Even more iconic than his white beard and love of mince pies, is Father Christmas’ infamous red suit. Though of all colours, why red?
Well, it was all down to one man named Thomas Nast.
It was this American cartoonist who is the first person ever documented to have clothed Santa in his fetching red suit complete with white fur lining and black belt.
The illustrator, who is also the first person to imagine the king of Christmas living in the North Pole, was the inspiration for Coca Cola and how their use of Santa Claus is used in branding.
While Nast created Father Christmas as we know and love him today in the 1870s, Santa’s origin actually dates back to the year 280 A.D.
Many of you might be familiar with the fact that the big FC was actually a chap (or rather, a monk) named St Nicholas, who was famed for his kindness in where is now known as Turkey.
When he died, all of the good that he had done lived on as locals celebrated his efforts to help the sick and needy on the anniversary of his death – December 6, 343 A.D.
To this day, folk in the Netherlands gift their festive pressies to each other on December 6.
Prior to Nast crafting his idea of what Saint Nick looks like, an antique-collector named John Pintard wanted the legend to become a new symbol of hope for New Yorkers in the early 1800s.
This inspired artists to whip out their sketch books and begin characterising what the patron saint of gift-giving and children could look like. And that’s when ‘Sancte Claus’ was born.
Pictures aplenty began flooding in, depicting Father Christmas simply in black and white before a casual 70 years later and Nast crafted his now globally-recognised masterpiece.
Tbf, most ‘Santas’ these days are usually wearing PJs though.
I learned something new today – outstanding.
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