Surprising secret: Coca-Cola single-handedly created the legendary image of Santa Claus with a big belly, white beard and red shirt of Christmas

The Santa Claus we all know and love is popularly portrayed as a big, jolly man in a red suit with a white beard.

There are a few interesting secrets you may not have known about this famous character.

1. Santa Claus has appeared in Coca-Cola advertising since the 1920s

The Coca-Cola Company began advertising Christmas in the 1920s with shopping-related content in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa Claus in a crowd drinking Coca-Cola.

2. Coca-Cola helped shape the image of Santa Claus

In 1931, Coca-Cola began placing advertisements in famous magazines.

For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore’s poem `A Visit From St. Nicholas` (commonly known as `Twas the Night Before Christmas`).

Sundblom’s Santa Claus debuted in 1931 in a Coca-Cola advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post as well as in other magazines such as Ladies Home, National Geographic, and The New Yorker.

From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola ads appeared to show Santa Claus handing out toys, stopping to read a letter and enjoy a Coke, visiting children, and raiding refrigerators in some locations.

Sundblom created his final version of Santa Claus in 1964, but over the next several decades Coca-Cola promoted iconic images of Santa based on Sundblom’s original works.

3. `The New Santa` is based on a salesman

Initially, Sundblom painted the image of Santa Claus using a model who was his friend named Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman.

People loved the Coca-Cola Santa image and paid so much attention that when anything changed, they sent letters to the Coca-Cola Company.

The children appearing with Santa Claus in Sundblom’s paintings are based on the images of two neighborhood girls.

The dog in Sundblom’s 1964 painting Santa Claus was originally a gray poodle belonging to a neighbor who sold fresh flowers.

4. Santa Claus had a new friend in 1942

In 1942, Coca-Cola introduced `Sprite Boy`, a character who appeared with Santa Claus in Coca-Cola advertising throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Sprite Boy was also a character created by Sundblom in the image of Coca-Cola.

5. Animated Santa Claus appeared in 2001

In 2001, artwork from Sundblom’s 1963 painting was the basis for an animated Coca-Cola television commercial.