Talk about Santa Claus and you get the image of a jolly, healthy man in a red coat, pants, belled cap and a fat red sack! But did you know that your beloved Santa Claus was not always dressed in red? Once upon a time, things were very different and here’s what you may have missed out!
Santa Claus, the way we know him today, is a result of popular folk belief and an image-changing advertisement. Many are aware that Claus is based on a fourth century arch-bishop, Saint Nicolas. Traditionally, if you would contemplate, bishops wore long robes which were red, gold, green or maroon in colour. In fact, in the very beginning, Santa Claus was just a figure who children waited for all year long; one who would bring them gifts. Thus, their apparels were never the prime focus.
Fast forward to the 1800s and the vision of Santa Claus changed forever due to those who took up the pen. Many articles, poems and stories started describing him as 'jolly' , ' red-dressed' etc; and the image of the man started changing as per those adjectives. In 1823, T’was the night Before Christmas and Thomas Nast’s illustrations where the Santa was dressed in red, which started portraying the man in red.
And finally in the 1930s, Coca-Cola ran an advertisement campaign with a few illustrations by Haddon Sundblom. In the advertisement, Claus was depicted as a smiling, cheerful, plump man wearing a red coat.
This advertisement reached cult status and huge popularity in portraying Santa Claus in red. From then on, the pop-culture image of the man in red stuck with the viewers. The red colour also symbolises purity and makes the character stand out in the middle of an all-white atmosphere.
Till date, he is depicted in the same way. Figurines are made to wear red coats. Toys are given red colours. And the famous image of the Santa-in-red remained forever.
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