Elyaqim Mosheh Adam אליקים משה אדם

The holiday of Purim is connected to the story in the Book of Esther, which is retold in “The Story of Esther,” by Charles H. Sylvester, published in Journeys Through Bookland, 1909. The principal figures are the heroine Esther, her cousin Mordecai, the villain Haman and King Ahasuerus.

Images

☝︎ “Esther and King Ahasuerus,” frontispiece by Beatrice Braidwood for “The Story of Esther,” by Charles H. Sylvester, Journeys Through Bookland, vol. 2, 1909. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “Mordecai Cried with a Loud and Bitter Cry,” illustration by Beatrice Braidwood for “The Story of Esther,” by Charles H. Sylvester, Journeys Through Bookland, vol. 2, 1909. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “Esther Fell Down at the King’s Feet,” illustration by Beatrice Braidwood for “The Story of Esther,” by Charles H. Sylvester, Journeys Through Bookland, vol. 2, 1909. (In the public domain.)

Along with his powers to apparently make himself very small and very slender, multiple public‐domain sources depict Santa Claus as being extremely large, even gargantuan, sometimes being miles high and sometimes evidently being about as large as the planet itself, suggesting he has the ability to grow to those sizes.

In December 1913, Santa Claus is so large that he can easily step over foothills of the Swiss Alps to bring chocolate bars to eager recipients (“When Santa Claus brings Peter’s …”).

On 13 December 1913, The San Francisco Call and Post shows Santa Claus as existing shortly after the dawn of man, when humanity has not expanded much beyond the Garden of Eden. He is many miles tall and is busy putting various natural features of the “primal uncompleted lands” in place, including giving the Alps to (the as‐yet unpopulated) Italy. Existing mountain ranges barely reach his ankles, Mount Shasta and the Yosemite Valley sit in his pack awaiting his final positioning of them, and he holds a big tree in his hand as if it were a flower (“Santa Claus’ Visit”).

In December 1917, Santa Claus is depicted as being so tremendous that he stands astride North America, with one foot in Mexico and the other in Canada (“Santa Claus to All the World”).

In December 1906, Santa Claus appears to possibly be about as large as the World itself (“Santa Comes but Once a Year”).

Bibliography in progress

“Santa Claus’ Visit,” by Arthur L. Price, The San Francisco Call and Post, vol. 115 (94), no. 12 (143), 13 Dec. 1913. (In the public domain.)

Images

☝︎ “Conscience,” cover design by George Carlson, Life, vol. 62, no. 1626, 25 Dec. 1913. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “When Santa Claus brings Peter’s …,” advertisement for Peter’s Milk Chocolate, St. Nicholas, vol. 41, no. 2, Dec. 1913. (Also published in Life, vol. 62, no. 1623, 4 Dec. 1913.) (In the public domain.)

☝︎ Illustration by Fred L. Packer for “Santa Claus’ Visit,” by Arthur L. Price, The San Francisco Call and Post, vol. 115 (94), no. 12 (143), 13 Dec. 1913. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “Santa Claus to All the World,” cover design by Edwin King, Western Newspaper Union, appearing in numerous papers including The Gackle Republican, vol. 12, no. 17, 14 Dec. 1917. (In the public domain.)

On at least two occasions—once in 1912 and once in 1924—Santa Claus has demonstrated the power to make himself startlingly slender, a physical attribute that helps him to descend chimneys so as to deliver gifts, although in 1912, it results in his inadvertently frightening a child.

Images

☝︎  “The Night Before Christmas,” cartoon by Louis Glackens, Puck, vol. 72, no. 1866, 4 Dec. 1912. (In the public domain.)

The great majority of public‐domain sources depict Santa Claus as a man of normal height, but a significant subset instead depict him as being very short. Though this is presumably nothing more than contradictions in the source material (that apparently reflect differences in his appearance from universe to universe), his connection to magic and miracles suggests the possibility that he may be able to alter his height, especially as it would be beneficial to someone who routinely slides down chimneys.

In December 1823, St. Nicholas is small enough to fit in what is described as his “miniature sleigh” which is drawn by “eight tiny rein‐deer” (“Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”).

