Prior to Nast's work, Santa's outfit was tan in color, and it was he that changed it to red, although he also drew Santa in a green suit. This change is often mistakenly attributed to the work of Haddon Sundblom, who drew images of Santa in advertising for the Coca-Cola Company since 1931.
In fact, when Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly in 1862, Santa was a small elflike figure who supported the Union. Nast continued to draw Santa for 30 years, changing the color of his coat from tan to the red he's known for today.
It's widely believed that today's Santa wears a red suit because that's the colour associated with Coca‑Cola, but this isn't the case. Before the Coca‑Cola Santa was even created, St Nick had appeared in numerous illustrations and written descriptions wearing a scarlet coat.
The original British Father Christmas, as depicted in 17th century, sported a beard, but it wasn't white, and his clothing colour was green, not red. And we can thank Scandinavian myths for his reindeer pulled sled, though the red nosed reindeer leader, 'Rudolph', was another American advertising creation.
England – Father Christmas
Today, Father Christmas closely resembles the American Santa; a jolly, well-nourished, white bearded man in a fur-lined robe. However, the traditional British Father Christmas still wears a green cloak, a wreath of holly or ivy, and carries a staff.
But most commonly, especially in Scandinavian countries, Father Christmas traditionally wore green. This tied him to the forest and helped symbolise his links with nature and the changing seasons. Father Christmas brought green foliage and new gifts into the dark winter months.
Slowly, from the 1900s onwards, Father Christmas started wearing green and white less and less often on Christmas cards. Eventually, his attire became exclusively red – thanks, in part, to Coca Cola's iconic 1930s advertisements.
Santa wasn't always illustrated as a jolly soul with a red coat, rosy cheeks, big white beard, portly belly, and black boots. Prior to 1931, Santa was illustrated as a tall gaunt man or a spooky-looking elf.
Santa Claus may be popularly known as a white-bearded benefactor with Dutch-English origins, but multiethnic versions of Santa are making the rounds out there too -- illustrating that in an increasingly diverse United States, Santa takes on whatever color you imagine him to be.
As time went on, St. Nicholas found fame in America. In 1881, Cartoonist Thomas Nast portrayed him as a round, bearded white man, which is far from an accurate representation of the man Santa was based on.
These include Saint Nicholas, a 4th Century Greek bishop - who famously wore red robes while giving gifts to the poor, especially children - and the English folk figure "Father Christmas", whose original green robes turned red over time.
While Coca-Cola did not create the legend of Santa Claus completely, it is true that Coca-Cola advertising played a big role in shaping the jolly character we know and love today.
German immigrants brought Santa Claus figurines to Ohio in the 1800s and once like the blue Santa were made locally. The director of the American Toy Marvel Museum says the blue color was traditional for the German version of St. Nicholas.
The real Saint Nicholas is likely to have had olive skin, dark brown eyes and a wide chin and brow. He stood at 1.68 metres (5ft 6in) and had a broken nose.
A long time ago Father Christmas was shown in clothes of different colours: green, purple, light-blue, navy blue, brown or red.
It's the holiday season and we all know that means seeing old St. Nick in his big red suit. But have you ever stopped to wonder why he doesn't wear any other color? Because he used to be seen wearing blue suits, purple suits, yellow suits and sometimes he was even skinny!
She was the creation of James Rees in his book 1849 book “Mysteries of City Life,” which explored a variety of traditions. Rees is the first to name Mrs. Claus as well, giving her the moniker Gertrude in his stories, although pop culture has given her the name Jessica.
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around A.D. 280 in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St.
Saint Nicholas was a white European.
He was born sometime after 260 in Patara, a port town on the coast of modern-day Turkey. The region had been colonized by the Greeks centuries earlier.
Actually, the original Santa was rather slim, but cartoonists and commercial ads artists gave him a makeover. The story of Santa Claus stems from a real man who started out as a monk and became the patron saint of children. He was known for his generosity and for discreetly helping the poor and unfortunate.
In the mid-1800s, it was popular to draw Santa Claus either in his bishop's robes or as a man with a pointed hat, long coat, and straight beard. It wasn't uncommon to see Santa drawn as quite tall and gaunt.
So by the 1920's the image of Santa had been standardized to portray a bearded, over-weight, jolly man dressed in a red suit with white trim.
Traditional Santas wear bright red fleecy suits, lined with white fur and big black boots to fight off the northern winter. In Australia, it's summer at Christmas time so you're much more likely to see a boardshort wearing Santa on a surfboard.
Evergreen plants like holly and mistletoe are used at Christmastime to represent Christ's life and eternal nature. In pagan times, they were a powerful reminder that nature keeps growing, even through the cold times. Green often symbolizes money, good luck and health through the holidays and into the new year.
The song, popular with school-aged kids, explains that Santa's reindeer get a rest while six white boomers (boomer is Aussie slang for a male kangaroo) lead Santa's sleigh through Australia! After all the toys are delivered, they even help a little joey (a baby kangaroo) find his mommy.