In 1902, Santa graced the cover of "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" dressed in green. But red eventually won out. Depictions from illustrator Norman Rockwell helped establish red as the color Santa donned best. Coca-Cola also affirmed Santa's signature red suit.
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 red suit was first mentioned in 1881 when Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, illustrated the poem and brought Santa to life. His drawing included all the features from Clement-Moore's description but also showed Santa in a bright red suit and carrying a black sack of toys.
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.
Although Nast had gotten the paraphernalia of reindeer, sleigh, etc down to a tee, the famous red suit was still yet to be set. Over the decades Santa would be depicted in a variety of colours such as blue, green and the yellow as pictured in this 1864 edition of Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas".
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.
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.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, Santa Claus wears a white fur-trimmed red jacket and pants with a buckled belt, a matching hat, and black boots.
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.
When people think of Santa's voice and what he says, we can't help but imagine of his famous catchphrase, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!" We know what Merry Christmas means, but what does he mean when he says "ho ho ho"? In truth, "ho ho ho" doesn't mean anything. It's actually just the sound of Santa Claus's laughter.
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.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, coal was commonly burned to heat homes, so when Santa Claus came to visit, it was convenient to grab a lump to leave for children on his "naughty" list.
Much later, a Civil War-era American cartoonist would draw Saint Nicholas (a third century Christian bishop who helped the needy) as a cheerful man wearing a red suit with white fur. In the 1930s, Santa's image was used to sell Coca-Cola, with its familiar red-and-white color scheme.
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.
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. Hair color originates inside the skin on the head, where hairs are attached.
The 19th century Santa was often shown wearing outfits of different colors: purple, green and blue in addition to red. This slowly faded out so that by the beginning of the 20th century the standard image of Santa Claus was a man in a red suit trimmed with white.
A long time ago Father Christmas was shown in clothes of different colours: green, purple, light-blue, navy blue, brown or red.
Favorite Color: Most often, you see Santa wearing his famous red-and-white suit and hat. However, when he's not dressed in this familiar attire, Santa puts on his other favorite color: green!
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.
Santa, you see, has presbyopia. His age-related farsightedness is a common reason for many Santas to wear glasses, whether or not they're onstage. “Because most of the Santas are getting up there in age, the kids would always give us all these little things to read and we couldn't read 'em.
The current depiction of Santa Claus is based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly beginning in 1863. Nast's Santa owed much to the description given in the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (also known as “'Twas the Night Before Christmas”), first published in 1823.
Exactly how old is Santa? According to the blog Email Santa, Santa Claus is 1,751 years old as of 2022. In fact, the origins of Santa Claus can be traced all the way back to a monk named Saint Nicholas, who was born between 260 and 280 A.D.
But someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in the UK, particularly in England, he became 'St Christmas', 'Father Christmas' or 'Old Man Christmas', an old character from story plays during the middle ages in the UK and parts of northern Europe. In France, he was then known as 'Père Nöel'.
Multiple surveys and studies from the United States and around the Western world show that the typical age that kids stop believing in Santa Claus is age 8.