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Did Coca-Cola invent Santa’s red suit?

No. Santa was already wearing red in 19th-century illustrations and postcards. Coca-Cola’s ads, which began in 1931, helped make the jolly red-and-white Santa the standard image.

Did Coca-Cola invent Santa’s red suit?

Quick Answer

Coca-Cola didn’t invent Santa’s red suit. The cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa for Harper’s Weekly from 1863 into the 1880s, and his famous 1881 portrait, “Merry Old Santa Claus,” shows a red suit trimmed with white fur. Coca-Cola itself says that Santa appeared in red in many early illustrations, including Nast’s and postcards printed by Louis Prang. What Coca-Cola did, starting in 1931, was hire the illustrator Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa as a plump, cheerful man with snow-white hair, dressed in red and white, and run that picture in its ads year after year. Those colors were already associated with Santa, and they happened to match Coca-Cola’s. The ads helped make that version the standard one around the world, but they didn’t start it.

By the Numbers

1863Year Thomas Nast’s first Santa appeared in Harper’s Weekly
1881Year of Nast’s portrait of Santa in a red suit
1931Year of Haddon Sundblom’s first Santa for Coca-Cola

Key Facts

The myth
Coca-Cola invented Santa’s red suit
The record
Santa appeared in red in 19th-century illustrations and postcards
Coca-Cola’s role
Sundblom’s ads, from 1931, helped popularize a standard red-and-white Santa
An earlier Santa
Nast’s 1881 “Merry Old Santa Claus” already wears red with white fur

Timeline

  1. 1863

    Thomas Nast’s first Santa appears in Harper’s Weekly: a small, elf-like figure handing out presents to Union soldiers.

  2. 1869

    In Nast’s illustrations for a new edition of Clement Moore’s Christmas poem, Santa wears a red suit.

  3. 1881

    Nast’s “Merry Old Santa Claus” shows Santa with a bag of toys in a red suit trimmed with white fur.

  4. 1931

    Coca-Cola hires Haddon Sundblom, who paints a new Santa for its holiday ads.

Red before Coca-Cola

Nast drew about three decades of Santa pictures for Harper’s Weekly, and over that time Santa’s coat changed from tan to the red we know today. His 1881 drawing “Merry Old Santa Claus” shows a jolly man in a red suit with white fur trim, 50 years before Coca-Cola’s first Sundblom Santa. Coca-Cola’s own history notes that red also appeared on postcards printed by Louis Prang.

What Coca-Cola did

In the early 1930s, Coca-Cola turned to Haddon Sundblom, an advertising artist with the D’Arcy Agency. His first Santa for the company appeared in 1931. He redrew Santa as a plump, cheerful man with white hair, in red and white. Those colors were already linked to Santa and happened to match the Coca-Cola brand. According to the Smithsonian, he based Santa on his friend Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman.

Why the myth sticks

Sundblom’s Santa ran in magazines and other ads year after year, so many people met this version first and assumed the company had created it. Coca-Cola says it didn’t create the legend of Santa Claus, only that its ads played a big role in shaping the image people know today.

Myth vs. Fact

MythCoca-Cola invented Santa Claus.

FactSanta’s story goes back centuries and was shaped by 19th-century poems and illustrations. Coca-Cola’s ads shaped one very popular look.

MythBefore Coca-Cola, Santa never wore red.

FactSanta wore different colors in early pictures, but red appears in Nast’s illustrations and on Prang postcards decades before 1931.

The Bottom Line

Coca-Cola didn’t invent Santa’s red suit. Santa wore red in 19th-century illustrations and postcards, and Coca-Cola’s ads from 1931 helped make the red-and-white version the one most people picture.

Sources & Further Reading