Searching for Santa Claus

 

Available for pre-order now! The first ever anthology of the poems, stories and illustrations that helped shape the Santa Claus that we all know and love. From familiar favourites to delightful obscurities, I've scoured nineteenth century newspapers, books and magazines to provide a definitive portrait of the growth and development of a true global icon. This collection reshapes our understanding of not just a beloved cultural figure but also the development of popular culture in the nineteenth century more broadly. Plus, it's a beautiful Christmas gift book for young and old. 

Here are some kind words about the book from some real Christmas luminaries:

"Much has been written about Santa Claus' origins in European folk and religious tradition, the 'jolly old elf' slipping down an American chimney on the night before Christmas to signal the end of the story. This collection makes it clear that Santa still had a long way to go, evolving along with and very much through American children's literature. We see him as a king, a factory boss, and even as Mother Goose's groom! Especially interesting are the letters to Santa written by real-life nineteenth-century children and the section devoted to the much neglected, and uniquely American, subject of Mrs. Claus. Searching for Santa is both a lovely gift book for serious Santa fans and an important resource for anyone studying the history of American children's literature."
- Linda Raedisch, author of The Old Magic of Christmas.

"Thomas Ruys Smith doesn’t just search for Santa Claus; he finds him in the forgotten corners of the 19th-century American imagination. Searching for Santa Claus is a fascinating trove of stories, poems, and images chronicling the creation of an icon. Essential reading for anyone who’s ever wondered where Santa really came from."
- Brian Earl, host of the Christmas Past podcast and author of Of Christmases Long, Long Ago.
 
"Santa Claus is the most important fictional character in history, a legendary figure who fills our media, drives our economy, and lives in the imagination of millions upon millions of children. In this splendid book, Thomas Ruys Smith traces the development of the magical gift-bringer through the art, poetry, and stories of the nineteenth century. This is a wonderful trip through time for lovers of Christmas and an indispensable anthology for lovers of history."
- Gerry Bowler, author of Santa Claus: A Biography
 
“Like Santa’s annual journeys, Smith’s anthology is exhaustive, including virtually every story about Santa. Collectively they create the story of not only an American icon, but a British icon as well. Anyone interested in the history of Santa Claus should have this on their book shelves.”
- Tom A. Jerman, author of Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers.

More soon!

Inside the Newport Mansions: Christmas Past

 I appeared on the Inside the Newport Mansions podcast to talk about Christmas Past:

Associated Press: Santa Claus

I spoke to the Associated Press about Santa Claus - available here - which got picked up around the world, including by Time magazine, here. 

USA Today: White Christmases

I'm quoted in this USA Today article about White Christmases:

UN Today Magazine: Here to Sleigh

I'm in this month's UN Today magazine (the magazine of United Nations civil servants) with an article about Christmas traditions around the world. You can read the whole thing here or below.  

Guardian: Christmas Movies

I've been quoted in The Guardian in a fun article about contemporary Christmas movies - enjoy here. 

National Geographic History Magazine

I'm quoted in this month's National Geographic History Magazine in an article about the ongoing significance of A Visit from St. Nicholas - a snippet below:

 

'Twas the Night Before Christmas: The Economist

I've been quoted in this article from The Economist about the 200th anniversary of "A Visit from St. Nicholas":

Comparative American Studies: Christmas Special

I've guest edited a special Christmas-themed double-issue of Comparative American Studies featuring a host of excellent articles which reshape our understanding of the place of the holiday in American life and culture and beyond. Available here (plenty of open access too...). Table of contents below.

A Christmas Carol In Nineteenth-Century America, 1844-1870 - Comparative American Studies

Sol Eytinge's illustration of the three spirits visiting Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, taken from the 1868 Ticknor and Fields American edition.

Excited to say that my article on the tumultuous Transatlantic reception of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, 1844-1870, has just been published open access in Comparative American Studies. You can read it for free here. Abstract below...

The Last Gift: The Christmas Stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Coming this October from Louisiana State University Press! This is the first anthology of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's extensive and neglected holiday writings—including one previously lost story! Here's the official blurb:

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930) was one of the most popular American writers at the turn of the twentieth century, and her annual Christmas stories appeared in magazines and periodicals across the globe. Since then, the extraordinary stories that once delighted her legions of fans every festive season have gone largely out of print and unread. Now, for the first time, The Last Gift presents a collection of Freeman’s best Christmas writing, introducing these funny, poignant, provocative, and surprisingly timely holiday tales to a new generation of readers.

Here's the catalog copy:

And here's some advance praise from some wonderful Freeman experts!

“Thomas Ruys Smith’s edition of Freeman’s Christmas stories is a revelation! All our presumptions about holiday stories being drenched in sentimentality are demolished by the ways in which Freeman probes the multiple meanings inherent in the acts of giving and receiving gifts and exposes the forms of both solitude and communion inherent in Christmas. This collection transforms our understanding of the season and enhances the literary reputation of this remarkable author.”—Alfred Bendixen, executive director of the American Literature Association

“A lovely and varied collection of Freeman’s often-neglected Christmas stories. Smith’s lively introduction contextualizes Freeman’s portrayal of the holiday season, in all of its complexity, and the domestic tensions that Christmas evoked for nineteenth-century women.”—Leah Blatt Glasser, author of In a Closet Hidden: The Life and Work of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 

“The Last Gift will prove anyone wrong who once said with Mark Twain, ‘I hate Xmas stories.’ Funny and grave, delicate and ironical, Freeman’s Christmas stories talk about old age and queer desires, ecoanxiety and the love of trees, class tension, capitalistic drives, and the beauty of an old child braving it all to have her ‘Christmas once.’ A gift for all, and for all seasons.”—Cécile Roudeau, coeditor of New Perspectives on Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: Reading with and against the Grain

 “Celebrated in her own time not only as a New England regionalist but also as writer of popular Christmas stories, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman challenged the genre's sentimental limits by questioning the relationships between charity and obligation, theft and gift, and transgression and redemption which her characters experience at Christmas. As Thomas Ruys Smith argues in his excellent, lively, and comprehensive introduction to these twenty-five stories, some published for the first time since their original appearance, Freeman's unjustly neglected Christmas stories reveal a new understanding both of the genre's significance and of Freeman's career as a professional writer.”—Donna Campbell, author of Bitter Tastes: Literary Naturalism and Early Cinema in American Women’s Writing.

“Finally, a volume that reprints Freeman’s Christmas fare. Freeman’s Christmas stories are inventive and experimental, emphasizing the emotional and practical complexities of the holiday, with profound implications for gendered labour, class inequality, the building of community, and the pleasures and perils of consumption. The impressive introduction frames the stories within the history of the holiday and Freeman’s delight in its intrigue.”—Stephanie Palmer, co-editor of New Perspectives on Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: Reading with and against the Grain

Looking forward to reintroducing these stories to a new host of readers this Christmas! More info here, and you can pre-order both ebook and paperback from Amazon here.

UEA Christmas Lectures for Children 2022

Video of our 2022 UEA Christmas lecture for children: A Child's Christmas in Nineteenth Century America:

UEA Christmas Lectures for Children 2022

Well, it's been a decade since I last gave one of the UEA Christmas Lectures for Children, and I'm doing it again! This time, in the company of my colleague Hilary Emmett. We're going to be exploring what A Child's Christmas in 19th Century America was like, drawing on plenty of my research from the last few years and our children's literature publishing project. Get your free ticket here.