Hemp Santa

“he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;”

– quote from ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823

“Merry Old Santa Claus” by Thomas Nast in Harper’s Weekly, January 1, 1881

Hemp Santa

In 1881 Thomas Nast would forever define the modern image of the big man… Santa Claus!

Working largely from Clement Clarke Moore’s poem in 1823 “A Visit from St. Nicholas” aka “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, Nast would portray a large jolly pipe smoking Santa we all know and love.

While some will question, ‘whats in Santa’s pipe?’, a look at Nast’s earlier drawing of Santa in 1863 leaves no doubt, Santa is indeed Pro Hemp!

The January 3, 1863 issue of ‘Harper’s Weekly’ features Nast’s first depiction of modern day Santa. In a illustration titled “A Christmas Furlough” or ‘Santa Claus in camp’, a jolly Santa is shown visiting Union soldiers during the civil war.

“A Christmas Furlough” by Thomas Nast in Harper’s Weekly on January 3, 1863

Of course Santa Claus brings gifts and cheer to all the soldiers but a closer look reveals his use of Hemp.

In the illustration Nast draws Santa holding a special present for the gathered soldiers, a Jefferson Davis doll. Santa knows his audience and presents the doll to the crowd hanging by a Hemp noose!

Close up of Santa in “A Christmas Furlough” by Thomas Nast in Harper’s Weekly on January 3, 1863