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
A Visit from St. Nicholas Troy, New York "Sentinel" on 23 December 1823, having been sent there by a friend of Moore, and was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. It was first attributed in print to Moore in 1837. Moore himself acknowledged authorship when he included it in his own book of poems in 1844. By then, the original publisher and at least seven others had already acknowledged his authorship. Moore had a reputation as an erudite professor and had not wished at first to be connected with the unscholarly verse. He included it in the anthology at the insistence of his children,