THAT'S NOT SANTA CLAUS

 

I enjoyed seeing the banknote issued by the Central Bank of New Ulm. I believe that is not a vignette of Santa Claus. Let me tell you why.

You are probably familiar with the poem, Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore first published in 1823. The actual title is A Visit from St. Nicholas. The poem never mentions Santa Claus.

This may be hard for some readers to accept. When the St. Nicholas Bank issued bank notes in 1853 with a jolly man, his sleigh and reindeer, it was not a vignette of Santa Claus. It was a vignette of St. Nicholas.

 

The town of New Ulm was settled by German immigrants in 1854. By 1861, the language heard in the town was more likely to be German than English. The town would have celebrated a visit from St. Nicholas or perhaps Sinterklaas.

I grew up in New Ulm. I listened to men speaking German in the barbershop. By the 1950's, St. Nicholas Day was still part of the town culture. On the eve of St. Nicholas Day, my boy scout troop went around with our scoutmaster to visit homes and ask children what they wanted for Christmas.

The American image of Santa Claus dates back to a cartoon by Thomas Nast published in 1863. I believe that bank note vignettes dated before that time should be attributed to St. Nicholas. Our modern image of Santa Claus was influenced by Coca Cola staring in 1931.

In 2020, the ANA Money Museum published an article on St. Nicholas bank note illustrations. I believe they got it right.

There is some question if Central Bank notes actually circulated in New Ulm. There is speculation that the notes were passed in Minneapolis and St. Paul by people who never visited New Ulm off in the frontier.

Can any E-Sylum reader explain why the Central Bank in New Ulm closed in 1862?

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SANTA CLAUS ON THE NEWMAN NUMISMATIC PORTAL (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n50a07.html)

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