Exhibit Gives Full Scoop on History of Big Guy in Red Suit

He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake, He knows if you’ve been bad or good, So be good, for goodness’ sake. --”Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”

Words by Haven Gillespie, music by J. Fred Coots

He’s b-a-a-a-c-k. . . .

Everywhere you turn these days, Santa’s got his eye on you. Giant blowup Santas beckon from car lots and rooftops while at the mall, a glossier one waits inside to hear the kids’ wish lists. Skinny or fat, humble or spiffy, he’s unquestionably the man of the hour.

But how much do we really know about this guy?

“The History of Santa Claus,” a collection of porcelain figurines at the Fullerton Public Library, offers a glimpse up Santa’s family tree. From the Norse God Odin to Holland’s devilish Black Peter to Thomas Nast’s All-American Santa, the exhibit presents 24 of history’s best-loved Christmas characters, as re-created by Fullerton gift-ware manufacturer Duncan Royale. The show continues through Dec. 30.

The Fullerton exhibit is curated by city librarian Carolyn Johnson, who stumbled upon Duncan Royale Santas in an Alaska gift shop. She contacted the company several months later and arranged the show.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people I talk to don’t really know who Santa Claus is, or where the name came from,” said Duncan Royale President Max Duncan. “I realized that there was a real story there to tell . . . a personality beyond what we think of as Santa.”

“The name Santa Claus comes from the German name for St. Nicholas, Sankt Klaus ,” Duncan explained. “When they came to America, the early European settlers brought their image of a good guy who brought presents during the winter solstice. Ultimately, the name Sankt Klaus was slurred and became Santa Claus. So while that word is only about 200 years old, it has its roots in a character that’s over 2,000 years old.”

According to Duncan, the American image of Santa was born just after the Civil War under the pen of illustrator Thomas Nast. Inspired by Clement C. Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (or “The Night Before Christmas”), Moore conjured up a well-padded, rosy-cheeked gentleman with twinkling eyes and an impish but benevolent expression. The Duncan Royale figure shows him ready to begin his rounds, holding an armful of toys and raising his pipe in a cheery salute to the season.

Duncan Royale, which sells its line of figurines and collector plates through department stores and gift shops, introduced its “Santa” collection in 1983. The line now accounts for about 80% of the company’s production.

The figures, which range in height from 8 to 18 inches, are conceived in the company’s Fullerton office. The molds are then sent to their factory in Taiwan, where the figures are hand cast, sanded and hand-painted. Founded in 1958, the firm also offers figurines in wood and pewter. Retail prices range from $70 to more than $700. Retired figures, such as the Nast Santa, can fetch as much as $7,000 among collectors, Duncan said.

To complement the exhibit, the manufacturer donated several copies of “The History of Santa,” a four-color book produced by the company that tells the story behind each figurine. The exhibit is best viewed with the book in hand; copies are available in the library’s reference section.

The earliest character in the collection is Odin, a strapping fellow in animal skins that, according to Norse mythology, traveled the world in midwinter distributing rewards and punishment to his earthly subjects. In what may have been the first office Christmas parties, Vikings traditionally raised a few horns of ale in tribute to Odin and to the season.

Also included in the collection are the Magi, three learned men who, as the Bible story says, followed a brilliant star in the East to the manger of the Christ child. Dressed in brilliantly colored robes and gazing solemnly upward, the characters represent a central theme in Spain’s celebration of Christmas. According to the Duncan Royale book, many Spanish children still address their Christmas letters to the Magi.

Resplendent in crimson robes and miter, the figure of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myrea, is a familiar one to many Christians. Legend has it that three poor sisters had drawn lots in an effort to provide two of them with dowries. The loser agreed to sell herself into slavery to provide gold for the luckier two. Hearing of this, St. Nicholas secretly dropped bags of gold into their windows. In the 12th Century, a group of French nuns expanded on this idea by leaving gifts for poor children during a nighttime visit on St. Nicholas’ Eve, Dec. 5.

A wreath of flickering candles tops the flaxen hair of St. Lucia, Sweden’s Lady of Light. According to legend, Lucia helped save Sweden’s children by bringing food during a terrible famine, appearing to them with her face aglow and a candle-lit wreath burning brightly on her head. On the morning of St. Lucia Day, Dec. 13, the oldest daughter in many Swedish families still places a wreath on her head and serves coffee and lussekatter to her family.

But there’s a darker side to Christmas, too. The collection also includes Black Peter, a nasty Dutch character dating back to the Middle Ages. With a sinister gleam in his eye and a beard black as coal, Peter is shown reviewing the names of bad children in his big black book. As the story goes, Peter (a.k.a the Devil) spent St. Nicholas Day doing the bidding of the good saint, dropping gifts down the chimneys of good children and punishing some of the naughty ones with a birch switch.

“The History of Santa Claus,” an exhibit of 24 Christmas figurines by Duncan Royale, continues through Dec. 30 at the Fullerton Public Library, 353 W. Commonwealth Ave.,

Fullerton. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Call (714) 738-6333.