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November 5, 2006
"COCA-COLA SANTA" CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY
Today's Enduring Vision of Jolly Ole Saint Nick Came to Life in 1931.
Atlanta - Seventy-five years ago, thanks to one man's imagination and artistic touch, the contemporary vision of Santa Claus as a jolly looking gentleman with a white beard was born. Created by Swedish-American artist Haddon Sundblom for a long-running series of holiday advertisements for Coca-Cola, today's cherished version of Santa Claus is at once recognizable around the world as an emblem of the holiday season.
The Coca-Cola Santa was first introduced in 1931, appearing in a series of print ads in The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic and other U.S. publications. The captivating images struck a chord with the public, which almost instantly adopted the lovable personification as an enduring symbol of Christmas. Over the next few decades, the artist's depictions of Saint Nicholas evolved into the picture-perfect look of "Father Christmas" – the man in the red and white suit with the big brass belt buckle.
In 1931, when The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Sundblom to lend his artistic genius to its holiday campaign, the artist breathed refreshingly human elements into Santa's image, giving him his trademark rosy cheeks, a handsome white beard, twinkling eyes and happy wrinkles.
Sundblom's Santa had such universal appeal that, as distribution of Coca-Cola continued to spread globally and holiday ads featuring Santa reached into other countries, the character born of Sundblom's brush become an established international icon.
Sundblom's images of the North Pole's most-famous resident remain the commonly accepted depiction of Saint Nicholas around the globe, passing the test of time and evoking memories and a holiday spirit that transcends national boundaries.
As testimony to their impact, most of Sundblom's original Santa artworks have been displayed in several prestigious museums, shopping meccas and popular local venues, including the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Isetan Department Store in Tokyo and the NK Department Store in Stockholm. This season, the 75th anniversary of the Coca-Cola Santa is being celebrated in the United States with an exhibition featuring a selection of the original Sundblom paintings at Jazz at Lincoln Center, in New York City.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 4:08 PM | Link to this Post
