home & specialist
Fireplace Folklore
By Kris Jenningtian s
Kristian of Jennings Chimney Sweeping specializes in Chimney problem diagnosis and is a member of the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps
MYTHS ARE ABUNDANT AT THIS FESTIVE TIME OF YEAR, AND THE CHIMNEY IS OFTEN A THE CENTRE STAGE OF MANY OF THEM
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leigh bells, reindeers, a jolly fellow in a plush red suit and a snow-covered chimney top. These things are just some of those that come to mind when the word “Christmas” is spoken. For many years, the humble chimney has retained a central role in the festivities - after all, how could Santa deliver all our presents if there was no chimney? However, it’s not always been the case that a cheerful, somewhat plump gent with rosy red cheeks and beard as white as snow plopped down a flue with such merry aplomb. The first notion of Santa using a chimney to deliver presents can be found in Washington Irving’s 1809 book
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‘Knickerbocker’s History of New York’. Irving’s parody novel to ‘A Picture of New York’ jested to Dutch immigrants in New Amsterdam obsessed with the Dutch Heritage of the city. In his 1809 book, the character ‘Sinterklaas’ is presented smoking a clay pipe and of Elven appearance who ‘would often make his appearance in his beloved city of a holiday afternoon, riding jollily among the treetops or over the roofs of the houses, now and then drawing forth magnificent presents from his breeches pockets and dropping them down the chimneys of his favorites’. Sinterklaas, who later became the Americanized ‘Santa Claus’, was not found tumbling down the chimney himself
however until 1823, when in Professor Clement Clark Moore’s famous poem ‘A visit from St Nicholas’ (more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from its first line), he wrote: As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot 1881 was the first time we got to see the Santa Claus we all know now. Thomas
