Wikipedia
Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and normally considered to be synonymous with the US and international figure of Santa Claus, he was originally part of an unrelated and much older English folkloric tradition. The recognisably modern figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian period, but Christmas had been personified for centuries before then.
English personifications of Christmas were first recorded the 15th century, with Father Christmas himself first appearing in the mid 17th century in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Puritan-controlled English government had legislated to abolish Christmas, considering it papist, and had outlawed its traditional customs. Royalist political pamphleteers, linking the old traditions with their cause, adopted Old Father Christmas as the symbol of 'the good old days' of feasting and good cheer. Following the Restoration in 1660, Father Christmas's profile declined. His character was maintained during the late 18th and into the 19th century by the Christmas folk plays later known as mummers plays.
Until Victorian times, Father Christmas was concerned with adult feasting and merry-making. He had no particular connection with children, nor with the giving of presents, nocturnal visits, stockings or chimneys. But as later Victorian Christmases developed into child-centric family festivals, Father Christmas became a bringer of gifts. The popular American myth of Santa Claus arrived in England in the 1850s and Father Christmas started to take on Santa's attributes. By the 1880s the new customs had become established, with the nocturnal visitor sometimes being known as Santa Claus and sometimes as Father Christmas. He was often illustrated wearing a long red hooded gown trimmed with white fur.
Any residual distinctions between Father Christmas and Santa Claus largely faded away in the early years of the 20th century, and modern dictionaries consider the terms Father Christmas and Santa Claus to be synonymous.
"Father Christmas" is a 1977 single by the English group, The Kinks.
It tells of a department store Father Christmas who is beaten up by a gang of poor kids who tell him to give them money instead of toys, as toys are impractical; and asks that the toys be given "to the little rich boys." At one point, a child asks the narrator to give his/her father a job for Christmas—or, if he must deliver a toy, a machine gun.
The song has been covered a number of times by bands including the Gigolo Aunts, Green Day, Man Overboard, Bad Religion, Warrant, Lit, Bowling For Soup, Save Ferris, Smash Mouth, Cary Brothers, Action Action, Everything, Deer Tick, OK Go, and the Clay Pigeons.
The track appeared on several commercials in the US for the 2006 film Unaccompanied Minors.
The track was included on the Arista compilation Come Dancing with The Kinks and is also available as a bonus track on the CD reissue of the Kinks' 1978 album Misfits.
The b-side to the single was another Ray Davies composition, "Prince of Punks". It was written in the bitter aftermath of Davies' troubled stint as the co-producer for Café Society's debut album, which was issued in 1975. Davies wrote as part of the lyrics, "Tried to be gay/But it didn’t pay/So he bought a motorbike instead", in direct reference to Tom Robinson, one of the band members of the short-lived Cafe Society.
Father Christmas is a name most associated with the Christmas gift-bringer of English folklore, the personification of Christmas. A similar name in other languages is associated with Christmas gift-bringers of numerous other countries and traditions.
The Father Christmas worm, also known as the HI.COM VMS worm, was a computer worm that used the DECnet to attack VAX/VMS systems. It was released in December 1988. The aim of this worm was to send a Christmas greeting from " Father Christmas" from the affected system.
Father Christmas is a British children's picture book written and drawn by Raymond Briggs and published by Hamish Hamilton in 1973. Briggs won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite.
Father Christmas presents a dramatically different modern interpretation of the character. Far from being jolly, this Father Christmas is a brash man who works from a normal house with the usual tasks involved with his delivery on Christmas Eve. There is no sign of either Mrs. Claus (apart from a hanging wall picture in one scene, suggesting he is a widower) or the elves in this apparently solo operation. Living with him are his cat and dog, and two reindeer. While he bumbles and mumbles about his work and life, it is clear he has a deep affection for his animals (he gives his cat and dog presents) and enjoys his work. He comes across as a stereotypical old man who complains about everything but ultimately loves what he does.
The book depicts Father Christmas' deliveries as he deals with a range of unusual residences while taking welcome breaks with liquor put out for him. Along the way, Father Christmas talks to only one person, a milkman intended to represent the author's father, Ernest Briggs. Despite his difficulties, Father Christmas completes his itinerary with his last stop being apparently Buckingham Palace.
Upon returning home, Father Christmas opens his own presents. He grumpily disapproves of his own presents (apart from a bottle of liquor from Fred), but a jollier, more festive side of him also starts to show as he sings carols in the shower and calls his Christmas dinner "Lovely grub!" Exhausted after his travels, he retires to bed, though not before giving his cat and dog their own presents and wishing the reader "Happy Blooming Christmas!"
Coward, McCann & Geoghan published the U.S. edition of Father Christmas in October (ISBN 978-0-698-20272-6). Kirkus gave the book a starred review, signifying remarkable merit. In part, "Briggs projects Santa's day in comic strip sequence and balloon monologue, from his waking from a dream of sun ... You don't have to be British to take to this very human Father Christmas -- but it helps to have an open eye for all the throwaway background detail."
Father Christmas is a 1991 animated short based on two books written by Raymond Briggs: Father Christmas and Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, published in 1973 and 1975 respectively. It was first aired in Britain in 1991 on Channel 4, nine years after The Snowman, another animated Briggs adaptation produced for the same channel. This movie was dedicated to the late actor John McGuire. The film was first released on DVD in 2000, bundled with The Snowman. It was later released separately.
Voiced by comedian Mel Smith, the title character physically resembles a stereotypical vision of Father Christmas, with a large white beard and red suit. However, in a down-to-earth twist, he is depicted as rather grumpy, is shown coping with everyday domestic chores, and lives on his own in a small house in contemporary Britain.
This Father Christmas later appeared in a television advertisement, enjoying a Kit Kat after returning home from his deliveries.
Usage examples of "father christmas".
When he was very young, he ran into his parents' room to show them what Father Christmas had brought him.
Having left his Father Christmas days behind, he had not thought about the chimney.
And here was the most beautiful detailed little Father Christmas, a tiny china doll dressed in real red velvet.