This Day in Pop Culture for December 23

On this day in pop culture history, the famous poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published and Santa Claus crashed the “Batman” TV series.

December 23, 2020

1–2 minutes

1823: ‘A Visit from St. Nicolas’ is Published

The famous poem that many of us know from heart (or at least most of it) A Visit from St. Nicholas (aka ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas) was published for this first time in the Troy, New York Sentinel on this day in 1823. It was originally published anonymously though the author was Clement Clarke Moore who was a professor and didn’t want his reputation to be ruined for writing such an un-scholarly verse.

However, in 1844, Moore included the poem in a collection of his works with the persuasion of his children, for whom he wrote the poem for. However, the cat was already out of the bag as many people already knew that Moore had written the piece since 1837. (Image: The Library of Congress)

1966: Santa Claus Crashes ‘Batman’

Robin (Burt Ward) and Batman (Adam West) *(Pixabay and TVDB)*

During an episode of Batman, which aired three days before Christmas in 1966, Batman, and Robin, the Boy Wonder, met Santa Claus. In one of the classic “Window Cameo” scenes in the show, Santa (Andy Devine) opens a window during one of crimefighters iconic climbs up a building in the city of Gotham.

In the scene Santa tells the Dynamic Duo that he would be happy to bring them gifts if they tell him where the Bat Cave is. Batman (Adam West) turned to the camera and said, “If you can’t trust Santa, who can you trust?”