From Krampus to Coca-Cola: The Evolution of Santa
The figure we know as Santa Claus is a patchwork quilt of folklore spanning 1,700 years. It began with Saint Nicholas of Myra, a Greek bishop famous for leaving coins in shoes.
However, the "Darker" side of Christmas often gets forgotten. In pre-Christian Germanic traditions, the midwinter festival of Yule was a time when the veil between the living and the dead was thin. The terrifying Krampus served a vital social role: scaring children into good behavior when the promise of sugar plums wasn't enough.
Did Coca-Cola Invent Santa?
Not entirely. While Haddon Sundblom's 1931 ads cemented the "rosy-cheeked grandfather" image, Santa was already wearing red in 19th-century illustrations by Thomas Nast. Coke simply standardized the specific shade of red we see in malls today.