January 3, 1863 cover of <i>Harper's Weekly</i>, one of the first depictions of <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus" title="Santa Claus">Santa Claus</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nast" class="extiw" title="w:Thomas Nast">Thomas Nast</a>, for <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Weekly" class="extiw" title="w:Harper's Weekly">Harper's Weekly</a></i>
1863-01-03
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/thomas-nast-santa-claus.htm">http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/thomas-nast-santa-claus.htm</a> downloaded 2009-04-22