by Owen from Schenectady asks Santa what he looked like before Coca-Cola, learns about the Mohawk River, and hears about Schenectady’s history in early American electrical innovation
Dear Santa, my name is Owen and I am nine years old. I live in Schenectady, New York, where my grandpa says important early inventions in electricity happened right in our own city, changing how homes everywhere were lit.
Dear Owen, your grandpa is entirely right, and I have real respect for that particular history of invention myself.
Santa, I have three questions.
My first question is, what did Santa look like before Coca-Cola? My teacher mentioned old paintings that looked quite different from today.
Before that advertising made my modern look consistent, Owen, I was depicted in many different ways, sometimes tall and thin, sometimes wearing green or blue rather than red, and sometimes looking rather stern rather than jolly. The image settled gradually over many decades into the version most familiar today.
My second question is about our river. My teacher says the Mohawk River flows near Schenectady. Is that true?
It is, Owen. The Mohawk River flows near Schenectady, an important part of the region’s early trade and industry. Flying along its path each Christmas Eve is a genuinely peaceful part of my American route.
My third question is about electrical innovation. My teacher says important inventions happened right here that changed how people used electricity. Is that true?
It is true, Owen. Schenectady became an important center for electrical innovation in the late 1800s and early 1900s, work that helped bring electric light to homes across the entire country. I always notice how much brighter Christmas lights became after inventions like those.
Merry Christmas, Santa.
Your friend,
Owen Delaney
Schenectady, New York
P.S. Do your workshop lights run on electricity too?
Increasingly, Owen, though a few old-fashioned candles remain by choice.
