"Twas the night before christmas is a much loved poem also called " a visit from st. nicholas", that has become mandatory reading on christmas eve. This poem, everyone agrees, is the source from which St. Nicholas catapulted from a benevolent saint from Turkey to a sleigh riding elf, Santa Claus, who comes through the chimney with bagfuls of goodies, to hang in children stockings! First published in an obscure corner in an obscure paper from Troy, this poem so touched a nerve that it was soon picked up and bounced from paper to leaflet to pamphlet to achieve its popularity! And the building housing "The Troy Sentinel" is a famous public place now.

Amongst the many firsts in this poem, the reindeers of Santa were given names here with Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen all making their appearance and becoming part of folklore and numerous christmas stories. However Rudolph, the most popular amongst Santa's pets, was missing in this poem. And Donner too has undergone a nomenclature change some places as Donder!

Santa had twinkling eyes, a round belly and a jowl that jiggled when he laughed. He was a white bearded elf, dressed in furs and had dimpled chins. But there's no mention of the furs being in red (this was an invention of colour images)!