What was the original title of Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 Santa Claus poem?

The original title of Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 Santa Claus poem was “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.”

The poem is now usually called “A Visit from St. Nicholas” or “The Night Before Christmas.” It was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel newspaper in New York on December 23, 1823, under the longer title “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.”

Its verses helped popularize a lively, gift-bringing Santa who travels by sleigh, enters through a chimney, and is pulled by reindeer. The poem also contributed to the enduring image of Santa as a small, cheerful visitor rather than solely a solemn religious saint.

The title is often confused with “The Night Before Christmas,” which comes from the poem’s opening line and became its most famous popular name. “A Christmas Carol” is instead Charles Dickens’s 1843 novella about Ebenezer Scrooge.