K.A.C. 2012 - T - 19 ...

     WHO IS HADDON SUNDBLOM AND WHY IS HE SMILING AT ME?

     Haddon Hubbard Sundblom (June 22, 1899 - March 10, 1976) is an important figure to K.A.C. devotees, even if you don't recognize the name. He is arguably the person most responsible for the modern child's idea of what Santa Claus looks like today. 

     To explain ... before Sundblom, Santa Claus/Saint Nicholas had been interpreted in many different ways by many different artists - as time went on, his character evolved (mainly due to the various interpretations of Clement Clarke Moore's poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's poem evoked Santa as a magical elf (with eight tiny reindeer), the more so to make his tiny frame able to ft up and down chimneys - NOT a full-sized man.  If you remember the poem, it says, "When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick." 

"HEY!!!"

     The most famous of the original illustrations of Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus came from Thomas Nast, who worked with Moore for what was to be the first iconic image of the 'Friend of Children Everywhere' ... oh, wait, that's Gamera!  

      Let's try that again ... Nast's version (as seen at right) of 'Merry Old Santa' expanded on the Jolly Old Elf theme and added the large belly. What I find fascinating about this particular version of Santa are the variations in his costume - the holly sprig hat and the (very itchy-looking) winter coat. He is a more practical Saint Nick, who looks like that dark outfit has seen more than its share of chimney soot over the years.

     The character continued to evolve on covers of magazines through the years, but no one had yet hit upon the iconic figure of Santa that we know today. Enter Haddon Sundblom.

     Sundblom was a graphic artist and illustrator who took on the job of drawing Santa Claus for the Coca-Cola company, beginning in 1931 with this ad for the Saturday Evening Post (below).

    
    

     According to the Love Hate Advertising blog, "Coke credits its advertising agency for the vision: “Archie Lee, the D’Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic.” So in 1931, Sundblom got the gig to develop advertising art using Santa Claus, with a twist: the images would depict the actual Santa, not a man dressed as Santa ... Remember, Santa shook “like a bowl full of jelly” before he started on the soda. Sundblom’s visual inspiration came from Clement Clarke Moore’s 1822 poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (better known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”). Once he discovered his calling, Sundblom kept painting Santa for the next 33 years. Sundblom’s body of work continues to live on in perennial Coca-Cola Christmas (yes,“Christmas,” not holiday) advertising. His original art is still being used today, decades after his death in 1976. In fact, a 1964 Sundblom Santa served as the basis for an animated TV commercial in 2001." 

    

"I know it's their dinner, but I'm hungry NOW!"

     As Sundblom got more comfortable drawing the character, he expanded on the other aspects of the 'Christmas Eve rituals', such as leaving out milk and cookies for Santa ... 1937 must have been a more strenuous year on the jolly old elf, as he's bypassing the traditional fare and has zeroed in on a more filling repast. "Quid pro quo, Clarice ..."

     The question inevitably comes up, "Who WAS the model for Santa?" The answer, according to Coke's own website Coke Lore: The History of the Modern Day Santa Claus, tells us: "In the beginning, Sundblom painted the image of Santa using a live model — his friend Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman. When Prentiss passed away, Sundblom used himself as a model, painting while looking into a mirror (as seen at the top of this article). Finally, he began relying on photographs to create the image of St. Nick.

    

"NO, Santa! Not the last Coke! I'm telling Mommy and Daddy!"

     The children who appear with Santa in Sundblom’s paintings were based on Sundblom's neighbors — two little girls. So he changed one to a boy in his paintings. Sorry, but the little girl from this 1938 ad looks LESS than thrilled that Santa is scarfing down that Coke. Let him have it, Susie! Don't argue with the Fat Man or ...

"Oh, I don't think so, Susie."

