Christmas in July


St. Nicholas Ho, ho, ho and happy birthday to the author of the holiday chestnut "Twas the Night Before Christmas," Clement Clarke Moore, born in 1779.

Moore wrote the popular poem for his daughters in 1822 and published it in a newspaper on December 23, 1823.

This painting of jolly old St. Nick by Robert Weir perfectly illustrates Moore's timeless lines.

"As I drew in my hand, and was turning around
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!"

Pictured: Robert Walter Weir, 1803–89, St. Nicholas, about 1837, oil on wood, 29 3/4 x 24 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.