Why is #Santa 🤶🧑‍🎄🤶always in🌺 Red?

 Why is #Santa 🤶🧑‍🎄🤶always in red? The

Deccember 25🥰 When you think of #Christmas 🌲🌲🌲and #SantaClaus, one image pops into mind which is a man dressed in a red and white velvet suit with black boots. But why is #Santa always in red? The history behind his suit

🌲

A man dressed as Santa Claus cheers a child at the #Strasbourg Christmas market in Strasbourg, eastern France once upon a time.

🌲

’This the season to be jolly Right?Christmas is here and what is the festival without Santa Claus? With his red suit, big belly and jolly beard, Santa Claus has become synonymous with the festival for years and years.

🌲

But why is it that Santa wears red and white? How did ‘Father Christmas’ come to be associated with the red velvet suit, white fur trim, tall black boots and cosy pom-pom hat? 

🌲

Where did Santa Claus come from?

Santa Claus has evolved from Saint Nicholas, a Greek monk who spent his life helping the poor, vulnerable and sick. It came to know that the monk gave away his wealth and travelled the countryside of what is today’s Turkey.

🌲

His generosity became so famous that December 6 — the day he died — became a holiday known as Nicholas’ Feast Day on which people held parades and exchanged gifts and indulged in family meals.

🌲

Eventually, the tales of Saint Nicholas reached American shore & he became known with nickname Santa Claus

🌲

A few images of him at the time showed him donning robes. For instance, John Pintard of the New York Historical Society depicted him wearing bishop’s robes while Washington Irving created the image of the saint “equipped with a low, broad-brimmed hat, a huge pair of Flemish trunk-hose, and a pipe,” according to Christmas: 

🌲

 Santa Claus looked like same as he was 1,700 years ago but without 

 🌲

“He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf.”

🌲

Today one can’t imagine 🎅🎅🎅Santa Claus in anything else righr?but, then Thomas Nast, the Harper’s Weekly cartoonist, put Santa in his red robes. In his illustration in 1863, he drew Santa wearing stars and stripes as he handed out presents to Union Army soldiers.

🌲

However, in 1881, he redrew Santa Claus, this time putting him in a red buckled suit and carrying a black sack of toys. It remains a mystery as to why Nast chose red. Some suggest that there’s a link to the original St. Nicholas, who was often described to be wearing red. Others believe that Nast’s red Santa was just an aesthetic feeling.

🌲

The “Merry Old Santa Claus” portrait is famous today for cementing Santa’s image. It was drawn by Thomas Nast. File image/Wikimedia Commons

Interestingly, the Smithsonian reports that Nast’s imagery of Santa Claus was steeped in propaganda. Ryan Hyman, a curator at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, told the Smithsonian that it was more propaganda related to the government’s indecisiveness over paying higher wages to members of the military. “On his back isn’t a sack full of toys — it’s actually an army backpack from enlisted men.” He’s holding a dress sword and belt buckle to represent the Army, whereas the toy horse is a callback to the Trojan horse, symbolising the treachery of the government. A pocket watch showing a time of ten ’til midnight indicates the United States Senate has little time left to give fair wages to the men of the Army and Navy.

🌲

“Nast was always pro-military,” Hyman is quoted as saying. “The military was up for getting a raise and he knew how hard they worked and how they helped shape the country.”

🌲

Subsequent depictions of Santa then followed Nast’s trend and kept him in red and in the years to come all Santas became a vision in red.

🌲

What’s the Coca-Cola🍷 and Santa link?

What made Santa Claus a red-robed character can be attributed, however, to Coca-Cola — the beverage known across the world. In 1923, Coca-Cola first commissioned an illustration of Santa from an unnamed artist in 1923 to advertise its soda.

🌲

However, in 1931, the American company behind the drink commissioned artist Haddon Sundblom, who painted the figure in his iconic red suit we see today. And Sundblom carried on with this image until the mid-1960s, showing Santa swigging one Coca-Cola after another while being dressed in red.🟥

Haddon Sundblom, who was commissioned by Coca-Cola, made Santa a cheery figure dressed in a red suit world famous. 

And it seems that Santa Claus isn’t looking at a wardrobe makeover any time soon. As Steve Wilkens, theology and ethics professor at Azusa Pacific University in California, told USA Today, “We’ve got about 100 years now and Santa looks pretty much like the old 1931 Coca-Cola Santa.”🎅🎅🎅

L