St. Nicholas is described in the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (1823) as joyful, plump, with twinkling eyes, merry dimples, cheeks like roses, and a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly. His description bears more similarity to the toy-bearing Santa Claus of the American Christmas tradition than to the saint, who is believed to have been a bishop of Myra (Turkey) in the 4th century.