Santa Claus: The Coca-Colarized Version Americans Love (Click This X)

In 1931 the Coca-Cola Company commissioned the famous illustrator Haddon Sundblom of Michigan to create some advertising that would encourage customers to drink Coca-Cola in the winter instead of just in hot summer weather. The focus was on showing Santa Claus drinking Coke at Christmas and depicting Santa in a new American style very different than European art versions of St. Nicholas and Father Christmas. Those old world art versions of Santa were NOT fat and jolly...in fact, he was shown as tall and skinny, and his facial expression was dour and frightened children, and those costumes were not colorful enough to suit Coca-Cola's ad campaign. Voila! Sundblom created the classic fat, jolly, smiling Santa in red and white clothing that Americans came to love and know even today. The bottle of Coke in Santa's hand is from what began in Vicksburg in 1894. (See my post on this down below.) Click on the title at the X above to go to the Coca-Cola Coke Lore site to read all about this.