Letters from Father Christmas, formerly known as The Father Christmas Letters, are a collection of letters written and illustrated by J. R. R. Tolkien between 1920 and 1943 for his children, from Father Christmas.
The stories are told in the format of a series of letters, told either from the point of view of Father Christmas or his elvish secretary. They document the adventures and misadventures of Father Christmas and his helpers, including the North Polar Bear and his two sidekick cubs, Paksu and Valkotukka.
Elves were definitely a trope prior to the 1950’s, as evidenced by JRR Tolkeins “Father Christmas Letters” to his children starting in 1920.
Saint Nicholas was known for handing out gifts which is where the Santa handing out gifts stories came from. Gift giving and receiving has been part of Christmas the whole time.
You might just be thinking about heavily Coca-Cola has used Santa in their marketing during the period you’re of which you’re speaking. The fat, jolly red-suited modern image we so often think of was heavily influenced by Coca-Cola advertising campaigns. Capitalism did spiral into hyper-out-of-control and the pressure to buy and give presents has never been higher, but to act like those things were only recent additions to the tradition is false. Rather a “happy” confluence of holiday and commerce (in the eyes of business people anyway), honestly, like most modern holidays. Christmas isn’t alone in the commercialization. I mean we may as well be asking “What the fuck does the sacrifice of Saint Valentine have to do with romance and buying flowers?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters
Elves were definitely a trope prior to the 1950’s, as evidenced by JRR Tolkeins “Father Christmas Letters” to his children starting in 1920.
Saint Nicholas was known for handing out gifts which is where the Santa handing out gifts stories came from. Gift giving and receiving has been part of Christmas the whole time.
You might just be thinking about heavily Coca-Cola has used Santa in their marketing during the period you’re of which you’re speaking. The fat, jolly red-suited modern image we so often think of was heavily influenced by Coca-Cola advertising campaigns. Capitalism did spiral into hyper-out-of-control and the pressure to buy and give presents has never been higher, but to act like those things were only recent additions to the tradition is false. Rather a “happy” confluence of holiday and commerce (in the eyes of business people anyway), honestly, like most modern holidays. Christmas isn’t alone in the commercialization. I mean we may as well be asking “What the fuck does the sacrifice of Saint Valentine have to do with romance and buying flowers?”