In 1863, likely referring to his small stature, Santa Claus jokes that “I was a cruisin’ round all last night—didn’t sleep a wink—got so broke up there’s nothing left of me but pieces!” (“Prudy’s Christmas”).

In 1897, Santa Claus states outright that he indeed has different heights at different times, but curiously, he states that he is shorter at home with his wife than when he is out delivering gifts.

No doubt you think me six feet, four, And that I weigh a ton or more, But when at home I’m rather small, Not near so large nor half so tall As when I visit girls and boys And load them down with pretty toys (Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. Nicholas).

A 1909 postcard appears to show Santa Claus as being so vanishingly small that he can walk along a holly leaf (“Greetings from Santa Claus”).

On a number of occasions in 1921 and 1922, Santa Claus is so small that he can hide inside a phonograph player (though he acknowledges it is a “tight squeeze”) (“Santa Claus Hides in Your Phonograph” and others).

Bibliography in progress

“Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” by Clement Clarke Moore, The Troy Sentinel, vol. 1, no. 47, 23 Dec. 1823. (In the public domain.)

“Prudy’s Christmas,” by Sophie May (pseud. of Rebecca Sophia Clarke), The Little Pilgrim, vol. 11, no. 1, published 1863 with a cover date of Jan. 1864. (In the public domain.)

 ° Reprinted in book form with the title “Susy’s Christmas,” Sister Susy, ch. 3, 1863.

Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. Nicholas, E. J. White & Co., 1897. (In the public domain.)

“Santa Claus Hides in the Talking Machine,” script by Arthur A. Penn for a phonographic recording recited by Victor Fletcher, [1921]. (In the public domain.)

 ° “Santa Claus Hides in the Talking Machine,” nearly identical script credited to Alan Brown for a recording recited by Ernest Hare, [1921]. Also released with the title “Santa Claus Hides in the Phonograph.” (In the public domain.)

 ° “Santa Claus Hides in the Talking Machine,” script by Arthur A. Penn for a recording recited by Irving Post, [1921]. (In the public domain.)

 ° “Santa Claus Hides in Your Phonograph,” script by Arthur A. Penn for a recording recited by Harry E. Humphrey, [1922]. (In the public domain.)

 ° “Santa Claus Hides in the Talking Machine,” script by Arthur A. Penn for a recording recited by Edward Lee (apparently Victor Fletcher), [1922]. (In the public domain.)

Images

☝︎ Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas, painting by Robert Walter Weir, 1837. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ Illustration for “Prudy’s Christmas,” by Sophie May (pseud. of Rebecca Sophia Clarke), The Little Pilgrim, vol. 11, no. 1, published 1863 with a cover date of Jan. 1864. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “The funny old gentleman,” illustration for Sister Susy, ch. 3, “Susy’s Christmas,” 1863. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “Little Bo‐Peep Fell Fast Asleep, and Dreamt—,” cartoon by Thomas Nast, Harper’s Young People, vol. 1, no. 8, 23 Dec. 1879. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ Illustration (apparently signed E. Gaucher) for Santa Claus, Kriss Kringle or St. Nicholas, 1897. (In the public domain.)

Santa Claus is well known nowadays for coming down chimneys to place gifts in children’s homes, something first documented in print in a book from 1813 or 1814. Just a year or two earlier, however, in 1812, he is first recorded as using chimneys for this purpose—but he drops the gifts down without accompanying them along the way.

The 1812 edition of A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty states that “the good St. Nicholas would often make his appearance … of a holyday afternoon, riding jollily among the tree tops, or over the roofs of the houſes, now and then drawing forth magnificent preſents from his breeches pockets, and dropping them down the chimnies of his favourites.”

Even after he has begun going down the chimneys himself, he does still sometimes just drop gifts down, as he does around 1862, and in 1902 and 1918.

Bibliography in progress

A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, 2ⁿᵈ ed., vol. 1, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (pseudonym of Washington Irving), 1812. (In the public domain.)

False Stories Corrected, 1814 (but presumably also in the original 1813 printing). (In the public domain.)

“A Christmas Mistake,” by Edwin L. Sabin, St. Nicholas, vol. 30, no. 2, Dec. 1902. (In the public domain.)

