivering toys to boys and girls 33009 Hallandale 33180 Aventura,
on Christmas Eve. On that night, many parents read this poem to their 33019 Hollywood 33308 N. Miami Beach
33020
Ft. Lauderdale
Hollywood
children. 33021 Hollywood 33312 Ft. Lauderdale, Dania
Later in the 19th century, another New Yorker, Thomas Nast, enlarged 33023 Miramar, Beach, Hollywood
the image of Santa Claus with his artist’s pen and brush. Known as the Pembroke Pines 33313 Lauderhill
Father of the American Cartoon, Nast remembered that when he was a 33024 Hollywood, 33315 Ft. Lauderdale
little boy in southern Germany, every Christmas a fat old man gave toys Pembroke Pines 33316 Ft. Lauderdale
and cakes to children. So, when he sketched and painted Santa, his 33025 Miramar, 33317 Plantation
portraits looked like the kindly old man of his childhood. 33026 Pembroke Pines 33319 Lauderdale Lakes,
Pembroke Pines,

Lauderhill, Tamarac
Santa Claus had been repre- Cooper City 33321 Tamarac
sented in various ways, but 33027 Miramar, 33322 Sunrise
Nast, influenced by the “right Pembroke Pines 33323 Sunrise, Sawgrass
jolly old elf” depicted in Moore’s 33028 Pembroke Pines 33324 Plantation, Davie
poem, created the figure we 33029 Miramar, 33325 Davie, Sawgrass
know today. Over the course of Pembroke Pines 33326 Weston
30 years of drawing for Harper’s 33060 Pompano Beach 33327 Weston
Davie, Cooper City,
33330
33062
Hillsboro Beach,
Weekly magazine, he baked into Pompano Beach Southwest Ranches
our culture his image of Santa 33063 Margate, 33331 Davie, Weston,
Claus—his jolly girth, his white beard and moustache, his bright Coconut Creek Southwest Ranches
red-and-white-trimmed coat, trousers, and hat, his black belt and 33064 Lighthouse Point, 33332 Davie, Weston
boots, and his sack of toys. He also drew Mrs. Claus and set the Pompano Beach 33334 Oakland Park,
Clauses’ workshop at the North Pole. 33066 Coconut Creek Wilton Manors
Across the sea in England, Charles Dickens was born into an 33068 N. Lauderdale, 33351 Sunrise, Tamarac
impoverished family. His father served a term in debtors’ prison, and 33076 Margate 33441 Deerfield Beach
33442
Deerfield Beach
Coral Springs,
Charles worked as a child laborer in a London boot-blacking factory. Parkland
From such unpromising origins, he rose to become the best-selling 33160 Aventura, Golden Beach, N. Miami Beach,
writer of his time and one of the most enduring and quotable writers Sunny Isles Beach
of all time. The rags-to-riches life of Charles Dickens became more
fantastic than any of his stories.
In 1843, within the brief compass of six weeks, Dickens gave the still be a relatively minor holiday with no snow, no carolers, and no large
world A Christmas Carol. The influence of that Christmas present is family gatherings for turkey dinners.
towering. The story’s glowing message—the importance of charity and Thomas Nast, perhaps the most famous political cartoonist in our
good will toward all humankind—struck a resonant chord in England history, was responsible for the popularity of two party animals. During
and the United States and deepened the celebration of the holiday. the election of 1828, opponents of Andrew Jackson labeled him a “jack-
Although Christmases in eastern England were rarely snowy, Dickens’s ass” for his populist beliefs. Jackson was entertained by the notion and
backdrop of a blizzardy London in his Carol stuck with readers and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters. Nast is
helped create our expectations of a “White Christmas.” credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Demo-
Today, we’re likely to call anyone who is not in the Christmas spirit cratic Party, through one of his cartoons that appeared in Harper’s
a Scrooge and give them a sarcastic “Bah! Humbug!” Most of us know Weekly in 1870. Four years later, also in Harper’s Weekly, Nast drew a
that we owe this phrase to Charles Dickens, but hardly anyone realizes donkey clothed in lion’s skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo.
that he also popularized the greeting “Merry Christmas.” Ebenezer One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled
Scrooge’s visiting nephew greets his uncle with it in the very first “The Republican Vote.” That’s all it took for the
chapter. In all his curmudgeonly glory, Scrooge fires back, “‘Merry elephant to become associated with Republicans.
Christmas!’ What right have you to be merry? Every idiot who goes
Dr. Richard Lederer is the author of more than 50
about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own books about language, history and humor, including
pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!” After that his newest books, “A Treasury of Halloween Humor”
episode, “Merry Christmas” lodged in readers’ minds and hearts. and “A Treasury of Christmas Humor.” To order signed
Without Charles Dickens’s slim stack of messy manuscript pages copies, explore his website, verbivore.com or write him
that came to be known as A Christmas Carol, Christmas today might Richard Lederer at richardhlederer@gmail.com.
16 / BoomerTimes & SeniorLife BoomerTimesFL.com DECEMBER 2020