The custom of merrymaking and feasting at Christmastide first appears in the historical record during the High Middle Ages (c 1100–1300). [2] This almost certainly represented a continuation of pre-Christian midwinter celebrations in Britain of which—as the historian Ronald Hutton has pointed out—"we have no details at all". [2] Personifications came later, and when they did they reflected the existing custom. Robertshaw, Ursula (2 December 1985). "The Christmas Gift Bringer". Illustrated London News (1985 Christmas Number): np. Daseger (24 December 2014). "Daily Archives: December 24, 2014 - Mummers Mumming". streetsofsalem. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016 . Retrieved 20 January 2016.

As the US-inspired customs became popular in England, Father Christmas started to take on Santa's attributes. [1] His costume became more standardised, and although depictions often still showed him carrying holly, the holly crown became rarer and was often replaced with a hood. [1] [9] It still remained common, though, for Father Christmas and Santa Claus to be distinguished, and as late as the 1890s there were still examples of the old-style Father Christmas appearing without any of the new American features. [69] Appearances in public [ edit ] Told through a comic strip, with beautiful illustrations based on the houses that Raymond grew up in, this is a hilarious festive tale that has delighted children for generations.Millington, Peter (ed.). "Truro [Formerly Mylor]: "A Play for Christmas", 1780s". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 . Retrieved 26 January 2016. The story focuses on a stereotypical vision of Father Christmas with a down-to-earth twist, living in contemporary Britain with his pets and reindeer, coping with everyday domestic chores, who recounts to the viewers about a holiday he took before preparing for another Christmas. [1] Representations of the developing character at this period were sometimes labelled 'Santa Claus' and sometimes 'Father Christmas', with a tendency for the latter still to allude to old-style associations with charity and with food and drink, as in several of these Punch illustrations: Folklorists and antiquarians were not, it seems, familiar with the new local customs and Ronald Hutton notes that in 1879 the newly formed Folk-Lore Society, ignorant of American practices, was still "excitedly trying to discover the source of the new belief". [9] Taylor, John (published anonymously) (1652). The Vindication of Christmas or, His Twelve Yeares' Observations upon the Times. London: G Horton. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016 . Retrieved 14 January 2016. (Printed date 1653)

Briggs completed a sequel, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, published in 1975 by Hamish Hamilton in Britain and Coward, McCann & Geoghan in America. [6]New Year's Day". John o' Groat Journal. Caithness, Scotland. 9 January 1852. p.3 . Retrieved 28 January 2016. Father Christmas appeared in many 20th century English-language works of fiction, including J. R. R. Tolkien's Father Christmas Letters, a series of private letters to his children written between 1920 and 1942 and first published in 1976. [97] Other 20th century publications include C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), Raymond Briggs's Father Christmas (1973) and its sequel Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (1975). The character was also celebrated in popular songs, including " I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake (1974) and " Father Christmas" by The Kinks (1977).

Father Christmas is a 1991 British animated short film starring Mel Smith as Father Christmas. Created for Channel 4 and first broadcast on Christmas Eve 1991 in Britain, the story is an adaption of two books written by Raymond Briggs - Father Christmas and Father Christmas Goes on Holiday - and is the second animated adaptation of Briggs' work made for the channel, following the 1982 animated short The Snowman. Nashe, Thomas (1600). Summer's Last Will and Testament. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016 . Retrieved 12 January 2016. When a child recognizes him as Santa Claus, he decides that it is time to move on once more. After receiving his enormous hotel bill, Father Christmas is left without the means to travel to any further destinations and has to head home. In the latter part of the 19th century and the early years of the next the folk play tradition in England rapidly faded, [55] and the plays almost died out after the First World War [56] taking their ability to influence the character of Father Christmas with them.One unusual portrayal (below centre) was described several times by William Sandys between 1830 and 1852, all in essentially the same terms: [32] "Father Christmas is represented as a grotesque old man, with a large mask and comic wig, and a huge club in his hand." [50] This representation is considered by the folklore scholar Peter Millington to be the result of the southern Father Christmas replacing the northern Beelzebub character in a hybrid play. [32] [51] A spectator to a Worcestershire version of the St George play in 1856 noted, "Beelzebub was identical with Old Father Christmas." [52] a b c d e f g h i j Hutton, Ronald (1996). The Stations of the Sun. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN 0-19-820570-8.

Wanting to go somewhere warmer, Father Christmas flies to Las Vegas. Instead of continuing to sleep in his flying mobile home, Father Christmas stays at the Nero's Palace hotel. He is delighted that the hotel serves huge portions of French fries and has no shortage of ketchup. He makes use of many of the hotel's amenities, including its swimming pool, its casino and its theater where show girls dance. Liverpool Mercury". Notices for Emigrants for 1851. Michell's American Passenger Office. For New York. "Eagle Line". Liverpool. 25 April 1851. p.4 . Retrieved 31 January 2016.The rise of puritanism led to accusations of popery in connection with pre- reformation Christmas traditions. [3] When the Puritans took control of government in the mid-1640s they made concerted efforts to abolish Christmas and to outlaw its traditional customs. [15] For 15 years from around 1644, before and during the Interregnum of 1649-1660, the celebration of Christmas in England was forbidden. [15] The suppression was given greater legal weight from June 1647 when parliament passed an Ordinance for Abolishing of Festivals [16] which formally abolished Christmas in its entirety, along with the other traditional church festivals of Easter and Whitsun. [10]