NOTE: It was Coca-Cola that turned Santa into what we see today
He sees you when you’re sleeping…! Terrifying 19th Century depictions of Santa Claus show how Father Christmas was not always a jolly man in red
Historic depictions of Santa show our jolly image of him breaks with tradition. He is portrayed as haggard, thin, hunchbacked and in the company of demons in these unearthed photos from the late 1880s and early 1900s (pictured). The portly, red-faced Santa we are familiar with is largely down to Coca-Cola's advertising campaigns of the 1920s. But historically he was portrayed as a ghostly figure who used demons to deter children from being bad. He can be seen stick-thin, pious and looking terrifying with a walking stick in unusual settings.