Where did the modern image of Santa Claus come from?

Though there's some speculation on how Santa Claus's image came to be, its believed to of come from Thomas Nast, an American Political Cartoonist of the 19th century who thought of Santa Claus as a big, jolly man with a white beard.

As most of us know that almost all Christmas traditions were taken from the early pagans....Almost all the images and names for Santa, came from the early norse tales of Odin, hiemdall or Freya visiting the little children during Yule and leaving presents for the good kids and spankings for the bad......Darn shame not all the parts of the Yule gift giving traditions were stolen, eh.....Hope this helps

First answer by Tatubaron. Last edit by Tatubaron. Contributor trust: 87 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 30 [recommend question]