Sunday was St. Nicholas Day, which is still celebrated in places with strong German heritage, including Price Hill. I celebrated by appearing at the Price Hill Historical Society in a dual role—as the Old Curmudgeon to sign books, and wearing a St. Nicholas costume my daughter made for me years ago to entertain the kids who stopped by during “Holiday on the Hill.” We had a few young visitors, and they seemed to like the cookies and candy canes we had, even if they were a bit suspicious of a non-traditional Santa Claus type. Did you know that the historical St. Nicholas was born in Greece during the third century? His feast day on December 6 was celebrated by the Germans and Dutch for centuries before immigrants brought the celebration to the New World. After arriving in America, St. Nicholas was the subject of stories by Washington Irving, who wrote not about the Greek bishop, but about a version of St. Nick as an elfin Dutchman with a clay pipe. In 1823, Clement Moore wrote the immortal poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” and the middle eastern saint was completely Americanized as Santa Claus.
When I was a boy, we always hung up our stockings on the evening of December 5, and the next morning they would be filled with fruit, nuts, and candy. My daughters always hung up their stockings, too, and my grandchildren continue the tradition—Saint Nicholas finds them no matter where they roam. And I stepped right out of history (and out of my curmudgeonly ways) to celebrate the tradition of St. Nicholas Day.
