'Tis the Season: Holiday Traditions in Oklahoma

The ’Tis the Season: Holiday Traditions in Oklahoma collection features interviews with men and women, such as Santa ambassadors, who spread joy and kindness across Oklahoma during the December holiday season.

About the Collection

The holiday known as Christmas has long been celebrated and the man in the red suit, Santa Claus, has become a universally recognized icon. Charles W. Howard, the founder of the longest continuously operating Santa school reportedly said in 1937, “To say there is no Santa Claus is the most erroneous statement in the world. Santa Claus is a thought that is passed from generation to generation. After time this thought takes on a human form. Maybe if all children and adults understand the symbolism of this thought we can actually attain Peace on Earth and good will to men everywhere.” Oklahoma’s unique Santa Claus Commission dates back to 1937 when the state legislature established the commission to ensure every child in the state’s care would receive a gift for Christmas. The USPS Operation Santa program has been around for decades. Community dinners on Christmas day have been a part of various communities for years. This oral history project began in 2024 with hope and with the aim to document the experiences of Oklahomans who contribute to holiday traditions … to perhaps better understand what it is about the Christmas holiday that endears and endures.

 

Additional Resources (Santa Claus)

Connaghan, Timothy (2022) Behind the Red Suit: the Business of Santa. (Summerville, SC: The Kringle Group). [20^th anniversary editions; cover by Greg Gilpin – an OSU alum and interviewed for the Santa Ambassador project]

Green, Coz (2023) Through Santa’s Eyes: Be Less Selfish, Be More Elfish (Salt Lake City, UT: North Pole Publishing LLC).          

Jerman, Tom A. (2020) Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.).

Jerman, Tom A. (2023) The Fight for “The Night”: Resolving the Authorship Dispute Over “The Night Before Christmas”. (Asheville, NC: Tintic Press, LLC).

Marshall, Nancy H. (2002) The Night Before Christmas: A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Clarke Moore’s Immortal Poem With Editions from 1823 Through 2000. (New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press).

McColl, Pamela (2022) Twas the Night: The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem (Grafton and Scratch)

Short, Dan; Gutteridge, Rene (2019) The Santa Claus Chronicles (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers)

 

Additional information

International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas (IBRBS) - https://ibrbs.org/

Holiday Hope (Oklahoma Human Services) - https://oklahoma.gov/okdhs/services/foster/holidayhope.html

USPS Operation Santa - https://www.uspsoperationsanta.com/

2024 Oklahoma Statutes, Title 10. Children, chap. 0-361. Santa Claus Commission-Creation-Membership-Christmas presents - https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/title-10/section-10-361/

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Contact Us

Oklahoma Oral History Research Program
207 Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-7685
liboh@okstate.edu

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