Good Lifestyle

Today, Christmas is synonymous withSanta Claus, Tunseled trees, and this emblematicRed and green color scheme. But believe it or not, there was once the moment the holiday cards would have colorsBlue and white as often as it would be red and green. All this changed in 1931 when Coca-Cola, the world's most popular soda manufacturer, hired a new artist to illustrate Santa namedHaddon Sundblom.

Sundblom's Take on Kris Kringle was "fat and joyful-expected before it's often thin and like elf - and he had red dresses"Beelle Eckstut, co-author ofThe Secret language of color, explained toNPR In 2016, "" the fact that all these things gathered - this friendly Santa Claus and fat in these bright red dresses ... It really took into account in American culture. "The Sundblom background color has chosen for its merry old red steamSaint nick was green.

This is probably not a coincidence that Sundblom's Santa Claus wore dresses that corresponded to the color of the Coca-Cola logo. The company denies however this connection. Attheir websiteThey note: "Even if it looks often that Santa Claus has a red layer because the red is the color of Coca-Cola, Santa appeared in a red coat before Sundblom the painted" (a reference to the caricator of the caricator of the civil warThomas Nast's Santa forHarper Weekly in the 1860s).

But whatever the motivation, it is likely that the combination of Sundblom of red and green resoned with Americans who already associated Holly with the holidays. "Holly played a huge role in this red and green association. And it goes back to the celebrations of winter solstice with the Romans, and perhaps beyond," said Eckstut. "In addition, Holly is associated with the crown of thorns of Jesus. These beautiful bright red berries and these deep green leaves are the exact colors we really come to think of Christmas."

So, if Sundblom knew what he was doing or not, his sketches of Santa served to unite the holidays of Antan's winter solstice with theChristmas celebrations of modern times. His illustrations "solidify in our collective imaginations the red of the Santa dress with the green of the fir trees and Holly and poinsettia that we already had in our mind," said Eckstut.

"I like to say that it is the beauty of nature combined with the Crassness of Commerce that has created a red and green Christmas," she saidTime In 2018.