Early American Children’s Books, by A. S. W. Rosenbach, 1933. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ Santa Claus, painting by William Holbrook Beard, ca. 1862. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ Illustration by Otto W. Beck for “A Christmas Mistake,” by Edwin L. Sabin, St. Nicholas, vol. 30, no. 2, Dec. 1902. (In the public domain.)

Saint Nicholas, these days also called Santa Claus, is well known for his annual tradition of bringing gifts to children every December—originally only on St. Nicholas Eve and St. Nicholas Day, not on Christmas. He has begun to do so by 1553, when he hides “Apples, Nuttes, and peares … and other things beſide, / As caps, and ſhooes, and petticotes” in people’s homes while the children “at night in ſenseleſſe ſléepe are caſt,” as documented in the 1553 book The Popiſh Kingdome, from the Holy Roman Empire (here quoted from a 1570 translation).

The 1593 book Feſta Chriſtianorum (here quoted from an 1813 translation) describes how the gifts received each year by children are “owed them to the kindness of St. Nicholas and his train, who, going up and down among the towns and villages, came in at the windows, though they were shut, and distributed them.”

The book goes on to connect this spirit of generosity to a specific act of charity to three dowerless maidens at a time when Nicholas is still a young man living in Asia Minor (an act first recorded in considerable detail in the 9ᵗʰ century in The Life of Saint Nicholas).

According to Feſta Chriſtianorum,

This custom … originated from the legendary account of that Saint’s having given portions to three daughters of a poor citizen, whose necessities had driven him to an intention of prostituting them, and this he effected by throwing a purse filled with money, privately, at night, in at the father’s bed‐chamber window, to enable him to portion them out honestly.

In 1780, the second edition of The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints also synopsizes this act of charity by Saint Nicholas.

… [I]t is related, that when three young virgins were expoſed through diſtreſs to the danger of falling into vicious courſes, he for three ſucceſſive nights conveyed to them through the window a competent ſum of money for a fortune for one of them, ſo that they were all portioned, and afterward happily married.

Bibliography

The Life of Saint Nicholas, by Michael the Archimandrite, 9ᵗʰ century. (In the public domain.)

Regnum papiſticum, by Thomas Naogeorgus, 1553. (In the public domain.)

 ° The Popiſh Kingdome, or Reigne of Antichriſt, by Thomas Naogeorgus, trans. Barnabe Googe, 1570. (In the public domain.)

Feſta Chriſtianorum …, by Rudolf Hoſpinian, 1593. (In the public domain.)

The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, 2ⁿᵈ ed., by Alban Butler, 1780. (In the public domain.)

“St. Nicholas’s Day,” Observations on Popular Antiquities, rev. ed., vol. 1, by John Brand, rev. by Henry Ellis, 1813. (In the public domain.)

Images

☝︎ Detail of The Story of Saint Nicholas, painting by Fra Angelico, ca. 1437. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ Illustration for “Die Geschichte von den ſchwarzen Buben,” Luſtige Geſchichten und drollige Bilder …, by Heinrich Hoffmann, 1845. (In the public domain.)

November has been National Native American Heritage Month in these United States.

☝︎ Illustration by M. T. Ross for “The Chieftain’s Song of Thanks,” A Year with the Fairies, by Anna M. Scott, 1914. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ “The Indian Suite,” painting by Ernest Blumenschein, 1918 (depicting Indian Suite, by Edward MacDowell, 1896), as published in The Steinway Collection of Paintings by American Artists Together with Prose Portraits of the Great Composers by James Huneker, Steinway & Sons, 1919. (In the public domain.)

☝︎ The Last of the Mohicans, painting by Frank E. Schoonover, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 40, no. 1, Jan. 1923. (In the public domain.)

Old Gentleman Gay wishes all a happy Thanksgiving.

☞ Illustration by Maud S. Fuller or Michael Petersham for “A Good Thanksgiving,” by Marian Douglas, A Child’s Own Book of Verse, bk. 2, 1917. (In the public domain.)

