Santa's 20th Century Rise To Fame: How The Victor Talking Machine Co. made Santa Claus an Everlasting Symbol of American Pop Culture

By: Ivan Munoz

There are few things more associated with Christmas than, Santa Claus, his reindeer, holly, the mistletoe, and the birth of Jesus Christ. Imagine some famous Christmas advertisement for a moment if you will. What was the first thing that popped into your head? Odds are it was Santa Claus sipping from a bottle of Coca-Cola®.

Last year around Christmastime, we had the privilege of spending a week with at our factory with one of our esteemed colleagues, Mr. Oliver Berliner, grandson of Emile Berliner, inventor of the disk record, record player, microphone, and co-founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company. It was a really great experience getting to work with Oliver hear him regale us with plenty of Victor stories from the early days. 

Mr. Berliner brought up a very interesting anecdote that  detailed a major marketing icon and its long debated origins. Before Coca-Cola® came along to the forefront of the advertising market in the 1950’s, the most recognizable trademark worldwide was Little Nipper looking into the horn of the Gramophone, yes, the famous “His Master’s Voice” painting. Now here’s the interesting part; Coca-Cola’s first use of Santa in advertisement dates to sometime in the mid 1920s. They like to take credit for this achievement. 

But as Mr. Berliner keenly observed, it was The Victor Co. that used what we now recognize as the traditional red and white clothed Santa Claus in advertisements since 1904 or even earlier!

A Victor advertisement featuring Santa Claus from the early 1900’s. Perhaps the first Santa ad of it’s time!

For Victor, Christmas has historically been a very busy time. In fact, over 40% of yearly sales occurred in the short period of the Christmas season! The iconic image of waking up Christmas morning to a Lionel train set under the tree was preceded by, you guessed it, The Victor Talking Machine Company's record players and records beneath the same tree.  For the first four decades of the 20th century the Christmas spirit and Victor were effectively synonymous in the eyes of an eager fanbase waiting to get their hands on the latest and greatest home audio equipment and music.

So remember, next time you see Santa in a commercial, magazine, or even coming down your chimney, never forget that the first thing he was carrying on his sleigh, and the first thing that carried him into our American pop culture, was a Victor Home Audio Product and Victor Record. 

The Victor Company would like to wish you all a very merry (and musical) Christmas, happy Holidays, and the happiest of New Years!

If you like this content, support Victor by visiting VictorRecords.com and signing up to our mailing list today! Join our historic movement for the future in taking back the music industry.

About The Author

Ivan Munoz is a musician, bassist, singer, musicians advocate, and member of the Victor Talking Machine Company. Along with this Ivan can be found devoting his time to various musical projects, compositions, and working on musical instruments. Click the photo for more!