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Celluloid: The precursor to plastic, circa 1860 - 1940's
The museum collection includes a variety of Santa figurines that are made out of a fragile material called celluloid. The celluloid figures in the collection resemble a translucent plastic and are both rare and very fragile.
Celluloid was first created in 1856. It is easily molded and shaped, but easily decomposes and is therefore no longer widely used. Celluloids found a many uses in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. These included things like knife handles, fountain pen bodies, collars and cuffs, and toys; however, it burned easily and suffered from spontaneous decomposition. Today, cured celluloid is used in luxury pens and products such as table tennis ball, and some musical instrument accessories and parts: guitar picks and pickguards; however, celluloid has been largely replaced by plastics.
Today, plastics are one of the most used materials on a volume basis in U.S. industrial and commercial life. Plastics are integrated into today’s lifestyle and make a major, irreplaceable contribution to virtually all product areas. Although the plastics industry in the United States is now in its second century, the most important developments have occurred since 1910. The roots of these modern developments go back not only to the research of cellulose nitrate by John Wesley Hyatt in the 1860s, but also to the plastic-like compositions used by man through the centuries.
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Readers Digest: A Crafters Dream, circa 1970’s
One of the more interesting Santas in the museum is made of a Reader's Digest magazine. Creating Santas from this magazine was a popular crafting activity in the mid-1970's.
Here are the directions for making your own Reader's Digest Santa!
Remove the covers from the Reader's Digest. Fold the page diagonally from the top right corner to the center of the book and then fold the remainder of the page in half lengthwise. Fold each page this way and then glue the last page to the first page. When you have finished the book, spray paint the outside white. Cover all but the "tummy" with red fabric of your choice (ie felt, velour, velvet, velveteen, etc...). Add a head (she used a pre-made Santa & Mrs. Santa head), Santa's hat, and Mrs. Santa's bonnet. If you want you can use a piece of white fabric over the "tummy" area. She would also paint the bottom of Santa with a little black paint for his boots. Be sure to add a belt around Santa at the point where the diagonal & the straight fold meet.
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Haddon Sundblom & the Coca-Cola Santa, circa 1931-1966
The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Chicago illustrator Haddon "Sunny" Sundblom to develop the image Santa Claus after receiving a positive public response to a magazine advertisement for Coca-Cola that featured such a character. Sundblom's Santa has since been embraced worldwide and has become significant as a common representation of the jolly elf.
For inspiration in creating his Santa Claus, Sundblom turned to Clement Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas". Moore's description of the toy maker as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly and human.
The models for Sundblom's characters included neighborhood kids, dogs and family members. He changed hair color, clothes, even genders to suit his subject. Sundblom's original model for Santa was his friend and neighbor Lou Prentice, a retired salesman. After Prentice died in the late 1940's, Sundblom often created renderings based on his own reflection. The remaining Santa paintings use Sundblom as his own model -- although he said he added the beard as he painted, rather than growing one.
Haddon Sundblom painted 35 years of Santa portraits that were used in magazine ads and posters, and which now also appear in special exhibitions around the world. Sundblom died in 1976 leaving behind a much beloved body of work.
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The Mary Elizabeth Hopkins Santa Claus Museum is owned and managed by the Columbus Historical Preservation Trust, Inc. and is operated in partnership with the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, 425 Spring Street, Columbus, Texas 78934. Tel. 979-732-8385. www.columbustexas.org This website last modified at 20:18 on 28, November 2006.
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