The evolution of Santa Claus

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Photos: The evolution of Santa Claus

A look at how the image of Santa Claus has evolved through the years.

A medieval fresco depicting St. Nicholas from the Boyana Church, near Sofia, Bulgaria.

Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Father Christmas (1686). Courtesy: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.

St. Nicholas and Sinterklaas were merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the character known to Britons and Americans as Santa Claus. Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat.

Cover of the novel “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore, 1862. Published/Created: New York, J. G. Gregory, c1862.

January 3, 1863 cover of Harper's Weekly, one of the first depictions of Santa Claus.

Thomas Nast's famous drawing, "Merry Old Santa Claus", from the January 1881 edition of Harper's Weekly. Nast immortalized Santa Claus' current look with an initial illustration in an 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly.

In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd drinking a bottle of Coke. The ad featured the world's largest soda fountain, which was located in the department store of Famous Barr Co. in St. Louis, Mo. Mizen's painting was used in print ads that Christmas season, appearing in The Saturday Evening Post in December 1930.

Coca-Cola ad exec Archie Lee commissioned Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa Claus. The drawing helped popularized the modern-day version of Santa. ILLUSTRATOR: Haddon Sundblom

The hit 1947 movie "Miracle on 34th Street" released by 20th Century Fox.

Courtesy music2fish2 (eric lanning) via Flickr

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A medieval fresco depicting St. Nicholas from the Boyana Church, near Sofia, Bulgaria.

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