Unless you’ve been living under a rock your whole life, you’ve heard of the phenomena himself, Santa/Saint Nicholas.
He comes late at night before you wake up for Christmas and delivers all your gifts and eats all your cookies, right? Well, where did his story originate? I’ll tell you. According to lingoda.com, Santa originates from a figure in Western Christian culture. He was said to bring gifts to kids on the late nights of Christmas Eve. He’s said to have been a bishop born in the Mediterranean during the fourth century.
Well, in modern-day Turkey, he’s perceived as a Greek bishop who resurrects the youth. In other historical records he was a monk born in Myra. In all these stories, he’s being perceived as a religious guy so where did this idea of a big, jolly man with a white beard, dressed in red and white clothing come from? Before 1931, Santa was depicted as tall, slender, elf-looking, and sometimes even as a bishop, following his historical origins. The brand Coca-cola states that the depiction of Santa all changed once they commissioned an illustrator by the name of Haddon Sundblom. This man drew Santa as a ‘’warm, happy character with human features, including rosy cheeks, a white beard, twinkling eyes and laughter lines.’’ Coca-cola was and still is a huge brand that many enjoy, no wonder that idea of the warm Santa stuck for so many years.