          

      

     Ummm, never mind ... well, as usual, the K.A.C. just went to the dark place! :) Let's try to get this Holiday Hoedown back on track. Below is the 1964 ad that was referenced earlier. It was also Sundblom's last year of making the 'Coke Santa' ads. But after 33 years of these images pervading all types of print advertising, this version of Santa was firmly embedded in children's imaginations as "THE Santa Claus", leading to an urban legend that Coca-Cola INVENTED the modern Santa Claus. Snopes.com looked into it and debunked it as false - you can see their full report here:

 http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/santa/cocacola.asp

     You can also see a full gallery of the Coke Santa ads through the years by going to this link: 

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fjipemania.com%2Fcoke%2Fnatal%2Fsococa%2Findex.htm&act=url  

    

     Sundblom did revisit the whole Santa Claus mystique one more time, in 1972 on the cover of Playboy. As a Huffington Post article relates, "Despite this wholesome association, Sundblom had his racier side. He regularly took breaks from Santa Claus to paint pin-ups and glamour pieces for calendars, including his final assignment, a painting for the cover of Playboy’s 1972 Christmas issue. But to label him a one-character painter or simply a purveyor of saucy caricatures would, according to Berry, be doing him a disservice. 

     "Roger T. Reed wrote that 'More than any artist including Norman Rockwell, Sundblom defined the American Dream in pictures, proved by his work for virtually the entire Fortune 500'. I think it’s important to remember that ‘Sunny’ was about a lot more than Santa.
"His ensuring legacy includes not only his body of work but also the many artists who went through his studio and came out influenced by his very clear style – including Howard Terpning, Gil Elvgren, Earl Blossom and Morgan Kane."

     Nevertheless for most of us, Sundblom will always be remembered for the modern day St Nick."

     Before I forget, here is the animated TV commercial based on Sundblom's paintings ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPXPAuE3_4 

     And that, boys and girls, is why Santa looks the way he does today.

     *****************************************************

     Join me tomorrow for more Christmas fun and adventure!

K.A.C. 2012 - T - 20 ...

     He's STILL staring, isn't he? *shudder* ...

     If we ignore him, maybe he'll go away. It's Christmas Potpourri Day here at the K.A.C., where Randomness Rules! First we have this beauty (at right) checking out the name tag on her brand-new Hoover vacuum cleaner - gotta love the tag line here, "Christmas morning she'll be happier with a Hoover!" She sure will ... it will make cleaning up the blood and hiding the body of the poor sap who gave it to her a snap before the holiday guests arrive!

     

     

     

    

Next we have a picture that I find rather charming (and one I had not seen before) - it's Conjure Cinema's mascot, William Shatner, as the guest of honor at a Christmas Parade in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1968. The odd thing is that he's decked out in FULL Captain Kirk regalia during what was Star Trek's final season. I wonder if he'd already been given the pink slip while waving to the crowd?

     Think I can't top that? Wrong again! Check out THIS amazing find (coutesy of io9.com) of the 1965 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, featuring a Lovecraftian balloon creature, Santa Claus ... and The Munsters! 

http://io9.com/5962812/the-1965-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-was-fucking-terrifying 

     Finally, as I was going back and checking expired pictures and dead links in earlier blog entries, it struck me that at the very beginning of the K.A.C. I had mentioned what started it all ... but also realized that the ORIGINAL pics were nowhere to be found! The K.A.C. actually started in 2008 as an inter-office contest between myself and my work-study students to see who could come up with the oddest holiday wallpapers for the computer.


    

Our grand prize winner of both BEST and WORST Holiday Wallpaper was this shot of a "Reverse Christmas", with the presents children getting to open their human wrapping paper - this one STILL gets me! Click on the picture to see it in it's FULL gory glory!



     
   


    

The other winner was a Photoshopped 'Gary Coleman and Mr. T Christmas Album' which I can't find a copy of ... so we'll leave you instead with the 2012 edition of the Dalek Christmas Tree! Check out the link for even more close-up pix (in case you'd like to make one of your own)! Here's the link to it in its full EXTERMINATING glory!

http://www.geekologie.com/2012/12/no-tardis-tree-topper-dalek-themed-chris.php  





    

      More tomorrow!

K.A.C. 2012 - T - 21 ...

     AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Direct from the "Burn It With Fire" catalog comes today's entry, featuring Handcrafted Holiday Horrors! OK, deep breath here, don't be scared ... and begin.

     First up we have these 'lovely' homespun hellions ... what little girl doesn't love dolls, right? Why should she settle for Barbie when she could have THIS watching over her at night when she was trying to get to sleep? 

     And what if instead of sleeping, she laid awake crying in terror that as soon as she fell asleep, her doll was going to eat her? Then she would have to get up and go to the bathroom to get a tissue to dry her eyes and blow her nose ... from this Clown Tissue Holder, calmly biding his time and waiting on the back of the toilet seat! 

