Before Coca‑Cola was invented, Santa Claus (St Nick) had appeared in numerous illustrations and books wearing a scarlet coat.
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.
No. 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 tradition of him wearing red began in the 1870s with the American cartoonist Thomas Nast, who introduced the red suit and cap, white fur lining and buckled black belt.
The director of the American Toy Marvel Museum says the blue color was traditional for the German version of St. Nicholas.
St Nicholas, who was the real historical figure who Santa Claus is based on, was originally seen as wearing red, since that was the colour of the religious robes he would have worn for his role as the Bishop of Myra in Turkey in the 3rd Century.
However, it was not until the late part of the 19th century that the character adopted the red suit that was popular for Santa Claus in America, and so for much of the Victorian period, Father Christmas was often green.
A long time ago Father Christmas was shown in clothes of different colours: green, purple, light-blue, navy blue, brown or red. Some illustrations even depict him as a multicolour figure wearing blue trousers, a yellow waistcoat and a red jacket. In some cases he even wore brown, black or white furs.
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.
The Growth of White Santa
The highly recognized image of a pale-faced, white-bearded, old man giving out gifts dates back to the 19th century.
The red suit was a convenient feature of the character as it matched the advertising colours of the company. He was inspired by the classic 1822 poem, A Visit from St Nicholas, which features the line: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house; not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse”.
But before Moore's poem and Coca-Cola's advertisements, there was the original St. Nicholas. As the Bishop of Myra in the 4th Century, his traditional robes were red and white.
The history of Santa Claus
Santa Claus existed many years before Coca-Cola started to use him for its Christmas advertising campaign. Historians agree that this character was inspired by Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra of the 4th Century, who was famous for leaving coins in the shoes and stockings of poor children.
Sundblum's Santa was a portly white-bearded gentleman dressed in a red suit with a black belt and white fur trim, black boots, and a soft red cap. Santa Claus is said to live at the North Pole with his wife, where he spends the year making toys with the help of his elves.
Santa's hair and long beard are white as snow. But as a boy, his hair was probably a different color. Just like boys the world over, his head would have been topped with shades of brown, red, or yellow.
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.
The green colour was used to signify the coming spring. If he wasn't wearing green or red, Father Christmas sometimes wore long white fur robes instead. This colour was chosen to resemble snow and ice – in this way, Father Christmas was depicted as a personification of winter itself.
Turns out the 4th-century bishop, from whom Santa Claus is derived, was a short swarthy man with dark brown eyes and a broken nose. A 3D digital face of Saint Nicholas was first created in 2006 for a BBC documentary when the Vatican granted scientists access to X-rays and measurements taken from the saint's remains.
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.
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. However, according to the researchers, he did sport white hair and a beard - as was the fashion for 4th century religious leaders.
In 2019, House Method surveyed more than 4,500 families across the United States, and found the overall average age for no longer believing in Santa Claus is 8.4 years old. (But it varies by state: Kids in Mississippi generally believe until they're 10, while kids in Oregon stop believing at 7.)
Why, after all, does Santa Claus wear red and white? Many people will tell you that the modern Santa is dressed to match the red-and-white colours of a can of Coke, and was popularised by Coca Cola's advertising in the 1930s.
The appearance of St. Nicholas, whose kindness and generosity inspired this legendary character, was lost and forgotten. At the time, it probably made sense to make Santa Claus white, as people of color weren't really accepted into society and weren't represented equally.
However, there is still one thing most people don't know about the Christmas mascot: Why does Santa say "ho, ho, ho"? The truth is simple: The catchphrase is "used to represent laughter," according to Merriam-Webster. So, when Santa utters "ho, ho, ho," he isn't actually saying anything—he's laughing!
Nicholas: The Real Santa Claus. 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.