“Holidays are coming, Holidays are coming”
You know it’s Christmas when…
Coca-Cola ramps up the advertising. This particular advert has become the signal for yuletide to begin. I heard somewhere that Coca-Cola invented the red coat for Santa Claus but that could just have been a self-aggrandising press release. I know the reindeers are German because two of them are called “Donner und Blitzen” so I reckon the Americans couldn’t have dressed Santa.
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[...] and other presents inside and promptly put the satsumas back in the fruit bowl. What is it about Christmas that brings out the citrus in [...]
Donner and Blitzen were among the names of the eight reindeer in the poem by the American poet, Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) who wrote ” ‘Twas the night before Christmas” also called A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1822. This is much read to children in America at Christmas – or it used to be when I was growing up there in the 1950s/60s.
Originally I believe St Nicholas wore a green cloak in the early stories about him. The original saint is said to be a Turkish bishop who left dowries for two poor girls secretly. His saint’s day is 6 December and in continental Europe, shoes are left outside children’s bedroom doors for gifts… now it would seem to me that they celebrate on 6, 24 and 25 December, embracing all cultural gift days, to judge by the small people I know in Germany.
See the Wikepedia entries:
“Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply “Santa” is a historical, legendary and mythological character associated with bringing gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The popular North American form Santa Claus originated as a mispronunciation of Dutch Sinterklaas, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). However, the Dutch Sinterklaas is different from Santa Claus in many ways: see the section on Dutch folklore. The Dutch word for Santa Claus is Kerstman (“Christmas man”). Santa Claus has a suit that comes in many colors depending on the country. The most common depiction (red with white sleeves, collar, and belt) became the more popular image in the United States in the mid-to-late 19th century.[1]”
“In the British colonies of North America and later the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving’s History of New York, (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into “Santa Claus” but lost his bishop’s apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving’s book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.
“Modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the publication of the poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (better known today as “The Night Before Christmas”) in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on December 23, 1823. In this poem Santa is established as a heavyset individual with eight reindeer (who are named for the first time). Santa Claus later appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas, but red soon became popular after he appeared wearing such on an 1885 Christmas card. Still, one of the first artists to capture Santa Claus’ image as we know him today was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper’s Weekly.
“In the late 19th century a group of Sami people moved from Finnmark in Norway to Alaska, together with 500 reindeer to teach the Inuit to herd reindeer. The Lomen Company then used several of the Sami together with reindeer in a commercial campaign. Reindeer pulled sleds with a Santa, and one Sami leading each reindeer. The American commercial Santa Claus, coming from the North Pole with reindeer was born.[6]
“Later popularization was L. Frank Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children’s book. Much of Santa Claus’s mythos was not set in stone at the time, leaving Baum to give his “Neclaus” (Necile’s Little One) a wide variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer which could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus’s immortality was earned, much like his title (“Santa”), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. Also established Claus’s motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, he strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means.
“Images of Santa Claus were further cemented through Haddon Sundblom’s depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company’s Christmas advertising. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was in fact invented by Coca-Cola or that Santa wears red and white because those are the Coca-Cola colors. In fact, Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image Santa Claus in its advertising – White Rock Beverages used Santa in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923 after first using him to sell mineral water in 1915. Even though Coca-Cola was not the first to do this, their massive campaign was one of the main reasons for why Santa Claus ended up depicted as wearing red and white, in contrast to the variety of colours he wore prior to the campaign. [7][8]
“The image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly organizations such as the Salvation Army. Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time.”
I have no reason to believe that these entries are not accurate and wish all Popular Nostalgia Readers and Contributors a very merry Christmas and a happy new year – keep up the good work in ’08!!!
[...] builder has gotta get his shirt off. A shameless piece of sexual gratification on the part of Diet Coke. Pictures of female office workers perving on a construction worker led to claims of reverse sexism [...]
i love the christmas coca cola advert No can not sayy theyy disagree be alod o crap of theyy did! best advery ever end off!