Okay, that'll teach me to mention something I hadn't researched!!!
I found this:
1. Santa's red and white robes predate the turn of the century and actually
date back to the historical personage St. Nicholas who was the basis for
Santa Claus. The red and white robes were the colours of the robes of
bishops of the Roman Catholic church.
2. St. Nicholas was born in the ancient Turkish town of Lycia in the fourth
century.
3. St. Nicholas was not commonly referred to during the Protestant
Reformation in most European countries. However, the stories were passed on
by the Dutch and the term "Santa Claus" evolves from the Dutch term for St.
Nicholas.
4. The modern image of Santa Claus in the United States comes from a poem
entitled "The Night Before Christmas" written by Dr. Clement Clarke Moore in
1822, which spread widely in newspapers and magazines throughout the
country.
5. Moore's Santa was still a little different from the modern roly-poly
version. This final version was popularised in a series of Christmas
drawings that the famed cartoonist, Thomas Nast did for _Harper's Weekly_
between 1863 and 1886.
and a passing comment of:
-Santa wears a red and white suit because red and white are the colours of
-Coca Cola... Prior to that time, there was no canonical colour for Santa.
To which [log in to unmask] (William L. Houts) writes: ->No, this isn't
strictly true. Santa Claus as we imagine him now originates with the
(in)famous 19th century political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, who did, in fact,
picture Santa Claus in red and white. Nast's Christmas saint had a slightly
ragged, even sinister, edge to him, but he's essentially who we have now
--colours and all.
sorry for lowering the average wisdom,
James
-> -----Original Message-----
-> From: M Cudlipp [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
-> Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 10:13 AM
-> To: Havelock James
-> Subject: Re: Christmas Moments
->
->
-> Havelock James - I think Santa was around in Red and White
-> long before Coke.
-> Where did that piece of information come from? Michael
-> Cudlipp, CEO History
-> of Advertising Trust Archive
-> ----- Original Message -----
-> From: "Havelock James" <[log in to unmask]>
-> To: <[log in to unmask]>
-> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 3:50 PM
-> Subject: Christmas Moments
->
->
-> > As this group seems to have a very broad quirky knowledge,
-> do you have any
-> > anecdotes about Christmas and its characters that will
-> bring some cheer
-> into
-> > the lives of people that get to hear about them?
-> >
-> > An example would be how the colours of Santa are from an
-> old Coca Cola
-> > advertising campaign.
-> >
-> >
-> > Hope you are all having a merry one,
-> >
-> > James
-> >
-> > This e-mail and attachments are intended for the named
-> addressee only and
-> are confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error
-> please notify
-> the sender immediately, delete the message from your
-> computer system and
-> destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are
-> those of the
-> individual sender and may not reflect the views of the
-> National Museum of
-> Science & Industry. This email has been scanned for all
-> viruses by the
-> MessageLabs Email Security System.
->
->
-> _____________________________________________________________
-> ___________
-> This email has been scanned on behalf of NMSI for all
-> viruses by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
->
This e-mail and attachments are intended for the named addressee only and are confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer system and destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not reflect the views of the National Museum of Science & Industry. This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
|