Granpa Santa
Dec. 28th, 2003 03:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pantryslutOne of the reasons I liked Bad Santa, upon reflection, is because of my family's odd relationship to Santa Claus.
My great-grandfather was Santa Claus.
In fact, you've probably seen his face, more than once. He's the Coca-Cola Santa.
There has been more than one Coca-Cola Santa, of course. But my great-grandfather has the distinction of being the most-published Coca-Cola Santa ever. The one who appears in the most famous vintage ads, painted by Haddon Sunblom.
Also the one who appears on Coke cans, Coke bottles, Coke posters, card decks, tin signs, and endless other forms of memorabilia. Much of which my grandmother or mother owns.
My grandmother has also framed the back covers of the National Geographics that her father appeared on. I remember them being displayed in her house. I'm sure they still have a place of pride.
To hear my grandmother tell it, Sunblom picked my great-grandfather to pose as Santa because he really did embody the Christmas spirit. He would give gifts to poor children in Tuscon, among many other good deeds.
This Christmas I got a binder dedicated to "Harold 'Hap' Alicen Arnold: Santa Claus, Farmer, Dairymen [sic], Adventurer, Actor, Map Maker, Tuscon Host." It included a page-long synopsis of my great-grandfather's life, a picture of Hap and Haddon together, and a bunch of gift wrap samples featuring Hap's likeness.
It also included a story for kids, "A Really True Santa Claus Story That Really Happened." It's about Suzie and Danny and Chuckie, my mother and her two brothers. Suzie gives up one of her extra dolls to give to a poor girl in Tuscon for Christmas, because Santa asked so nicely.
"There was only one bathroom in the house, and it seemed like the door was always closed because someone was in there. So they had to knock on the door, and if they were in a hurry, they'd better say so! And when their Grandma was inside and they knocked on the door, she would say, 'Who is it?' They would say, 'It's me!' Then Grandma would say, 'That is not correct. You need to say, 'It is I.' Grandma used to be a teacher and she thought it was very important that children would grow up speaking correctly."
"Suzie looked at her dolls and thought, 'I really do like every one of my dolls and I would like to keep them all. But it must be sad to be a little girl and not have any doll at all. Yes, I would like to give Santa one of my dolls to take to that little girl.' So Suzie picked out a doll, all packaged up in its box with the cellophane front so you could see the doll inside. She gave it to Santa so he could take it to the little girl who didn't have a doll. It made her feel really good to be helping Santa and to be giving a present to someone."
"I am your own Ancestor Dotty Arnold M. and the reason I know this story to be true is because I am the mama of Susan and Dan and Chuck and the house in this story is where I lived when I was a little girl."
When I was growing up, there was never any need to explain away the mall Santas. Santa couldn't be everywhere at once, so he hired helpers. Your own great-grandfather was one of those helpers, I was told over and over again.
Christmas, btw, is my mother's favorite holiday to this day.
It's like having a saint in the family. Considering how I feel about my grandmother, I find myself instantly suspicious of her rosy memories of her father. Except that all external evidence I've bothered to dig up seems to indicate she was right; Hap was just a genuinely nice guy worthy of some genuine admiration. Too bad he raised such a patronizing, intentionally naive daughter...
With that kind of family history, it's no wonder that naughty takes on Christmas inspire me. But they have to be sharp. Christmas is too easy to slag sloppily, and you won't impress me with cheap shots.
But give me something to cut through the marzipan cloyingness of the season, and I'm yours.
My great-grandfather was Santa Claus.
In fact, you've probably seen his face, more than once. He's the Coca-Cola Santa.
There has been more than one Coca-Cola Santa, of course. But my great-grandfather has the distinction of being the most-published Coca-Cola Santa ever. The one who appears in the most famous vintage ads, painted by Haddon Sunblom.
Also the one who appears on Coke cans, Coke bottles, Coke posters, card decks, tin signs, and endless other forms of memorabilia. Much of which my grandmother or mother owns.
My grandmother has also framed the back covers of the National Geographics that her father appeared on. I remember them being displayed in her house. I'm sure they still have a place of pride.
To hear my grandmother tell it, Sunblom picked my great-grandfather to pose as Santa because he really did embody the Christmas spirit. He would give gifts to poor children in Tuscon, among many other good deeds.
This Christmas I got a binder dedicated to "Harold 'Hap' Alicen Arnold: Santa Claus, Farmer, Dairymen [sic], Adventurer, Actor, Map Maker, Tuscon Host." It included a page-long synopsis of my great-grandfather's life, a picture of Hap and Haddon together, and a bunch of gift wrap samples featuring Hap's likeness.
It also included a story for kids, "A Really True Santa Claus Story That Really Happened." It's about Suzie and Danny and Chuckie, my mother and her two brothers. Suzie gives up one of her extra dolls to give to a poor girl in Tuscon for Christmas, because Santa asked so nicely.
"There was only one bathroom in the house, and it seemed like the door was always closed because someone was in there. So they had to knock on the door, and if they were in a hurry, they'd better say so! And when their Grandma was inside and they knocked on the door, she would say, 'Who is it?' They would say, 'It's me!' Then Grandma would say, 'That is not correct. You need to say, 'It is I.' Grandma used to be a teacher and she thought it was very important that children would grow up speaking correctly."
"Suzie looked at her dolls and thought, 'I really do like every one of my dolls and I would like to keep them all. But it must be sad to be a little girl and not have any doll at all. Yes, I would like to give Santa one of my dolls to take to that little girl.' So Suzie picked out a doll, all packaged up in its box with the cellophane front so you could see the doll inside. She gave it to Santa so he could take it to the little girl who didn't have a doll. It made her feel really good to be helping Santa and to be giving a present to someone."
"I am your own Ancestor Dotty Arnold M. and the reason I know this story to be true is because I am the mama of Susan and Dan and Chuck and the house in this story is where I lived when I was a little girl."
When I was growing up, there was never any need to explain away the mall Santas. Santa couldn't be everywhere at once, so he hired helpers. Your own great-grandfather was one of those helpers, I was told over and over again.
Christmas, btw, is my mother's favorite holiday to this day.
It's like having a saint in the family. Considering how I feel about my grandmother, I find myself instantly suspicious of her rosy memories of her father. Except that all external evidence I've bothered to dig up seems to indicate she was right; Hap was just a genuinely nice guy worthy of some genuine admiration. Too bad he raised such a patronizing, intentionally naive daughter...
With that kind of family history, it's no wonder that naughty takes on Christmas inspire me. But they have to be sharp. Christmas is too easy to slag sloppily, and you won't impress me with cheap shots.
But give me something to cut through the marzipan cloyingness of the season, and I'm yours.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-12-29 05:16 pm (UTC)(snicker)
Date: 2003-12-29 10:53 pm (UTC);-)
p.s. sorry, inside joke.
G
no subject
Date: 2003-12-30 07:47 pm (UTC)