History of Santa Claus

The cement that permanently affixed this image of Santa in to the consciousness of Americans came in 1931 with Coca-Cola’s portrayal of the figure in their Christmas advertisements. Haddon Sundblom drew the modern image of Santa, raising him up from elf-size to more human proportions, but retaining his grandfatherly appearance, rotund figure, ruddy complexion, and twinkling eyes. The imagery of Coca-Cola’s Santa used on billboards and in other ads helped spread Santa’s popularity and narrowed his wardrobe down from what had previously been the occasion odd colored suit to his current staple of red and white only. The enormous success of the massive Coca-Cola campaign even spawned the urban legend that the soda company created Santa and that St. Nick wore red and white because those were the Coca-Cola colors. But informed individuals know the long history of the evolution of the modern Santa that started well before Coca-Cola and can recall imagery, such as that of Nast, where Santa was dressed in red and white prior to the 1930’s.

Santa Claus as we know him today had one other important addition to his image along the way - a wife. Lest she be overshadowed, Mrs. Claus has her own originals and has come to play a significant role in the Santa persona as well. Mr. Claus gained a wife in 1889 when Katherine Lee Bates created the character “Mrs. Claus” in the poem “Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride”. The role of Mrs. Claus was further established in 1956 with the popular George Melachrino song, “Mrs. Santa Claus”. Since then, Mrs. Claus has been a regular component of Christmas cartoons, displays, caricatures, and part of the image we recognize today as Santa Claus.

The jolly Americanized Santa’s and St. Nick’s of today have come a long way from their Turkish bishop inspiration but the modern figures continues to inspire imagination, hope, caring, and belief in young and old the worldwide.