Why is Santa Claus Red? Do you want to know? Well then keep on listening!

Hi and Welcome to the advent edition of my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. In this edition, I bring you a new short Christmas-themed episode every day of December until Christmas. If you want to read the transcript of this episode, click the link in the description!

Today, we will answer the question: Why is Santa Claus Red? so let’s get into it!

As everyone knows, Santa Claus is that guy who brings presents to children in the United States. Yes, we, as in the Czech Republic, have our small sweet Baby Jesus, Americans have Santa Claus. But why does he look like this?

Have you ever heard the story that Santa Claus wears red because Coca-Cola used him in their advertisement and painted him red because..it is the color of this brand? I believed this to be true. And even though it would suit the story of how Christmas has been becoming very commercialized in the last 100 years, it is not the truth.

The official image of Santa Claus was created by an American cartoonist Thomas Nest who introduced THE red suit and cap, white fur lining, and buckled black belt in 1881. Why he decided on the red coat is a mystery. But it probably just suited his red cheeks and the spirit of Christmas.

And even though I said that the red color of Santa Claus‘ suit was not the product of Coca-Cola advertisement, still, this company played a huge role in establishing the definitive image of Santa Claus as a very cheerful, jolly, nice old man when he appeared in Coca-Cola’s ad in 1931. And since then, our image of Santa Claus is set in stone.

And now, you know.

Source: 

„Why Is Santa Red? You Asked Google – Here’s the Answer | Stephen Moss.“ The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Dec. 2017, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/20/why-is-santa-red-google.