Said Old Gentleman Gay, “On a Thanksgiving‐day, If you want a good time, then give something away;” So he sent a fat turkey to Shoemaker Price. And the Shoemaker said, “What a big bird! how nice! And, since such a good dinner’s before me, I ought To give poor Widow Lee the small chicken I bought.” “This fine chicken, O see!” said the pleased Widow Lee; “And the kindness that sent it, how precious to me! I would like to make some one as happy as I— I’ll give Washwoman Biddy my big pumpkin‐pie.” “And O, sure!” Biddy said, “’t is the queen of all pies! Just to look at its yellow face gladdens my eyes! Now it’s my turn, I think; and a sweet ginger‐cake For the motherless Finigan children I’ll bake.” “A sweet‐cake, all our own! ’T is too good to be true!” Said the Finigan children—Rose, Denny, and Hugh; “It smells sweet of spice, and we’ll carry a slice To poor little lame Jake—who has nothing that’s nice.” “O, I thank you, and thank you!” said little lame Jake; “O what bootiful, bootiful, bootiful cake! And O, such a big slice! I will save all the crumbs, And will give ’em to each little Sparrow that comes!” And the sparrows, they twittered, as if they would say, Like Old Gentleman Gay, “On a Thanksgiving‐day, If you want a good time, then give something away!”

📕 Old Gentleman Gay makes at least two appearances in public‐domain texts.

“A Good Thanksgiving,” by Marian Douglas, 1898 or earlier. (I could not locate the original printing online.)

☞ Illustration by M. T. Ross for “The Brownies’ Thanksgiving Turkey,” A Year with the Fairies, by Anna M. Scott, 1914. (In the public domain.)

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Not referring to a holiday dessert, but rather to that other kind of brownie, a number of sources in the public domain show that brownies observe the holiday of Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving brownie himself appears in at least two texts, and others tell of what brownies do at Thanksgiving.

Bibliography in progress

Thanksgiving in Brownie‐Land (play), by Effie Louise Koogle, 1905.

“The Brownies’ Thanksgiving Turkey,” A Year with the Fairies, by Anna M. Scott, 1914.

The Busy Brownies at Play, by Isobel Davidson and Catherine T. Bryce, 1916.

“Polly’s Thanksgiving Party,” by Ella Shannon Bowles, American Cookery, vol. 26, no. 4, Nov. 1921.

“The Thanksgiving Brownie,” The Pumpkin People, by Ethel Owen, 1927.

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☞ Headpiece by Constance Enslow for “The Thanksgiving Brownie,” The Pumpkin People, by Ethel Owen, 1927. (In the public domain.)

☞ “She heard a laugh,” illustration by Constance Enslow for “The Thanksgiving Brownie,” The Pumpkin People, by Ethel Owen, 1927. (In the public domain.)

A number of sources in the public domain document personifications of Thanksgiving, either of the general concept or specifically of the North American holiday, that bear the names Thanksgiving, the Spirit of Thanksgiving, the Thankful Fairy and the Thanksgiving Brownie.

Additionally, in 1929, the feminine personification of Thanksgiving appears on the front cover of The Saturday Evening Post. She holds a distaff in one hand and a spindle in the other, even though, as far as I am aware, textile work is not associated with the holiday. (I have also asked artificial intelligences to recreate this cover design, with varying results.)

A quick, cursory bit of research has uncovered the following public‐domain texts in which a personification of Thanksgiving appears:

Santa Claus’ Daughter (burlesque), by Everett Elliott and F. W. Hardcastle, 1892. (Named Thanksgiving.)

“The Spirit of Thanksgiving Day,” by Martina Gardner, Primary Education, vol. 16, no. 9, Nov. 1908. (Named the Thankful Fairy.)

