When Santa Helped Save the Union

By: Mr. Curmudgeon
mrcurmudgeon@inthepublicsquare.com

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Thomas Nast, the 19th Century political cartoonist who proved a thorn in the sideof New York’s corrupt Democratic political machine (called Tammany Hall), is remembered for rendering our modern concept of Santa Clause. Though most are familiar with his depiction of jolly Saint Nick that appeared in Harper’s Weekly (top right) in 1881, his first published drawing of the rotund gift-giver was printed in Harpers in December of 1863.

The picture shows (top left) Santa at a Union Civil War Camp. Children and Soldiers enjoy Santa’s bounty as the jovial visitor dangles a figure of Jefferson Davis by the neck while pulling another string that twitches the Confederate President’s legs. Santa appears to be hanging old Jeff Davis in effigy, much to the delight of a nearby soldier who raises his hat in salute.

The other unusual aspect to Nast’s first Santa is that his costume is comprised of the Stars and Stripes. Nast’s first Santa is a stout advocate of the preservation of the American Union.

A young Nast immigrated to New York City with his family from Germany in 1846. As a child, one of Nast’s neighbors made and sold candles and crayons, giving the neighbor child the reject crayons for drawing. This proved fortuitous. At age twelve, finding school work difficult, the schoolmaster suggested that Nast’s parents take the lad out of traditional school and place him in art school instead. Three years later, Nast left art school as well. At 15, unable to read or write, his future seemed dim.

Determined to make a living using his drawing skills, Nast entered the offices of the Illustrated News. Sneaking past the receptionist and into the office of publisher Frank Leslie, the 15-year-old Nast asked the publisher for an illustrator’s job.

As a way of getting rid of the bothersome young intruder, Leslie gave Nast an assignment. Nast was to render a crowd scene of the Christopher Street Ferry house in lower Manhattan. When the child returned the next day with a polished drawing, an impressed Leslie hired the lad on the spot.

Years later when the Civil War broke out, Harper’s Weekly, calling itself “A Journal of Civilization,” was determined to provide its readers with the most comprehensive coverage of the conflict. Thomas Nast was brought on as a “special artist.” From 1862 to 1865, Thomas Nast provided 55 illustrations for Harper’s Weekly.

When the war ended on April 9, 1865, Nast illustrated the event on a two-page spread (above). Since the surrender coincided with Palm Sunday, the first panel of the drawing shows Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The second panel depicts Rober E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox with a caption reading, “We Hold Out the Olive Branch to Our Erring and Misguided Brethren of the Southern States, and Pledge to All of Them Who Are Loyal a Hearty Welcome to All the Benefits of a Free Republic.”

Of Nast, Abraham Lincoln said, “Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant. His emblematic cartoons have never failed to arouse enthusiasm and patriotism, and have always seemed to come just when these articles were getting scarce.”

In 1868, a newly elected President Ulysses S. Grant credited his political victory to, “the sword of Sheridan and the pencil of Nast.”

--Mr. Curmudgeon