TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — On December 23, 1823, the Troy Sentinel published "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Two hundred years later, it's one of the most famous Christmas diddies around, and more commonly known by its first line rather than its title.
The poem was published anonymously, acording to the Hudson River Valley Institute. It helped to set in stone the lore of the Santa Claus extended universe that we take for granted today, including a team of flying reindeer, a chimney used as a mode of transportation, a rosy red cheeks.
Acording to the Albany Institute of History and Art, there's a good reason why the poem wasn't published on December 24, the actual night before Christmas. "The Troy Sentinel was semi-weekly," they explained on social media. "The newspaper was printed only on Tuesdays and Fridays and in 1823, December 24 fell on a Wednesday."
The Cultural education Center of the New York State Library had a 200-year-old copy of the original newspaper on display on Thursday and Friday. The earliest version at the Albany Institute of History and Art, meanwhile, dates to 1870 and is illustrated by Thomas Nast.
That version is a picture book credited to Clement Clarke Moore. Even so, authorship of the poem remains a mystery, with Moore and Henry Livingston, Jr. the likeliest suspects.
Related throwback video: "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as read by the NEWS10 team in 2009
