Do you know where Santa Claus got his iconic look? | Antiques Roadshow l PBS

Discover how Santa got a makeover into the old St. Nick we know today in this appraisal of a Haddon Sundblom Santa Claus oil painting and ad! | Antiques Roadshow l PBS

Haddon Sundblom: The Legend of Coca-Cola and Santa Claus The Santa Claus we all know and love — that big, jolly man in the red suit with a white beard — didn’t always look that way. In fact, many people are surprised to learn that prior to 1931, Santa was depicted as everything from a tall gaunt man to a spooky-looking elf. He has donned a bishop’s robe and a Norse huntsman’s animal skin. In fact, when Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly in 1862, Santa was a sma

Coca Cola invented Santa? Well… kind of. Santa Claus didn’t always look like that. 🎅 Before the 1930s, Santa showed up as a skinny bishop, a ghostly elf, even a gnome. 🥤 Then Coca-Cola stepped in. They hired illustrator Haddon Sundblom to sell soda in winter, dressed Santa in red and white, made him plump, cheerful, and endlessly jolly. The ads went everywhere. And just like that, branding beat tradition. The Coke Santa became the Santa. They didn’t invent him… they marketed him into reality.

Santa wasn’t always red. For centuries, St. Nicholas and Father Christmas were drawn in green, brown, & blue. Basically every color imaginable. Even Thomas Nast, the illustrator who shaped the modern Santa, switched between outfits. Then in 1931, Coca-Cola hired artist Haddon Sundblom to paint a warm, friendly Santa for their holiday ads. He dressed him in bright Coca-Cola red and Coke blasted that image across magazines, newspapers, and billboards worldwide. By the 1950s, all the old versions d