Every generation changes Santa Claus to fit with their times. But at the turn of the 20th century, ol’ Father Christmas wasn’t just getting an update to his stature (in the original “Night Before Christmas” poem he used to be a tiny elf), his ride was also getting modernized.
With all the new innovations in transportation happening around 1900 — from automobiles to airships — most new visions of Santa were putting his reindeer out of a job.
https://gizmodo.com/santa-claus-builds-a-flying-machine-512621882
