These 4.5 inch Santa American woodworker ornaments are holding a wooden nutcracker in his left hand and a paint brush in his right.
Today, the woodworker is wearing blue overalls with paint jars in the front pocket and a patch on the knee. The professional woodworkers have whimsical spirals in his fluffy white beard. The red Santa hat with black and white trim, the red shirt, and the black and gold boots are the proof that the toy maker is Santa Claus. The nutcracker doll is wearing a green coat with gold trim, red pants, black boots, and a black helmet. There is a brown bucket of water with paint brushes at the feet of the toy maker. The Santa ornaments hang by a gold lame cord.
History of the Modern American Santa Claus
Born in the United States of mixed ethnic and religious heritage, Santa Claus embodies the American ideal of the nation as a great melting pot of cultural identities. Santa Claus became an important folk figure in the second half of the nineteenth century, about the time when Americans were beginning to celebrate Christmas in large numbers. Santa Claus bears a good deal of resemblance to his closest relative, the old European gift bringer St. Nicholas. Indeed “St. Nick” serves as one of Santa’s nicknames.
Many popular songs tell of his North Pole and Christmas Eve activities. Nearly every American child can tell you that Santa is a plump, old man with a white beard who wears a baggy red suit and cap trimmed with white fur. Many send letters to his North Pole workshop describing the gifts they would like to receive for Christmas. They eagerly await Christmas Eve, when he loads his sled with toys for good girls and boys and flies around the world, sliding down chimneys to place the presents under decorated Christmas trees. As if to confirm this Christmas fairy tale, men in Santa suits regularly appear on street corners, at office parties, and in department and toy stores around Christmas time.