Behind Santa Claus

BER months is here. When we say “ber” it refers to a month that ends in a syllable word “ber” (September, October, November, and December). It is a perfect indication that Christmas and New Year is about to come.

For Christian believers, Christmas is a time of forgiveness, gift giving and a celebration.  It is commonly observed mostly on December 25th to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.

When we talk about Christmas, the first name that comes to mind is Santa Claus also known as Saint Nicholas. He is a symbol of a holiday cheer, known for his generosity by giving gifts to children and sending greeting cards all over continent but take note that was hundred years passed.

Between the first few American visualizations of him were of a heavily bearded man wearing an all-fur suit. This image started in 1863. This was drawn by an artist named Thomas Nast. The first Christmas card showing Santa Claus in his trademark red suit appeared in 1885, and was printed by Louis Prang “father of the American Christmas card” in Boston. Since then the tradition of sending/selling greeting cards with Santa for special someone during Christmas were dawned.

Below are some the Christmas Card designed by Louis Prang.

Another common image for Santa is his red suit. We always saw it on TV commercial, printed greeting cards, and some other visual advertisement that he is painted in red suit. It should be completely describe as a person with red suit, red hood, and white beard. Many sources claim that the red-suited Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola Company but in contrast it is not the cola company who put red suit on Santa. Coca-cola just widely used the image to boost their sales because of his similar color as to their logo.