Written by Liisa Berg

 

This very American tradition has been of interest to me for a long time, and finally I decided it would be fun to try to collect some of the various editions available of this twelve-syllabic folkloric nonsense.

The oldest edition I have is not very old, but it holds some special memories. The book was published 1960 and is a hand-me-down from my children's cousins. It got to my hands in the early 70's when our family started and needed to form certain traditions, both Finnish and American.

With the inherited edition of The Night Before Christmas, an American impression dropped into our lives: the yearly reading of the capricious encounter with Santa himself.

Though I have carefully inserted many Finnish Christmas traditions into our yuletide celebrations, this little rhyme has lived on and now is a fascination with me. It has been most educational to consider each artist's rendition of this nightmare. But even more than comparing Grandma Moses, Tasha Tudor, Ted Rand or Jerry Tiritilli, et. al., the fascination has been to find such interesting variety of cultural and local insertions into this one poet's lighthearted look at a Christmas tradition. Come to think of it, this poem actually started an American tradition, transforming the St. Nicolas that America knew before 1820— "a skinny, stern bishop visiting children to dispense discipline as often as gifts"—to a jolly elf, and turning Christmas into a time of gift-giving.

I have been able to find about a hundred different editions, and it is always an elation of discovery to find yet another. Almost regrettably, though, the information highway has shown me that there are nearly two hundred editions, so the next discovery will be somewhat spoiled by this bit of knowledge.

The most recent addition to this modest collection of mine is A Visit of St. Nick in Japanese, a present from a friend here in Tokyo. It was with great pleasure that I surprised my family by actually "reading" the text in this book . . . "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house . . . " For a split second, the household was actually impressed!

While tradition attributes the poem to Clement C. Moore, a stern Bible scholar, recently the authorship of this poem has become under question. A literary forensic scholar Don Foster has identified A Visit From St. Nicholas as having been stolen by Moore from the Dutch New Yorker Henry Livingston. Though my personal interest in this work is purely a casual fancy, more occupied with collectibles and fascination with artists' conceptions than literary roots—engaging as they are—it is well to consider the latest findings along with tradition. To this end, interested viewers can familiarize themselves with both possibilities by visiting the following web sites:

Meet Mr. Moore

Literary Sleuth Casts Doubt

Livingston's the One

Read for Yourself!

And while we are on this interesting topic of Christmas, check out also the following for all sorts of fun information on Christmas:

Christmas Traditions

After all this, I might as well invite you to visit my page on some very special Christmas customs:

Christmas in Finland

For a sampling of the large variety of social, ethnic and political slants on St. Nick's visitation, stop at:

From Cowboy to Computer

The following is one of the best parodies available; it is not published singly, but appears in Martin Gardner's The Annotated Night Before Christmas. I hear it's out of print. Martin Gardner is best known as a science writer who for twenty-five years wrote Scientific America's "Mathematical Games" column.)

Da Night Before da Christmas

'Twas the da night before Christmas and all troo da U.P. (1)
Not a Yooper was eating, not even a pasty. (2)
—As you can see, I'll be stretching my poetic license to da limit on dis one.
. . . Anyways.
Da flannel shirts were hung by da sauna wid care
In hopes dat Saint Nick would soon be dare.
Da liddle ones were nestled all snug in dare beds
While visions of ludefisk swan in dare heads. (3)
And Mama in her long-johns and I in my chook (4)
Had just settled our bellies after a plate of chinook, (5)
When out on da lawn dare was dis big sound.
I jumps out a bed to see wad da heck's goin on.
And out on my front lawn so early in da morn
Is dis small pick-up truck and eight tiny spikehorn (6)
—You see, Santa's on a budget dis year.
. . . Anyways
Da little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knews right dare it must be St. Nick.
Faster dan smelt in spring day came
And he huffed and puffed and called dem by name:
"Now Toivo, Now Aino, Now Sulo and Arvo,
On Larry, On Daryl, On da udder deer Daryl. (7)
To da top of da porch to da top of da wall,
Now dash away dash away dash away all."
I's look back in cause I's hears dis big sound.
Down da chimney St. Nick came wid a bound.
His eye, day did twinkle, his dimples so merry,
His nose was red, probably just came from Trenary. (8)
Da stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And da smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He has dis broad face and a round little belly
Dat shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
Dis guy's got a belly, a red nose, and he smokes
. . . somebody should check his blood pressure.
. . . Anyways . . .
He doesn't say a ting, just does his job,
And fills all da socks wid corn on da cob.
He sprang to his truck and tells his spikehorns to go,
And away day all flew like it was da middle of hunting season.
But I heards him say as he drove troo da air,
"Happy Christmas, Yoopers," and to all a big "Hey dare!"

1. U.P.: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is close to Canada and almost like separate state. It was settled mostly by Scandinavians and Finns who speak a dialect all their own. (BTW, the names Toivo, Aino, Sulo and Arvo, and the mention of "ludefisk"—lipeäkala in Finnish ("lye fish")—are the only hints to any Finnishness in this parody.)
2. Yooper: Michigan residents below the U.P. call its residents Yoopers. There is a bumper sticker that reads: "Say 'ya' to the Upper Peninsula, eh?" Pasty: a meat pie special to the area.
3. Ludefisk: whitefish soaked in brine and drained out. It is a Christmas-time specialty in this area as well as in Scandinavia and Finland.
4. Chook: a stocking cap.
5. Chinoo: a type of salmon found in the Great Lakes.
6. Spikehorn: reindeer.
7. Other Daryl: a reference to the two Daryl brothers in the Bob Newhart television comedy show.
8. Trenary: a village near Escanaba, known for its hospitable bars.

BACK to KUTRI'S KUPBOARD

Copyright © 1998-2007

E-mail can be sent to: mailtokk at yahoo dot com


This page was created on June 10, 1998
Most recent revision: March 2, 2007