Most people know what Santa looks like ~ a jolly fellow, with a red suit, white beard and pleasantly plump. But he did not always look that way. The image of Santa Claus ranged from big to small and fat to tall. Santa even appeared as an elf and looked a bit spooky in some old cards.
When the company Coca-Cola started its Christmas advertising in the 1920s, they put ads in magazines like the Saturday Evening Post. The first Santa ads used a strict-looking Claus, but these weren't very popular.
The company use Santa Claus again in their advertising in 1930 and an artist called Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke in his hand. He changed Santa's usual tan coloured coat and painted it red. The slight changes from spooky looking Santa to jolly, chubby, red-coated Santa seemed to go down a storm, as sales rocketed.
Of course, because Santa is a secretive chap and no one ever gets to actually see him, we may never know exactly what coloured attire he chooses to deliver our presents in, he might, like me, favour Gucci over a red felt coat!
When the company Coca-Cola started its Christmas advertising in the 1920s, they put ads in magazines like the Saturday Evening Post. The first Santa ads used a strict-looking Claus, but these weren't very popular.
The company use Santa Claus again in their advertising in 1930 and an artist called Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke in his hand. He changed Santa's usual tan coloured coat and painted it red. The slight changes from spooky looking Santa to jolly, chubby, red-coated Santa seemed to go down a storm, as sales rocketed.
Of course, because Santa is a secretive chap and no one ever gets to actually see him, we may never know exactly what coloured attire he chooses to deliver our presents in, he might, like me, favour Gucci over a red felt coat!
