The original name for a poem by Clement Clarke Moore, popularly called titled The Night Before Christmans. It is a popular poem with the theme of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) coming to bring gifts to children on Christmans eve. See Night Before Christmas in the vocabulary.

See also: Saint Nicholas

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by G. & C. Merriam Co.

References in periodicals archive

"Moore is world famous as the author of the poem, 'A Visit from St. Nicholas.' The residents of Chelsea are, for the most part, successful, with families, from every walk of life.

Garrick-Aug Worldwide named agent for Chelsea Gardens. (Retail New York)

Among the vanguard of Knickerbockers attempting to tame and reinvent Christmas in the first half of the nineteenth century, Moore's narrator in his "A Visit from St. Nicholas" "threw up the sash" and saw nothing but a harmless, jocular, tiny old man (in working-class garb, smoking a working-class pipe) whose only intent was to shower Moore's idyllic domestic scene with presents and good cheer.

The Battle for Christmas: A Social and Cultural History of Christmas That Shows How It Was Transformed from an Unruly Carnival Season into the Quintessential American Family Holiday

The resulting image of Santa Claus in the United States crystallized in the 19th century (particularly in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore), and he has ever since remained the patron of the gift-giving festival of Christmas.

Santa Claus

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