| THE ART: |
| The Coca-Cola Santa created by artist Haddon Sundblom
is given credit for both standardizing and humanizing the character
of "Father Christmas." Before Sundblom created the popular,
modern-day image of a jolly, friendly Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas
was portrayed differently within various regions and cultures. He
occasionally was even seen as a frightening or spooky character. But
in 1931 and for the ensuing 33 years, Sundblom transformed Santa into
the familiar, jovial old man the world recognizes today. |
| When The Coca-Cola Company originally commissioned
Haddon Sundblom to create the Santa Claus artwork, Sundblom was so
well-known as an illustrator that he received fees as high as US$1,000
per painting. This was a substantial amount in the 1920s and America's
Depression-era 1930s when a loaf of bread sold for around eight cents,
a dozen eggs was approximately 40 cents, a half-gallon of milk cost
less than 30 cents, a gallon of gas was about 19 cents, a four-door
automobile could be had for under $700 and the average price of a
home was roughly $6,000. |
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In the long-running series of paintings, Sundblom's Coca-Cola Santa
mixes moments of innocent mischief with pauses for a refreshing
Coke in a number of Yuletide scenes, including:
- Raiding a refrigerator
- Waving at a flying toy helicopter while playing with a toy
train
- Relaxing in a chair, with reindeer nearby
- Engaging excited children and beloved family pets
- Reviewing his famous list of "good boys and girls"
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| The children who appear with Santa Claus in some of
Sundblom's paintings were based on the artist's neighbors in Arizona.
Although the two youngsters living next door were both girls, Sundblom
simply changed one to a boy in his paintings.
|
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The dog in the 1964 original Santa Claus painting by Sundblom was
actually a grey poodle belonging to the neighborhood florist. Sundblom
illustrated the animal with black fur to make the dog stand out
in the holiday scene.
|
| It is a common misconception that today's
Santa Claus wears a red coat because red is the color associated with
Coca-Cola. In fact, Santa appeared in a red coat in numerous earlier
written accounts and illustrations before Sundblom painted him for
Coca-Cola advertising. |
| People loved the Coca-Cola Santa images
and paid such close attention to them that, when any change was noticed,
they sent letters to The Coca-Cola Company. One year, Santa's large
belt was shown backwards (perhaps because Sundblom used himself as
a model and sometimes painted Santa's features by looking in a mirror),
creating a groundswell of reader mail. Another time, Santa appeared
without a wedding ring, compelling fans to ask what happened to Mrs.
Claus.
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| THE ADVERTISING: |
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The Coca-Cola Santa Claus by Sundblom was not the first version
of the acclaimed North Pole resident to appear in Coca-Cola advertisements.
In the 1920s the Company ran some ads featuring a rather stern-looking
Santa, and in 1930 Coke hired artist Fred Mizen to illustrate a
department store Santa impersonator pausing at a soda fountain.
But when Sundblom was given the assignment to draw Santa in 1931,
he took the notion of the jolly old elf in a new direction. He depicted
not an ordinary man dressed up as Santa, but the real Saint Nicholas
who travels around the world and touches the lives of families everywhere.
Sundblom's reflections of Santa were so authentic that they broadly
influenced the way people imagined the true look of Saint Nicholas
and inspired other illustrators who have created their own interpretations
of Saint Nick.
|
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The Coca-Cola Company originally decided to link Santa Claus and
Christmas to its flagship soft drink because people in those days
commonly regarded Coca-Cola as a drink almost exclusively for the
hot, summertime period. The first advertisements of the 1920s and
1930s that included Santa helped remind consumers that Coca-Cola
was ideal for every month of the year, including the winter holidays.
|
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Coca-Cola introduced more than 40 Coca-Cola Santa paintings by
Sundblom from 1931 through 1964. In some years, different scenes
with Santa were produced for separate placements in print advertisements
and on billboards, respectively.
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Along with print advertisements, Sundblom's Santa has appeared
on Coca-Cola store displays, billboards, calendars, posters, drinking
glasses, serving trays and numerous other promotional pieces and
gift items, quickly making them collectibles. Some cardboard retail
displays that sold for less than one American dollar in the 1930s
and '40s have been valued today in amounts ranging from US$500 to
more than US$1,500 by Coca-Cola memorabilia collectors.
|
| The image of Santa has appeared on cartons for bottles
of Coca-Cola since 1931, when Sundblom first created his version of
Saint Nick. Early cartons completely covered the bottles of Coke -- as if they were inside a box -- and had a handle at the top. This carton -- created and patented by the Coca-Cola system -- was introduced in
1923 and allowed people to take home more bottles of Coke. |
The "Sprite Boy" character, which appeared
with Santa Claus and was used in
Coca-Cola advertising in the 1940s and '50s, also was created by Sundblom.
Though The Coca-Cola Company now has a drink called Sprite, the "Sprite
Boy" character was not named for the beverage. "Sprite Boy's"
originated because he was in fact a sprite -- an elf. "Sprite
Boy" first appeared in ads in 1942, while the drink Sprite was
introduced in the 1960s. |
| In 2001, the artwork from Sundblom's 1962 Coca-Cola
Santa painting, called "Season's Greetings," was used as
the basis for an animated television commercial for Coca-Cola. The
recent spot was created by Academy Award-winning animator Alexandre
Petrov. |
|
World events in 1931, the year the Coca-Cola Santa made his debut
in advertising, included:
- Completion in New York of the Empire State Building, the world's
tallest building from 1931 to1972
- Adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national
anthem of the United States
- Discovery of deuterium (also known as heavy hydrogen) by chemist
Harold Clayton Urey, of Columbia University in New York
- Temporary closing of the Panama Canal due to earthquakes
- Designation of New Delhi as the capital of India
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