Father Christmas promising baby asleep in a cradle". The figure of Santa Claus had originated in the US, drawing at least partly upon Dutch St Nicolas traditions. A New York publication of 1821, "A New-Year’s Present", contained an illustrated poem "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight" in which a Santa figure on a reindeer sleigh brings presents for good children and a "long, black birchen rod" for use on the bad ones. In 1823 came the famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", usually attributed to the New York writer Clement Clarke Moore, which developed the character further. Moore's poem became immensely popular
Saint Nicholas tomb that could be visited serves as the almost solitary definitive proof that he was a real historical figure. In his treatise "De statu animarum post mortem" (written 583), the theologian Eustratius of Constantinople cites Saint Nicholas of Myra's miracle of the three counts as evidence that souls may work independent from the body. Eustratius credits a lost "Life of Saint Nicholas" as his source. Nearly all the sources Eustratius references date from the late fourth century to early fifth century, indicating the "Life of Saint Nicholas" to which he refers was probably written during this time period, shortly after