The image of the Claus
 

Would you believe that the character 'Santa Claus' was invented by the Coca-Cola company?

Think about it. The modern image is of Santa wearing a large red suit, white beard, accompanied by 9 reindeer, right? Where did THAT image of Santa really start? Personally, my friends and I have debated this and we do think that Coca-Cola has had something to do with his image. The red and white suit was chronicled to have originated around the late 19th century, which by 1886 the first batches of Coca-Cola were produced. Other companies had used Santa with their products before, but the real colors that stand out and the better associative picture has been St. Nick with a coke.
The history of Santa Clause (aka Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Kris Kringle) is that he was a kind soul that gave kids and homeless many gifts to brighten up their spirits and keep them from doing worse things with their lives. Kids would have their stockings and boots filled with food for the reindeer and 'santa' would give them gifts and candy as a 'thanks.' After some time and many other interpretations he made his way to America as a kind of lampoon of his original origins.
So given some time, Santa had an image, and was used by other companies as well, but how did he really become popularized as the icon he is now?
http://static.flickr.com/130/321344053_a1685975b0_b.jpg

Where do you think that his modern image has come from?

You piqued my interest, so I had to look it up.

Read the whole article, it's awesome.

I don't trust Wikipedia.

Psh, I know. Wiki claims he's not real.

Anyway, their explanation is a hell of a lot better than yours.

This is discussion.

Spamming is not tolerated in any way shape or form.

If you aren't actually adding to the conversation in some meaningful way, which neither 'I don't trust wikipedia', nor the reply are doing, do not reply.

Er... well, what's YOUR source then? Wiki at least cites most of its information, but you've just made a bunch of claims, so if all you have to say about that article is "I don't trust Wikipedia" do you at least have some evidence of your own claims beyond a single picture? Because so far you and your friends are a few miles off from catching up to Wiki on the trustworthiness scale.

Wikipedia's list of sources:

* "Santa's Elves in Alaskan Town Reply to Letters". AOL News. Dec. 9, 2006.
* Barnard, Eunice Fuller. "Santa Claus Claimed as a Real New Yorker." New York Times. December, 19, 1926.
* Baum, L. Frank. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. 1902; reprint, New York: Penguin, 1986. ISBN 0-451-52064-5
* Belk, Russel W. "A Child's Christmas in America: Santa Claus as Deity, Consumption as Religion." Journal of American Culture, 10, no. 1 (Spring 1987), pp. 87-100.
* Clar, Mimi. "Attack on Santa Claus." Western Folklore, 18, no. 4 (October 1959), p. 337.
* Clark, Cindy Dell. Flights of Fancy, Leaps of Faith: Children's Myths in Contemporary America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. ISBN 0-226-10778-7
* Dini, Paul. Jingle Belle various issues [3]
* Flynn, Tom. The Trouble with Christmas. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1993. ISBN 0-87975-848-1
* Horowitz, Joseph. Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. ISBN 0-393-05717-8
* "Is There a Santa Claus?" New York Sun. September 21, 1897.
* King, Josiah. The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury . . . London: Charles Brome, 1686. Full text available here
* Lalumia, Christine. "The restrained restoration of Christmas". In the Ten Ages of Christmas from the BBC website.
* Moore, Clement Clarke. "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel. December 23, 1823.
* Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. ISBN 0-679-74038-4
* Otnes, Cele, Kyungseung Kim, and Young Chan Kim. "Yes, Virginia, There is a Gender Difference: Analyzing Children's Requests to Santa Claus." Journal of Popular Culture, 28, no. 1 (Summer 1994), pp. 17-29.
* Ott, Jonathan. Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History. Kennewick, Wash.: Natural Products Company, 1993. ISBN 0-9614234-9-8
* Plath, David W. "The Japanese Popular Christmas: Coping with Modernity." American Journal of Folklore, 76, no. 302 (October-December 1963), pp. 309-317.
* Quinn, Seabury. Roads. 1948; facsimile reprint, Mohegan Lake, N.Y.: Red Jacket Press, 2005. ISBN 0-9748895-8-X
* "St. Nicholas of Myra" in the Catholic Encyclopedia at NewAdvent.org.
* Sedaris, David. The Santaland Diaries and Seasons Greetings: Two Plays. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1998. ISBN 0-8222-1631-0
* Shenkman, Richard. Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History. New York: HarperCollins, 1988. ISBN 0-06-097261-0
* Siefker, Phyllis. Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1996. ISBN 0-7864-0246-6
* Twitchell, James B. Twenty Ads that Shook the World. New York: Crown Publishers, 2000. ISBN 0-609-60563-1
* "Why Track Him?" at NORADsanta.org.

They give a better explanation that doesn't really expressly contradict your own, as the article even points out that while Coke didn't invent the image, they're a bit part of the reason for it being so mainstream.

Snopes has an article on this,. According to it, the red-suited Santa first started to become stanard in 1885, thanks to Louis Prang, a printer of Christmas cards.

Didn't the whole Red suit thing come out of ya know Denmark or somewhere. Cos I seem to remember one of my teachers telling me it originated in some germanic country (That being east of france west of Poland.)

Santa Claus was most likely brought to the USA by Dutch or Belgians colonists.
Santa Claus is, again, most likely based on Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas, or Sint Nicolaas, was the patron saint of, amongst other things, children.
A bishop from Myra, Turkey, he was known to be kind to children, often bringing the poor children in orphanages gifts of toys or clothes.

As the Dutch and Belgians settled the America's, they brought their traditions with them.
When New Amsterdam, a Dutch settlement, was traded for other lands (Suriname and other lands too, I think), it's Sinterklaas tradition stuck with the other colonists, and evolved and merged together with Father Christmas.

Thus, Santa Claus was born as he is today.

Santa's elves serve mostly the same role as Sinterklaas' Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes).

Well, dang nabbit Melfice, there you go all stealing my knowledge...

But I thught Saint Nikolaas was from Russia, not Turket. But that's just arguing semantics.

Anywho.

I do believe that Coca Cola had alot to do with the commercialization of the Santa Claus we know today, the big jolly fat man with a huge fluffy white beard, etc.