The Thankful Heart, in A Child’s Book of Holiday Plays, by Frances Gillespy Wickes, 1916. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

“The Spirit of Thanksgiving Loquitur,” by Ellis O. Jones, Judge, vol. 71, no. 1832, 25 Nov. 1916. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

“Thanksgiving Festival,” Normal Instructor and Primary Plans, vol. 28, no. 1, Nov. 1918. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

The Spirit of Thanksgiving (playlet), by Laura Wade Rice, ca. 1921. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

The Mayflower Festival, or The Beautiful Surprise, in Missionary Entertainments for the Junior Missionary Society and the Sunday School, 1922. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

The Meaning of Thanksgiving (play), by A. C. M. Azoy, Jr., Life, vol. 82, no. 2142, 22 Nov. 1923. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

How Thanksgiving Came to November (play), by G. V. R. Wolf, Normal Instructor and Primary Plans, vol. 33, no. 1, Nov. 1924. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

“The Sixth Grade Thanksgiving Play,” The Mirror (North Shore Country Day School, Winnetka, Ill.), vol. 7, 1927. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

“The Thanksgiving Brownie,” The Pumpkin People, by Ethel Owen, 1927. (Named the Thanksgiving Brownie.)

Things for Which We Should Be Thankful, by Georgia Lyons Unverzagt, More Christian Endeavor Playlets, 1929. (Named the Spirit of Thanksgiving.)

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☞ Headpiece by Marie Abrams for The Thankful Heart, in A Child’s Book of Holiday Plays, by Frances Gillespy Wickes, 1916. (In the public domain.)

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☞ “I am the Spirit of Thanksgiving,” illustration by Marie Abrams for The Thankful Heart, in A Child’s Book of Holiday Plays, by Frances Gillespy Wickes, 1916. (In the public domain.)

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☞ “Thanksgiving,” cover design by J. C. Leyendecker, The Saturday Evening Post, vol. 202, no. 21, 23 Nov. 1929. (In the public domain.)

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☞ Artificial recreations by Grok of the Saturday Evening Post cover design.

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Fun fact: The restaurant chain is named Gray’s Papaya because it is owned and operated by Grey Aliens. 👽

What are imps, and what do they do?

In 1834, the book Lives of the Necromancers records

The power of these witches, as we find in their earliest records, originated in their intercourse with ‘familiar spirits,’ invisible beings who must be supposed to be enlisted in the armies of the prince of darkness. … These familiar spirits often assumed the form of animals, and a black dog or cat was considered as a figure in which the attendant devil was secretly hidden. These subordinate devils were called Imps. Impure and carnal ideas were mingled with these theories. The witches were said to have preternatural teats from which their familiars sucked their blood. The devil also engaged in sexual intercourse with the witch or wizard, being denominated incubus, if his favourite were a woman, and succubus, if a man.

—William Godwin, Lives of the Necromancers: or, An Account of the Most Eminent Persons in Successive Ages, Who Have Claimed for Themselves, or to Whom Has Been Imputed by Others, the Exercise of Magical Power, 1834. (In the public domain.)

In 1910, The Encyclopædia Britannica describes an imp as “a small devil or mischievous sprite” and together they are “the demons supposed to be the ‘familiar’ spirits of witches.”

—“Imp,” The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11ᵗʰ ed., vol. 14, 1910. (In the public domain.)

☞ Illustration for The Bottle Imp, by Richard Brinsley Peake, Dicks’ Standard Plays, no. 593, 1880s? (In the public domain.)

“Jack o’ Lantern.”

Master Jack O’Lantern Here a walk does take, With a wide‐awake hat upon his head, To show that he’s wide awake.

☞ Illustration by C. H. Bennett or R. B. Brough for “Jack o’ Lantern,” Funny Nursery Rhymes (cover title, The Shilling Funny Nursery Rhymes), Ward, Lock & Co., [1865?]. (In the public domain.)

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A pumpkin in pies We all of us prize; And surely no pumpkin a boy would affright.

But a jack‐lantern light Is a terrible sight And scares all the children that walk out at night.

☞ Illustration by Wᵐ. W. Denslow for “A pumpkin in pies,” Father Goose, 2nd ed., by L. Frank Baum, Geo. M. Hill Co., 1899. (In the public domain.)

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☞ Edition‐notice decoration by Constance Enslow for The Pumpkin People, by Ethel Owen, Albert Whitman & Co., 1927. (In the public domain.)

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Inferred from an illustration, it may be the case that, in the world of the 1927 book Old Nursery Rhymes, Nimble Jack and Stingy Jack (Jack o’ Lantern) are the same man (or that one Jack just borrowed a lantern from the other).