Editing Father Christmas (section)

====Appearances in public====

The blurring of public roles occurred quite rapidly. In an 1854 newspaper description of the public [[Boxing Day]] festivities in [[Luton]], [[Bedfordshire]], a gift-giving Father Christmas/Santa Claus figure was already being described as 'familiar': "On the right-hand side was Father Christmas's bower, formed of evergreens, and in front was the proverbial [[Yule log]], glistening in the snow ... He wore a great furry white coat and cap, and a long white beard and hair spoke to his hoar antiquity. Behind his bower he had a large selection of fancy articles which formed the gifts he distributed to holders of prize tickets from time to time during the day ... Father Christmas bore in his hand a small Christmas tree laden with bright little gifts and bon-bons, and altogether he looked like the familiar Santa Claus or Father Christmas of the picture book."<ref name="LutonTimes">{{cite news | url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000479/18550102/075/0005 | title=Yule Tide Festivities at Luton | work=Luton Times and Advertiser| date=2 January 1855| access-date=28 January 2016 | location= Luton, Bedfordshire, England | pages=5}}</ref> Discussing the shops of [[Regent Street]] in London, another writer noted in December of that year, "you may fancy yourself in the abode of Father Christmas or St. Nicholas himself."<ref name="HerefordJournal1854">{{cite news | title=Christmas Readings | work=Hereford Journal | date=27 December 1854 | location=Hereford | pages=4}}</ref>

During the 1860s and the 1870s, Father Christmas became a popular subject on [[Christmas card]]s, where he was shown in many different costumes.<ref name="EnglishmansChristmas112-113"/> Sometimes he gave presents and sometimes received them.<ref name="EnglishmansChristmas112-113"/>

[[File:Old Father Christmas, or The Cave of Mystery, Illustrated London News 1866.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Engraving of Father Christmas at a children's party|''Old Father Christmas, or The Cave of Mystery'' 1866]]
An illustrated article of 1866 explained the concept of ''The Cave of Mystery''. In an imagined children's party this took the form of a recess in the library which evoked "dim visions of the cave of Aladdin" and was "well filled ... with all that delights the eye, pleases the ear, or tickles the fancy of children". The young guests "tremblingly await the decision of the improvised Father Christmas, with his flowing grey beard, long robe, and slender staff".<ref name="ILN, Dec1866">{{cite journal | url=http://find.galegroup.com/iln/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=ILN&userGroupName=herlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&docId=HN3100527849&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 | title=The Cave of Mystery | journal=Illustrated London News | date=22 December 1866 | pages=607 }} The image was republished in the United States a year later in [http://www.accessible-archives.com/2013/12/old-father-christmas-godeys-december-1867/ Godey's Ladies Book, December 1867] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227231400/https://www.accessible-archives.com/2013/12/old-father-christmas-godeys-december-1867/ |date=27 December 2021 }}, under the title 'Old Father Christmas'.</ref>

[[File:Father_Christmas_from_England,_1879.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Engraving|Father Christmas 1879, with holly crown and wassail bowl, the bowl now being used for the delivery of children's presents]]
From the 1870s onwards, Christmas shopping had begun to evolve as a separate seasonal activity, and by the late 19th century it had become an important part of the English Christmas.<ref name="ChristmasAHistory189,192">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAM3zeIbYmMC | title=Christmas: A History | publisher=I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd | author=Connelly, Mark | year=2012 | location=London | pages=189, 192 | isbn=978-1780763613}}</ref> The purchasing of toys, especially from the new department stores, became strongly associated with the season.<ref name="ArmstrongPhD261">
{{cite book | url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/9890/1/431569.pdf | title=The Intimacy of Christmas: Festive Celebration in England c. 1750-1914 | publisher=University of York (unpublished) | author=Armstrong, Neil R | year=2004 | pages=261 | access-date=28 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204035031/http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/9890/1/431569.pdf | archive-date=4 February 2016 | url-status=live}}
</ref> The first retail Christmas Grotto was set up in [[J R Roberts Stores|JR Robert's store]] in [[Stratford, London]] in December 1888,<ref name="ChristmasAHistory189,192"/> and shopping arenas for children—often called 'Christmas Bazaars'—spread rapidly during the 1890s and 1900s, helping to assimilate Father Christmas/Santa Claus into society.<ref name="ChristmasAHistory189,192"/>

Sometimes the two characters continued to be presented as separate, as in a procession at the [[Olympia, London|Olympia Exhibition]] of 1888 in which both Father Christmas and Santa Claus took part, with [[Little Red Riding Hood]] and other children's characters in between.<ref name="TimesDec1888">{{cite news | url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=herlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS17354650&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 | title=The Times | work=Olympia. - Boxing Day | date=26 December 1888 | access-date=3 February 2016 | location=London | pages=1}}</ref> At other times the characters were conflated: in 1885 Mr Williamson's London Bazaar in [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]] was reported to be a "Temple of juvenile delectation and delight. In the well-lighted window is a representation of Father Christmas, with the printed intimation that 'Santa Claus is arranging within.'"<ref name="SunderlandEcho1881">{{cite news | title=Christmas Preparations in Sunderland | work=Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette | date=19 December 1885 | location=Tyne and Wear | pages=3}}</ref>

[[File:Domestic Theatricals, Illustrated London News, 12 Feb 1881.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Engraving of Father Christmas at a children's party|''Domestic Theatricals'' 1881]]Even after the appearance of the store grotto, it was still not firmly established who should hand out gifts at parties. A writer in the ''[[Illustrated London News]]'' of December 1888 suggested that a [[Sibyl]] should dispense gifts from a 'snow cave',<ref name="ILNDec1888">{{cite journal |  url=http://find.galegroup.com/iln/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=ILN&userGroupName=herlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&docId=HN3100132662&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 | title=The Ladies' Column |  journal=Illustrated London News | author =Fenwick-Miller, Florence| date=22 December 1888| pages=758}}</ref> but a little over a year later she had changed her recommendation to a gypsy in a 'magic cave'.<ref name="ILNJan1890">{{cite journal | url=http://find.galegroup.com/iln/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=ILN&userGroupName=herlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&docId=HN3100564278&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 | title=The Ladies' Column | author=Fenwick-Miller, Florence | journal=The Illustrated London News | date=4 January 1890 | issue=2646 | pages=24}}</ref> Alternatively, the hostess could "have Father Christmas arrive, towards the end of the evening, with a sack of toys on his back. He must have a white head and a long white beard, of course. Wig and beard can be cheaply hired from a theatrical costumier, or may be improvised from tow in case of need. He should wear a greatcoat down to his heels, liberally sprinkled with flour as though he had just come from that land of ice where Father Christmas is supposed to reside."<ref name="ILNJan1890" />