Merry Christmas Grandma...I miss you so much

My Grandma loved Christmas Time. She was a very giving person. She also loved Coca-Cola too. She really loved the ads of "Santa drinking a Coca-Cola"...

**Coca-Cola and Santa Claus**


Most people can agree on what Santa Claus looks like -- jolly, with a red suit and a white beard. But he did not always look that way, and Coca-Cola advertising actually helped shape this modern-day image of Santa.

2006 marks the 75th anniversary of the famous Coca-Cola Santa Claus. Starting in 1931, magazine ads for Coca-Cola featured St. Nick as a kind, jolly man in a red suit. Because magazines were so widely viewed, and because this image of Santa appeared for more than three decades, the image of Santa most people have today is largely based Coca-Cola advertising.

Before the 1931 introduction of the Coca-Cola Santa Claus created by artist Haddon Sundblom, the image of Santa ranged from big to small and fat to tall. Santa even appeared as an elf and looked a bit spooky.

Through the centuries, Santa Claus has been depicted as everything from a tall gaunt man to an elf. He has worn a bishop's robe and a Norse huntsman's animal skin. The modern-day Santa Claus is a combination of a number of the stories from a variety of countries.

The Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly in 1862; Santa was shown as a small elf-like figure who supported the Union. Nast continued to draw Santa for 30 years and along the way changed the color of his coat from tan to the now traditional red. Though some people believe the Coca-Cola Santa wears red because that is the Coke� color, the red suit comes from Nast's interpretation of St. Nick.

The Coca-Cola Company began its Christmas advertising in the 1920s with shopping-related ads in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post. The first Santa ads used a strict-looking Claus, in the vein of Thomas Nast.

At this time, many people thought of Coca-Cola as a drink only for warm weather. The Coca-Cola Company began a campaign to remind people that Coca-Cola was a great choice in any month. This began with the 1922 slogan "Thirst Knows No Season," and continued with a campaign connecting a true icon of winter -- Santa Claus -- with the beverage.

In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke. The ad featured the world's largest soda fountain, which was located in the department store of Famous Barr Co. in St. Louis, Mo. Mizen's painting was used in print ads that Christmas season, appearing in The Saturday Evening Post in December 1930.

Archie Lee, the D'Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic. In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus -- showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa, as Mizen's work had portrayed him.

For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa -- an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world.

From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola advertising showed Santa delivering (and playing!) with toys, pausing to read a letter and enjoy a Coke, playing with children who stayed up to greet him and raiding the refrigerators at a number of homes. The original oil paintings Sundblom created were adapted for Coca-Cola advertising in magazines, store displays, billboards, posters, calendars and even plush dolls. Many of those items today are popular collectibles.

The Coca-Cola Santa made its debut in 1931 in The Saturday Evening Post and appeared regularly in that magazine, as well as Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker and others. The instantly popular ad campaign appeared each season, reflecting the times. One ad even featured Santa in a rocket!

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Merry
• Christmas
• Grandma
• Santa
• Coca-Cola

[MariahCareyFan1988]

aww i think this video is lovely BigBearLodge, my nan loved christmas aswell an everyone used to say she looked like mother christmas lol, it was our first christmas just gone spending it without her after her passing away feb 07 :(, thanks for posting this :)

[BigBearLodge]

Thank you very much...It nice to hear good words about this video. So many people seem to like it.

[SqZix]

Um. I don't get it. Seems to be a Coca-cola commercial except for the last few seconds... Not that it's a =bad= Coca-cola commercial (not at all!), just that saying so in the title would be helpful to the rest of us.

[BigBearLodge]

I did NOT make this video for you. I made it in memory of my Grandma...you got a problem with that than don't watch my videos. Tried of you people thinking you need to tell me/us what & how to post a video.

[BigBearLodge]

thank you! God Bless!

[ESCH3101007]

If your grand mother see's this she would bevery proud of you.

[BigBearLodge]

Thank you!

[KimL1958]

What a wonderful tribute to your grandmother. She's with you every Christmas. Don't doubt it.

[patty0130]

Makes me think of my mom - gone for almost 20 years now and not a day goes by that I don't think of her and miss her.

[Chris00648]

Good video your grandma would have loved it =)

[1995RockChick]

OMG! What two people disliked this. Its a tribute to her grandma dont be cold hearted gawsh!

I thought it was really nice and i think your gran was lucky to have you :)

[LittleJimmySouthern]

A very nice tribute. To Grandma AND Santa.

[emilyremilyr]

my grandma died of brain cancer :'(

[brcbrtn]

Thanks for posting! Haddon Sundblom's Santa.Mel Torme's "Christmas Song" sung by Nat King Cole...wow! Doesn't get any better! great job!

[Scorp316]

That's so sad. I'm sorry to hear about your loss, no matter how long ago it was. Know that I feel for you, though. My Grandmother just passed away a few weeks ago, too. I'm sure she's looking at you, proud that you've made this for her. Again, I'm really sorry.

[ladibe43]

beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

[babyRAWR23]

aww.seeing the description tells me how much you made this using your heart.:)

well thats great.:)

[TalonMagic]

BigBear, I just came across this video. It's a beautiful tribute, had me in tears thinking of my gran too. But good tears, so thank you much for sharing this :) and Merry Christmas 2008 (which is right around the corner).