Mysterious Early Santa Claus

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The link in John Baker's message was apparently split. Here is a short
link pointing to the newspaper clipping containing the name:

SANTA-CLAUS,
Queen and Empress of the Court of Fashions.

http://bit.ly/ZdSmWQ

The relevant letter begins at the bottom of column one and continues
at the top of column 2.
Garson

On Sun, Sep 7, 2014 at 5:30 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Mysterious Early Santa Claus
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I came across a very odd "Proclamation," ostensibly by Santa Claus or Santa=
>  Clause, in the (New York) Evening Post, Dec. 28, 1815 (Newspapers.com).  W=
> e've all heard of Mrs. Claus, but this is the first time I've seen Santa Cl=
> aus referred to as a woman.  The item is also quite unusual for its lack of=
>  reference to Christmas, though of course its timing was at that time of ye=
> ar.
>
> The proclamation is addressed to the practice of kissing women and girls, a=
> nd it orders that males desist from the practice, from the date of the proc=
> lamation (Dec. 27, 1815) until Jan. 4, 1816.  In the body of the proclamati=
> on, the writer characterizes herself as "Santa Clause, Queen and Empress of=
>  handsome girls, women married and unmarried, not excepting ugly girls, and=
>  old maids of all sorts, phizzes, sizes and descriptions."  It is signed by=
>  "SANTA-CLAUS, Queen and Empress of the Court of Fashions."
>
> If anyone wants to view this curiosity, I have made it available, using New=
> spapers.com's convenient clipping function, at http://www.newspapers.com/cl=
> ip/981717/santa_clause_proclamation_new_york/.
>
>
> John Baker
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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