     Trembling and traumatized, she goes to the kitchen for a glass of milk and cookies, only to find 'Cynthia Centipede' as the centerpiece of the kitchen table, whispering, "Join us! JOIN US!" Yes, I know, I've seen WAY too many bizarre films ... but it could happen! How? By getting a copy of  Make It With Aunt Lydia's Heavy Rug Yarn ... personally speaking, ONE visit to Aunt Lydia's place would have been enough for me for LIFE! However, if you know someone who's into knitting and are tired of the usual doilies, quilts, etc., send them this and let them go crazy! And I'm telling ALL my knitting friends RIGHT NOW (and you know who you are) I don't want to see ANY of these Nightmare Fuel guests coming to visit our house! :) Here's the link to order it on Amazon.com ...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O9I842/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000O9I842&linkCode=as2&tag=papergreat-20

     Enough with the Knitting Knightmares ... for REAL Christmas Catastrophes, you have to be ready to brave the wild, the unknown, the terror and mystery that is ...Thrift Store Santas! With more misshapen figures than the Walter Reed Medical Museum (which I highly recommend should you ever be in the Washington, D.C. area - they've just re-opened and added new exhibits - http://www.medicalmuseum.mil/index.cfm ), you can find such curiosities as the Conjoined Santa (aka the Chang and Eng Santa), the Plum Pudding Man ... and the Staring Santa. Be warned, there are some things that CAN'T be UNSEEN! But since you've come this far ... click on the link and scroll down - don't say you weren't warned!

http://www.thrifthorror.com/tag/christmas/ 


     Staring ... Santa ... orders ... me ... to ... tell ... you ... to ... return ... tomorrow. Obey ... OBEY!

    
     

K.A.C. 2012 - T - 22 ...

     Concerned about the paucity of Creepy Christmas Cinema, faithful followers? Fret not, for today is YOUR day! Let's begin with this 1958 Coke commercial with a seemingly innocent Santa doll at the base of the tree ... who comes to life at the end ... and the family was never seen again ... (shades of Chucky)! 

http://www.popscreen.com/v/64Bp5/1958-Coke-Santa-Doll-Christmas-Commercial 

     Think HE'S creepy? Then feel the icy fingers of fear work their way down your spine with Remco's Baby Laugh-A-Lot! Can you just imagine what future raving maniacs THIS inspired? Watch the commercial for 30 seconds of pure terror!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=44e-Y08_B-0 

     Which leads us to our winner for the 2012 Worst Christmas Film Ever Contest! From 1984, it's a terrifying bit of tinsel called Here Comes Santa Claus! Originally a French musical dubbed into English, it features a brother and sister who want Santa to go on a rescue mission to get back their kidnapped -by-mercenaries parents ... sounds good so far, right? Then you'll REALLY love the scene where Santa battles a crocodile! Oh, did I mention the parents are being held hostage in AFRICA? Did I mention the kids take a plane to Finland and decide to walk to the North Pole to find him? Did I mention Santa's immortal line to the kids, "Go on and sit down on the bed over there ..."  =:O !!! Needless to say, this film has NOT aged well - but my description doesn't begin to do it justice - for that, take a look at The Back Row blog and Robin's write-up, complete with a 10-minute clip and an ending that will make the hairs stand up on your neck!


http://the-back-row.com/blog/2010/12/17/robins-weird-christmas-movies-here-comes-santa-claus-1984/

     I couldn't help but wonder while watching that clip, "What if while the kids were resting by side of the road they really HAD died of frostbite and the rest of the film from there on was them in the Afterlife?" NOW the movie makes sense! Don't judge me!  :)

     The end of that clip reminds me of this picture at right (from www.engrish.com) - some things were never meant to go together!  

     Let's end our video voyage on a high note (which, believe me, is a rarity in itself on this site) with a cute holiday video just released, starring Ce-Lo Green and the Muppets. It's seven minutes of silliness and the usual Muppet Mayhem - called "All I Need Is Love".
Enjoy!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/cee-lo-green-the-muppets-all-i-need-is-love_n_2193230.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment 



 Come back tomorrow as we continue our countdown, featuring Handcrafted Holiday Horrors!

