by Marcus, age 8, asks who designed Santa’s outfit, about mountains near Atlanta, and the soda ad history
Dear Santa,
Hey Santa, from Atlanta. My name is Marcus and I am 8 years old. My dad works at a big company here that makes a very famous fizzy drink, and every year at his office party there is a huge picture of you drinking a bottle of it, which got me wondering something.
My first question is: who actually decided on your red and white Christmas outfit?
My second question is geography: what mountain range is closest to Atlanta?
My third question is from school: why does that fizzy drink company use your image so much at Christmas?
I left you a peach cobbler and yes, a bottle of that very fizzy drink, ice cold.
Love, Marcus, age 8, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
From the Desk of Father Christmas
Dear Marcus, peach cobbler is one of Georgia’s finest gifts to the world, and the fizzy drink was cold and delightful. Now, to clear up my outfit history, and your other questions.
Who actually decided on your red and white outfit?
There is a common myth that a certain famous soft drink company invented my red suit, but that is not quite true. Illustrators, including a famous cartoonist named Thomas Nast, were drawing me in a red suit trimmed with white fur as far back as the 1860s and 1880s, decades before any advertisements came along. What that soft drink company did do, starting in the 1930s, was run a series of very popular advertisements featuring a warm, jolly Santa in that same red and white outfit, which helped make that particular look even more familiar and beloved worldwide. So the company popularised the look brilliantly, but I had already chosen it myself, well before they got involved.
What mountain range is closest to Atlanta?
The southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, specifically the Blue Ridge range, lies not far north of Atlanta, offering forests, waterfalls, and hiking trails within a fairly short drive of the busy city.
Why does that fizzy drink company use your image so much?
Since their advertisements in the 1930s proved so wildly popular, that company has continued featuring a jolly, red-suited Santa in their holiday marketing for nearly a century, turning it into a cherished tradition that many families now associate closely with the start of the Christmas season each year.
Enjoy the office party stories, and I shall see you very soon.
Ho ho ho, Santa
