Christmas century, Saint Nicholas was well known in the Netherlands, and the practice of gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe. At the Reformation in 16th–17th-century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or "Christkindl", corrupted in English to Kris Kringle, and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve. The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United States, and in particular in New York. The transformation was accomplished with the aid of notable contributors including Washington Irving and the German-American cartoonist
Editorial cartoonist the Association of American Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Thomas Nast Award from the Overseas Press Club, and the Herblock Prize. There are several North American books that have collected together the majority of cartoonists being published at the time. "Attack of the Political Cartoonists", written by J. P. Trostle, was published in 2004 and includes profiles of 150 mainstream American and Canadian cartoonists. "Attack" was an effort to update the 1962 tome "Today's Cartoon", by "New Orleans States-Item" cartoonist John Chase, which included most of the editorial cartoonists working in the U.S. at