K.A.C. 2012 - T - 23 ...

     Oh, Santa ... not again! We talked about this last year ... you've just got to accept that you're TOO OLD for these kinds of shenanigans! I know you want to look all cool and hip for the young kids, but ...

     Not to panic, this isn't a photo of Suicide Santa - but before I explain what it IS, take a look back at my blog entry from EXACTLY one year ago today (December 2nd, 2011) - Palm Beach, Florida ... shopping mall ... and Santa gets his beard caught while rappelling down to his chair.

     Fast forward to THIS year, change the location from the US to the UK and what do we see ??? You guessed it! Santa rappelling down to the CROWDED mall getting his beard stuck in the cable. Much jeering ensued (he was stuck there for a good half-hour until he was cut out of it) ... the whole story (with video!) can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-20386903 

     Those crazy old fat men will never learn ... and SPEAKING of Christmas Catastrophes, here's one from Old Blighty that's sure to please! Have a family you despise? Can't stand the yearly stress of slaving away all day in the kitchen for unappreciative louts? Then  you want the Christmas Dinner In A Can! Imagine the look on their faces when you pop THIS Bad Boy on their plates! The good news? It comes with all this ...
"Self-heating meal of: Turkey casserole with winter veg, chipolatas, stuffing balls and cranberry jelly". The bad news? THAT'S the turkey on the end of the fork! =:O  (Just kidding ... I think). 

     To read more about it, go here: 


https://www.firebox.com/Christmas-Dinner-in-a-Can/p5602

     Less than $10.00 a person for a WHOLE Christmas meal! Let us (and your next of kin) know how it tastes!

      More tomorrow! 

K.A.C. 2012 - T - 24 ...

     It's that time of year, kiddies ... time to see Santa! This year we've added something NEW! What could be MORE pee-inducing than SIX-FOOT TALL MICE ON ROLLER SKATES? Hey, ANYBODY can have ELF assistants! The Big Man is all about the magic - if he wants anthropomorphic, creepy-assed rodents to help out, who are we to argue?

     What better way than this pic to open up the 2012 edition of Sketchy Santas? Here you go!

http://thefw.com/sketchy-santas/ 

    

While you're at the mall, you might as well shop ... hmm, what to get for that really difficult person on your list? Want some 'unique' suggestions? OK, let's start with  ... Zombie Nutcrackers! What home wouldn't love this as their table centerpiece during the holidays (well, most actually ...) - OK, then, let's amend that. What home with folks who are planning holiday marathon viewings of THE WALKING DEAD wouldn't like this? There you go! To get your own, go here (but don't get your fingers TOO close)! 


http://www.midtowncomics.com/store/dp.asp?prid=Scary+Christmas+Zombie+Nu_1221964

    

But wait! You don't want your yard to look bare for the holiday season, do you? Of course not! So complete the look of someone the local door-to-door types will think twice about approaching with the Skel-E-Gnomes! There's the Skel-E-Gnome, the Skel-E-Gnomette ... and their pet, the Skel-E-Dog! Want to know more? Then here you go!

https://www.geekalerts.com/skel-e-gnome-garden-statues/

    Come back tomorrow for more!

K.A.C. 2012 - T - 25 ...

     

     Ah, sweet nostalgia ... and the old-fashioned office holiday party! That time of year where you have enforced joy and cheer, some poor schlub has FAR too much to drink and make a total a-hole of himself (and hears about it for the rest of the next year) and my personal favorite ... the awkward moments under the mistletoe!

     

     Along those lines, if you need to bring something to this year's party,  nothing says "holiday" (or "pink slip", depending on just how much of this you consume) like Santa's Butt! It's just one of the "Six Worst Sounding Alcoholic Drinks of All Time" - the link below also will show you such tasty delights as Viking Blood, Pig's Ass Porter and one that I KNOW will be a "must-have" for certain friends of mine, Polygamy Porter! And a special tip of the cap to the copywriter who came up with the tag line for this beer, "Why Have Just One?" HA! You can find the whole list here (so you can plan what to bring now) ...

http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/the-worst-alcohol-names-ever-649658-Oct2012/

     No, no ... don't thank me - it's all part of the service we provide here at the K.A.C. Now go get 'em, tiger! Then join us tomorrow for more!