The first reference to Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a reindeer appears in Old Santeclaus with Much Delight, an illustrated children’s poem published in New York in 1821. The names of the author and the illustrator are not known. The poem, with eight colored lithographic illustrations, was published by William B. Gilley as a small paperback book entitled The Children’s Friend: A New-Year’s Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve.
The beloved 1822 poem by Clement Clarke Moore “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (also known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”) is largely credited for the contemporary Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder (variously spelled Donder or Donner), and Blixem (variously spelled Blixen or Blitzen). The names Dunder and Blixem derive from Dutch words for thunder and lightning, respectively.
Moore was born on July 15, 1779, in a large mansion, on his parents’ Chelsea estate in Manhattan. He was the only child of heiress Charity Clarke and Dr. Benjamin Moore, Episcopal Bishop of New York, Rector of Trinity Church, and President of Columbia College.
When he wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas, Moore was a Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Although he was embarrassed for most of his life that his scholarly works were overshadowed by what he publicly considered a frivolous poem, Moore will forever be remembered as the person who truly gave St. Nicholas to the world. The poet of Christmas Eve lived a long and productive life and died in Newport, Rhode Island, his summer home, on July 10, 1863.
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