gained a bit of weight over the years, Santa Claus isn't quite the same person he once was.

In history, he was a 4th century Turkish bishop, Nicholas of Myra, according to the late Ray Herbenick, professor of philosophy and eastern-Christian specialist at the University of Dayton.

Herbenick, who died last April, drew a portrait of the benevolent saint that contrasts with the roly-poly jolly man in the red suit most people know today.

For starters, the bishop may have been tall and gaunt, making his rounds on a donkey.

He anonymously performed acts of kindness and made gifts -- often bags of gold -- to the young and needy.

One legendary story involved his gifts of gold to three poor girls to be used as dowries, so they could marry.

Over the centuries, Europeans made him the patron saint of children, giving gifts to their children on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas, Dec. 6.

On that eve, the children left shoes filled with straw for the saint's donkey, and by morning the straw was replaced with presents.

But the modern picture of Santa began emerging in earnest in the 19th century.

American writer Washington Irving, satirising Dutch traditions in an 1809 story, noted the legend of "Sinter Klaas'' (later Americanised to "Santa Claus''), who flew across the sky in a wagon and dropped presents down chimneys for good boys and girls. Irving saw his Santa not as a cleric but as a jolly fellow.

Then came Clement Clark Moore's famous 1822 poem, "Twas The Night Before Christmas,'' in which Santa had traded in his wagon for a sleigh pulled by "eight tiny reindeer.'' In Moore's version, the shoes left out for Santa turned into stockings hung by the chimney. And the saint, described as a potbellied "jolly old elf,'' now arrived down the chimney. He also acquired a new address: the North Pole.

In 1863, Santa was delineated by political cartoonist Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

During the Civil War period, Santa had a star-spangled jacket and striped pants and a cap.

After the war, Nast's Santa dropped this garb in favour of a black wool suit.

He was pictured looking over a list of naughty or nice children, busy at work in his toy shop.

The 20th century Santa version emerged -- probably not inappropriately in this advertising-saturated era -- in a 1931 Coca-Cola ad campaign.

Company artist Haddon Sundblom, using a retired Coke sales representative as a model, painted Santa as a smiling, white-haired, plump, rosy-cheeked old man.

He was attired in a red suit with white trim, echoing the corporate colours of the product.

But Hebenick, who was a Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic of Carpath-Rusyn background, felt the original Saint Nicholas can still inspire those who feel the holiday has become too commercial.

Families might still exchange small gifts between Dec. 6 and Christmas day, and they can quietly look for ways to help those less fortunate than themselves.

"The truth is, we don't know a lot about the bishop of Myra,'' he said. "But it shouldn't keep us from recapturing traditions of personal care found in diverse religious traditions.

The legend of St. Nicholas and the spirit of charity should be at the heart of this season -- not crass commercialism with little thought to the meaning of it all.'' Santa Claus visits children in Bermuda.