Santa Claus American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in "Harper's Weekly". Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the 3 January 1863 issue of "Harper's Weekly". Santa was dressed in an American flag, and had a puppet with the name "Jeff" written on it, reflecting its Civil War context. The story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the "Harper's" issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled "Santa Claus and His Works", which included
Thomas Nast and drew book illustrations. In 1902, he applied for a job in the State Department, hoping to secure a consular position in western Europe. Although no such position was available, President Theodore Roosevelt was an admirer of the artist and offered him an appointment as the United States' Consul General to Guayaquil, Ecuador in South America. Nast accepted the position and traveled to Ecuador on July 1, 1902. During a subsequent yellow fever outbreak, Nast remained on the job, helping numerous diplomatic missions and businesses escape the contagion. He contracted the disease and died on December 7 of that year.