The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...So began “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which appeared anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel newspaper on December 23, 1823. The poem — retitled The Night Before Christmas by its author, Clement Clarke Moore — would within decades transform how America and, eventually, the world celebrates and experiences the Christmas holiday.

When Moore, a wealthy New York City divinity professor, wrote the poem for his six children in 1822, America had few Christmas traditions. Christmas was a somber occasion for some, a raucous festival for others, and ignored by many. There were folk tales about a gift-giving St. Nicholas, but no consensus as to his appearance or how he traveled or even when he arrived. Drawing on Dutch folklore and to a surprising degree his own imagination, Moore found in Christmas a joy and sense of wonder. He established the season as a time for children and family and portrayed St. Nick as the portly and jolly driver of a reindeer-drawn sleigh traveling the rooftops on Christmas Eve to enter homes and deliver toys to children.