Thomas Nast His body was returned to the United States, where he was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City. Nast's depictions of iconic characters, such as Santa Claus and Uncle Sam, are widely credited as forming the basis of popular depictions used today. Additional contributions by Nast include: In December 2011, a proposal to include Nast in the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2012 caused controversy. "The Wall Street Journal" reported that because of his stereotypical cartoons of the Irish, a number of objections were raised about Nast's work. For example, "The Usual Irish Way of
Father Christmas plentiful food and drink, started to appear regularly in illustrated magazines of the 1840s. He was dressed in a variety of costumes and usually had holly on his head, as in these illustrations from the "Illustrated London News": Charles Dickens's 1843 novel "A Christmas Carol" was highly influential, and has been credited both with reviving interest in Christmas in England and with shaping the themes attached to it. A famous image from the novel is John Leech's illustration of the 'Ghost of Christmas Present'. Although not explicitly named Father Christmas, the character wears a holly wreath, is shown sitting among