 |
| Santa (1940), Sundblom |
Probably the best-known image of our modern-day Santa Claus is from the series of Coca-Cola ads painted by the Michigan-born artist, Haddon Sundblom. These iconic images appeared in the Saturday Evening Post from 1931-64. His Santa was inspired by Clement Moore's famous 1923 poem, A Vist From St. Nicholas or T'was the Night Before Christmas.
 |
Courtesy of the National Endowment for the
Humanities and the Library of Congress |
American story writer,
Washington Irving, most famous for his
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, may have inspired Clement Moore's poem. His four Christmas essays, written in 1809 and illustrated by
Cecil Aldin, showed his preoccupation with St, Nicholas. See
How Washington Irving Shaped Christmas in America.
 |
Courtesy of the National Endowment for the
Humanities and the Library of Congress |
Published n 1843, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was illustrated by John Leech, who contributed eight illustrations (four woodcuts and four hand-colored etchings). The theatrical and film adaptations of this classic tale are too many to mention. However, I must watch the 1988 version, Scrooged, starring Bill Murray as Frank Cross, whenever it is being aired.
 |
Ghost of Christmas Present
(1843) John Leech |
Who can forget John Leech's Ghost of Christmas Present from Dickens' 1843 publication of A Christmas Carol? I'm pretty sure that the ghost represents England's, Father Christmas. While his coat is colored green, even in A Muppet Christmas Carol, this early larger-than-life image of St. Nick eventually ages as the tale goes on making him become more like the jolly old elf he has morphed into today.
 |
| Courtesy of the Sartle Blog |
Besides 'Sunny' Sundblom (1931-64), cartoonist Thomas Nast (1863), Swedish artist Georg Van Rosen (1883), and painter Norman Rockwell (1922) also contributed to the persona of our Santa Claus figure in the United States and abroad. Some say that English artist, Reginald Birch (1906) deserves the credit for Santa's red getup. There was also a Santa Claus Silent Movie created in 1898 by George Albert Smith. But maybe Japan came up with the red-suited guy first in 1914.
You can read more about the Art History of Santa Claus in the Sartle blog.
Our modern-day Santa Claus was popularized as early as 1918 in illustrations by J.C. Leyendecker in the Saturday Evening Post. Notice the addition of the army boots and halo (depicting St. Nicholas).
 |
Giving Santa His Seat (1955), Richard Sargent
from the Saturday Evening Post |
This final image by Richard Sargent reminds me of when my Mom would dress us up in full-on snowsuits and take us shopping with her during the holidays. I remember my younger brother's pantleg got stuck in an escalator one year while we were at one of the New Jersey department stores. I'm sure the memory is much more traumatic for him!
Everyone looks so tired; especially the boy's mother. I imagine my Mom was equally exhausted after shopping with three boys.
This week she would have been 100 yrs old! I dedicate this final 2020 post to her memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment
It seems like the more I teach, the more I have to blog about. Please comment and suggest topics you'd like me to post about.