1940'S VINTAGE SANTA WITH LITTLE ANGELS

SLIM JIM SANTA IMAGES

CLASSIC IMAGES OF SANTA

Thomas Nast Christmas Illustrations

Thomas Nast is perhaps best remembered for his political cartoons but he had a hand in the popularization of Santa Claus. Before Nast's yearly Christmas illustrations, Santa was not as popular and was thin and looked quite different. Nast's illustrations and the poem The Night Before Christmas both helped change the look and popularity of Santa.

This magazine illustration is of Santa visiting union troops.

Not all of Nast's Christmas illustrations involved Santa. This one was about loved ones being separated during the Civil War at Christmastime.

1950's Christmas cards

I never thought of Santa as being a dirty old man but someone who made Christmas cards in the 1950's obviously did.

Santa and Advertising

Santa Claus has a long history of advertising. Since Santa Claus isn't copyrighted he can be used in any ad and has been for a long time.

I don't know how laundry soap came to be associated with Santa Claus, but in the 19th century one company named their product after him. Santa was also used on label art for fruit crates in the early part of the 20th century.

A traditional stocking gift was an orange, so it sort of makes sense to have santa on the label. In some stories about santa he had a pipe so this ad isn't too outrageous either.