It wasn’t exactly a diptych. The plates were separated by a couple pages of text. But in its December 26, 1874 issue Harper’s Weekly did publish two full-page images on a related theme: would Santa Claus, née Saint Nicholas, arrive with his sleigh full of gifts on the night before Christmas?
child’s faith
he’s on the way
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Harper’s Weekly published a poem to accompany the second picture. Father Time would win the long drawn out war of advancing age, “But Santa Claus is king to-night.” At Christmas, Father Time should “Ring out the angels’ song again Of ‘peace on earth, good-will to men!'” So it appears that the child’s wait was worth it. And the same probably could be said for youngsters in Richmond, Virginia. In its December 25, 1874 issue the Daily Dispatch published a piece from one of its readers regarding the night after Christmas. The report must have been about an earlier year, but I’m going to assume that if Santa made it to Richmond in 1873, he’d probably return in ’74. To summarize the clipping – it seems that the children overindulged in the sugar plums and other sweets.
the night after
Father Time stymied
Ethiopian Orthodox diptych
dreams can true
Another Night After Christmas poem is at Project Gutenberg – “The Night Before Christmas and Other Popular Stories For Children” – a doctor tended to the sick kids. The December 26, 1874 issue of Harper’s Weekly is at HathiTrust along with the rest of the year. From the Library of Congress: the December 25, 1874 issue of Richmond’s Daily Dispatch – image 4 contains “The Night after Christmas;” the c1897 stereo “Dreaming of Santa Claus”; the image of Santa Claus and kids from the December 2, 1903 issue of Puck. From Wikipedia: a real diptych: “Ethiopian Orthodox wooden diptych of St. Mary and the infant Jesus with archangels above them. St. George appears on a white horse on the left. (Late 16th-early 17th century)”
they are believers
