Sundblom is best remembered for his advertising work, specifically the
Santa Claus advertisement. It was he who depicted Santa Claus in a red suit when he painted for
The Coca-Cola Company, starting in 1931. Sundblom's Claus firmly established the larger-than-life, grandfatherly Claus as a key figure in American Christmas imagery. So popular were Sundblom's images of Claus (Sundblom's images are used by Coca-Cola to this day) that Sundblom is often wrongly credited as having the
modern image of Santa Claus. According to the Coca-Cola company: "For inspiration, Sundblom turned to
Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa – an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world". Sundblom's family most likely also got Christmas greetings sent from Sweden and Finland, Åland. The cards in Sweden and Swedish-speaking Finland had motifs painted by
Jenny Nyström of a friendly and charming
jultomte (Santa) dressed in red and white. In 1942 Sundblom created Coke's mascot Sprite Boy, who appeared in print ads during the 1940s and 1950s. Also in 1942 he was the artist for an iconic
WWII United States Marine Corps recruitment poster. In it, a Marine Sergeant stands at parade rest with a headline that reads, "Ready - Join U.S. Marines Land Sea Air" and the copy continues at the bottom with, "Apply, or write, to nearest recruiting station."
Quaker Oats asked Sundblom to update their logo in 1957. He provided the colorful head-and-shoulders version which was on their packaging until 1969, Sundblom is recognized as a major influence on many well known
pin-up artists, such as
Harold W. McCauley,
Gil Elvgren,
Andrew Loomis,
Edward Runci,
Joyce Ballantyne,
Art Frahm, and
Harry Ekman. In the mid-1930s, he began to paint pin-ups and
glamour pieces for calendars. Sundblom's last assignment, in 1972, was a cover painting for
Playboy Christmas issue which included a short bio with his photo. Sundblom died at Edgewater Hospital in
Chicago in 1976, and was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie. ==See also==