Did Santa Really Get his Red Suit from Coca Cola?

Dear old Santa Clause. He can almost always be found in shopping malls taking pictures with children or on signs advertising toys around the Christmas season, but where did that red suit of his come from? Some people claim it came from Coca Cola's use of the jolly old man in their ads, but as a matter of fact it isn't. And the old man's jolly history is one worth talking about....
Santa Clause as we know him to day, started out as a real person, a Monk by the name of St. Nicholas that lived around 280 A.D. St. Nicholas became popular through his kindness and as such became a part in many legends that spoke of his good will. So popular for his kindness was St. Nick, that he became revered as the protector of children and sailors. After his death on December 6th it became a day of celebration for the Saint so well known and loved. Even when the celebration of saints was discouraged St. Nick continued to have a place in peoples hearts.
Santa first touched the hearts of America in the December of 1773 and again in 1774 when a New York newspaper printed an article about a group of Dutch gathering to celebrate his death. The name Santa Clause eventually spread as John Pintartd went on in 1804, to distribute woodcuts that depicted scenes we are familiar with today, such as Santa standing before stockings filled with toys. In 1809 Washington Ivring called Santa Clause the 'Patron Saint of New York' in his book The History of New York. In 1812 Irving revised his story, adding to the original picture of a tall figure with long robes. He wrote about St. Nick 'riding over the tops of trees, in that selfsame wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children." No doubt this is where Santa's sleigh came into existence. His first reindeer was later added in 1821 when William Gilley wrote a poem about St. Nick dressed all in furs and driving a sleigh pulled by a single reindeer.
On Christmas Eve 1823 the other 7 of Santa's 8 reindeer were born to the world when Clament Clark Moore's poem "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" (Commonly known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas...') was published. This version of Santa was also where the classic chimney entrance was introduced.
On the other hand, in parts of Europe such as Germany, Nicholas was replaced by a representation of the infant Jesus, or Christ Child which was also known as Christkindlein. The Christkindlein joined Nicholas-like figures such as Pere Noel in France, or traveled with the dwarf0like helper Pelznickle, a St. Nick with furs. Often this helper was represented by adults dressed in furry disguises that visited children while they were still awake. When the children fell asleep and woke up the next day though the presents they found were always credited to 'Kriss Kringle' whose name originated from 'Christkindlein. Eventually though both Pelznickle and Christkindlein became confused as Santa and soon enough they added their own pieces to the evolution of Santa Clause.
The man-sized version of our jolly old man came into existence in 1841 when J. W. Parkinson hired a man to dress as 'Criscringle' and climb th chimney outside his shop.
It wasn't until 1863 that Santa took on the adventure to being molded into the gift giving man we know today. It was then that Thomas Nast added to the picture of Santa. His version had a flowing set of whiskers and dressed in fur from head to toe while also establishing dear Santa Clause as a maker of toys. In 1869 both Nast's drawings and a poem by George P. Webster were paired together into a book that named the North Pole as Santa's home.
For years after Santa's size ranged from large to small, fat and skinny and in all different colors including red and white. Santa was in fact depicted in a red suit long before the Coca Cola company hired Haddon Sundblom to help them come up with a way to advertise soft drinks as not just a summer time drink. Winter time was always a slow time for the soft drink company and they needed a way to promote their bubbly drinks so that even during the holiday season there would be a craving for them.
And Huddon Sundblom did just that, in 1931 the 'classic' red and white Santa we know today became a part of their advertising during the winter months. Sundblom turned to Irving and Moore for inspiration, drawing from one of Ivring's image of Santa in red and white and from Moore's jolly old man with a belly of jelly to create a very warm Criss Cringle.
This version of Santa Clause was so popular throughout the 33 years Sundblom painted him that people fell in love with him. They paid so much attention to him that each time a change was made the Coca Cola company received letters asking why. One such incident was when Sundblom removed the wedding ring from Santa's hand, only to result in fans asking what happened to Mrs. Clause.
Clearly Santa has changed a lot over the years, but he was certainly not created by the Coca Cola company. The red coated version of Santa became popular through supporting Coca Cola's colors while Coca Cola supported this portrayal of St. Nick, helping to mold the Monk from 280 A.D. into the jolly old man we know, and many love, today.

Sources

"Coke Lore"
The Coca Cola Company. Coca Cola Corporation. 12, 20, 2007 http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

"Evolution of Santa"
The History Channel 12, 20, 2007
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=1276&display_order=4&mini_id=1290

Mikkelson, David P. , Mikkelson, Barbara. "The Claus That Refreshes".
Snopes.com. 3, 16, 2007. 12, 20, 2007 http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp