Despite the inaccurate claims made by Coca-Cola for a number of years (they have since modified their story), and some confusion from other quarters, American illustrator Haddon Sundblom did not create the look of Santa Claus as we know him.
That story is a bit less than straightforward and involves a number of other illustrators, including Thomas Nast, J.C. Leyendecker, Reginald Birch, Norman Rockwell and others (see my post on Illustrators’ Visions of Santa Claus).
However, Sunblom, one of the great illustrators of the early 20th Century, refined the image of the character to his most recognizable form. Sundblom’s series of Santa illustrations for Coca-Cola ads, that ran from 1931 to 1964, gave us the quintessential modern interpretation of the Jolly One.
The Coca-Cola page has a selection of some of the images and the Coca-Cola Art blog has another page here, both with links to larger versions. An even better resource is the post on Golden Age Comic Book Stories, with many of the Sunblom Santas in one place (again, click for larger images). There is also a post on KoiKoiKoi.
Leif Peng has an excellent post on Sunny’s Santa on his blog Today’s Inspiration, and has a wealth of other posts on Haddon Sundblom. (Note: some of them include Sundblom’s pin-up illustrations, which can be mildly NSFW.)
See also my previous posts on Haddon Sundbom and Haddon Sundblom’s Santa Claus Illustrations.
I wouldn’t mind a lump of coal in my Christmas stocking if it was painted by Haddon Sundblom.
LOL! A lump of coal would have some character all its own!
You gotta love a Santa whose stomach was bigger than a refrigerator. At least the Santas of this era were jolly, which is more than can be said for their grim ancestors in the 19th century when Santa always seemed to be a first cousin to Father Time.
Thanks Charley, another terrific collection of images – Classic Santa !
Much appreciated.
Sundblom was a master colorist. Pay attention to a play of warms and cools on his face and beard. The way he achieved effect of Santa being illuminated by a warm light (from a fireplace presumably)
“I don’t really miss God but I sure miss Santa Claus…” (C.L. lyrics)
Its a propaganda type feeling with one of our most likeable- um, Gods? or is that too far? (In a consumerist society and who elevate the young above all, I don’t know!)