Here Comes Santa Claus

Less than two weeks until the hefty man in the red suit arrives. Thank goodness for a forgotten artist named Haddon Sundblom who had a vision of our perfect Santa.

Some 70 years ago, he was hired by Coca Cola to create a Santa for their advertising in print and merchandise. He used a friend as the model for the robust, jolly Santa that was used for many, many years before the Coke bears arrived.

Sundblom was inspired by the most famous Christmas poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” more well known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” In the 1822 poem, poet Clement Clark Moore described Santa Claus as a robust, warm fellow who could guide eight tiny reindeer and a giant sleigh around the world, slide down chimneys with ease, and with a twinkle in his eye.

Sitting aside the current news of the day, airport delays, traffic snarls, most television news cover the path that Santa will take on Christmas Eve and ain’t that the way it is suppose to be.

Even though we have rarely, very rarely had snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, there is always a few of us who take a peak outside before going to bed hoping to see some snowflakes silently drifting down in the moonlight.