In Santa Claus: A Biography, author Gerry Bowler explores the history
behind the Santa Claus myth, tracing it to Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra of
Turkey in the fourth century. Bowler also looks at modern appropriations of
Santa Claus iconography to suit specific means, such as Santa in wartime and in
advertising. He concludes the biography with a look towards the future and if
Santa Claus will have a part in it among today's tech-savvy tots.
During the Reformation, Protestant leaders despised the cult of the saints,
and Saint Nicholas the gift-giver was substituted by the Christ child as the
sole great provider. While Saint Nicholas may have been abolished, the spirit of
mythical and fantastic gift-giving remained. This explains the sudden new
generation of gift-givers across Europe such as Befana, the witch from
Italy.
One of the more common myths about the evolution of Santa is that the
Coca-Cola Company single-handedly invented his modern-day portrayal. I'm sure
the folks at Coke like to hear others perpetuate this myth year after year,
knowing that those who tell it probably are reaching for a refreshing beverage
while reminiscing about their beloved childhood Christmases:
"It is far too frequently believed that Sundblom's work for Coca-Cola
created the familiar red-and-white-clad Santa of the modern era. In fact, the
Coke Santa was in no way groundbreaking; illustrators for the Saturday
Evening Post such as J. C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell had already
helped fix the Santa in the public's mind."
Santa Claus was not a trademark and as a public domain any company could
use his image to promote its products, no matter how incongruous the connection.
Bowler writes of ads at the beginning of the 1900's where Santa is shilling
rifles:
"No smoke, no noise and perfectly safe in the hands of any boy."
Companies may not have gained any actual sales from employing Santa as
pitchman, but they would have gained some positive publicity and goodwill having
the jolly old elf as an endorser. Who would doubt the testimony of Santa Claus?
Would he lie to you about the safety of firearms in the hands of your
child?
I found the chapter about Santa in the movies and in popular songs to be a
boring list of titles. This opinion is influenced by my prejudice that I am not
a movie person. Bowler listed dozens of silver screen moments featuring Santa
Claus, be they from a specifically Christmas movie or not. The section on songs
about Santa was slightly more interesting, and the author certainly covered all
the crushingly awful Santa songs written in deliberate bad taste. I was
disappointed that Bowler didn't write about "Santa Claus Has Got the AIDS This
Year" by Tiny Tim, one of my (and John Waters's) favourites.
This book included many black-and-white illustrations showing the evolution
of Santa Claus, although the majority of these images were print advertising. I
especially liked the first print ads, where Santa didn't look anything like the
red-coated rosy-cheeked morbidly obese elf we know him as today.
No comments:
Post a Comment