Clement Clarke Moore was a minister who can be held most responsible for creating and popularizing the early image of Santa Claus. In 1822 Moore wrote a Christmas poem for his daughters titled An Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas, which most of us now know as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
In the poem, Moore describes St. Nick as a “jolly old elf” whose belly famously shakes like a bowl full of jelly. The poem was also responsible for the notion that Santa travels from house to house on a flying sleigh led by reindeer and slides down chimneys to deliver gifts.
The poem became so popular amongst the public that it became a household legend and in 1866 cartoonist Thomas Nast illustrated the poem in Harper’s Weeklyand brought Santa to life. The illustration below features the portly elf with a white beard who we know so well.
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