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When most people think of Santa Claus, they see a jolly gentleman in a red suit with a white beard but throughout history he hasn't always looked like that. While the myth that Coca-Cola invented Santa Claus is not true, the brand's advertising from the 1930's did help shape the modern-day image of Santa that we all know and love.
Before 1931, images of Santa varied widely from big to small and fat to tall. His iconic red coat first appeared during the American Civil War in cartoonist Thomas Nast's version of a small elf-life Santa.
In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Clause. For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (best known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") which described Santa as warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human… the Santa that today lives in the minds of people all over the world!
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