Christmas in the American Civil War "the best recruiting sergeant the North ever had". Nast was not the only one to use Christmas as a propaganda tool. On the Union side, "The New York Herald" also engaged in propaganda. One illustration published in the paper included Santa Claus fuming that he could not reach southern children, due to the northern blockade. On the Confederate side, "The Richmond Examiner" described Santa to its young readers as "a Dutch toy monger" who was a New York/New England "scrub" and Hottentot that had nothing to do with traditional Virginian celebrations of Christmas. Even through the war was over, Nast
Fletcher Harper Fletcher Harper Fletcher Harper (January 31, 1806 – May 29, 1877) was an American publisher in the early-to-mid 19th century. Fletcher Harper was born January 31, 1806, in Newtown, New York. He was the youngest of four sons born to Joseph Henry Harper, (1750–1838), a farmer, carpenter, and storekeeper, and Elizabeth Kollyer, a Dutch burgher's daughter. With his brothers, James, John, and Joseph Wesley, he founded the Harper & Brothers publishing house. He is credited with founding "Harper's Weekly" (1850), "Harper's Magazine" (1850), and "Harper's Bazaar" (1867). Fletcher gave cartoonist Thomas Nast his start in "Harper's Weekly", and gave Nast