Ho, Ho, Ho...

I only accept it is nearly Christmas when Norman Rockwell's Santa Claus appears on well known brands of cornflakes and Haddon Sundblom's version look down from the side of convoys of neon clad lorries. 

Santa has not always been illustrated as the jovial rotund fellow we think of today. Rockwell's cover for the Scouting magazine Boys Life in 1913 was one of the first to depict him as such. Rockwell was just 19 when he did the cover. 

In the 1920's other commercial artists such as Wyeth, Leyendecker and O'Neill started to make the look more popular by advertising all sorts of gifts. It wasn't until 1931 Sundblom's Coke Santa first appeared. 

I've always enjoyed Norman Rockwell's work and often try to inject his sense of humour into my own photographic work.