Father Christmas Goes on Holiday

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Representations of the developing character at this period were sometimes labelled 'Santa Claus' and sometimes 'Father Christmas', with a tendency for the latter still to allude to old-style associations with charity and with food and drink, as in several of these Punch illustrations: Bede, Cuthbert (6 April 1861). "Modern Mumming". Notes & Queries. 11 (Second series): 271–272. ('Cuthbert Bede' was a pseudonym used by the novelist Edward Bradley). Raymond Briggs was one of our most respected and beloved artists. Born in Wimbledon in 1934, he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and went on to produce a treasure trove of work. He created characters that are now icons for generations of children, including Fungus the Bogeyman, Father Christmas and, of course, the beloved Snowman. His original Mother Goose was published in 1966 and won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. His work has won numerous awards and been adapted for film on several occasions including Ethel and Ernest. He died in August 2022, aged 88. Any residual distinctions between Father Christmas and Santa Claus largely faded away in the early years of the new century, and it was reported in 1915, "The majority of children to-day ... do not know of any difference between our old Father Christmas and the comparatively new Santa Claus, as, by both wearing the same garb, they have effected a happy compromise." [93]

Hervey ends by lamenting the lost "uproarious merriment" of Christmas, and calls on his readers "who know anything of the 'old, old, very old, gray-bearded gentleman' or his family to aid us in our search after them; and with their good help we will endeavor to restore them to some portion of their ancient honors in England". [44] Raymond Briggs: ‘I’m not a fan of Christmas. It’s all a great fuss about nothing.’ Photograph: Felix Clay/for the Guardian In his allegorical play Summer's Last Will and Testament, [7] written in about 1592, Thomas Nashe introduced for comic effect a miserly Christmas character who refuses to keep the feast. He is reminded by Summer of the traditional role that he ought to be playing: "Christmas, how chance thou com’st not as the rest, / Accompanied with some music, or some song? / A merry carol would have graced thee well; / Thy ancestors have used it heretofore." [8] 17th century—religion and politics [ edit ] Puritan criticisms [ edit ] English personifications of Christmas were first recorded in the 15th century, with Father Christmas himself first appearing in the mid 17th century in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Puritan-controlled English government had legislated to abolish Christmas, considering it papist, and had outlawed its traditional customs. Royalist political pamphleteers, linking the old traditions with their cause, adopted Old Father Christmas as the symbol of 'the good old days' of feasting and good cheer. Following the Restoration in 1660, Father Christmas's profile declined. His character was maintained during the late 18th and into the 19th century by the Christmas folk plays later known as mummers plays.

The year my wife died, various kind friends asked me away to help me get over the business. One friend had a house in France, another asked me up to Scotland. Those trips became the basis for the second Father Christmas book, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday. I’d gone away, so I thought he could too. There are always elements of yourself in any character. This is a wonderful follow-up to the Father Christmas book. After working so hard on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas is ready for a well-earned holiday. He converts his sleigh into a camper van then sets off with his deer on holiday. But in each country he visits, he is soon spotted and has to move on. After spending time and enjoying too much food in France, Scotland and Las Vegas, it is soon time to head home. King, Josiah (1658). The Examination and Tryall of Old Father Christmas. London: Thomas Johnson. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016 . Retrieved 15 January 2016.

While I liked Mr. Briggs's previous book, "Father Christmas" a tad better, this is still a worthy and very entertaining follow-up. Bennett, Lilian M (20 February 1891). "Agnes: A Fairy Tale (part I)". Manchester Times. Manchester. Thomas Hervey's The Book of Christmas (1836), illustrated by Robert Seymour, exemplifies this view. [41] In Hervey's personification of the lost charitable festival, "Old Father Christmas, at the head of his numerous and uproarious family, might ride his goat through the streets of the city and the lanes of the village, but he dismounted to sit for some few moments by each man's hearth; while some one or another of his merry sons would break away, to visit the remote farm-houses or show their laughing faces at many a poor man's door." Seymour's illustration shows Old Christmas dressed in a fur gown, crowned with a holly wreath, and riding a yule goat. [42] Christmas with his children 1836 The book's title character and protagonist, who lives in an ordinary house in what appears to be a provincial English town, decides that he needs to take a vacation. He travels to France, Scotland and Las Vegas, Nevada. He finds that each destination has its advantages and disadvantages. Father Christmas [1] is keen to blend in wherever he goes and to pass incognito. He leaves each of his three vacation destinations shortly after a child recognizes him.Duffy, Eamon (1992). The Stripping of the Altars. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 581–582. ISBN 0-300-06076-9. New Year's Day". John o' Groat Journal. Caithness, Scotland. 9 January 1852. p.3 . Retrieved 28 January 2016. In Britain, the first evidence of a child writing letters to Father Christmas requesting gift has been found in 1895. [59] Santa Claus crosses the Atlantic [ edit ] a b c d e f g h i j Hutton, Ronald (1996). The Stations of the Sun. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 0-19-820570-8.