4:58pm Thursday 21st December 2006
A GREEN Father Christmas promoted an environmental message in St Albans city centre this week.
Simon Grover of St Albans Green Party said on Monday: "We have enlisted the help of Santa to hand out Christmas cards containing information on how to recycle your Christmas tree, paper, cards, bottles and even unwanted gifts."
The sight of our Santa dressed in Green might have raised a few eyebrows, but in fact the idea of a red Santa is a relatively modern one.
Traditionally this jolly figure bearing gifts for children would more often have been wearing green.
Coca Cola promoted a red-and-white Santa in the 20th century, as it fitted their corporate colours, and the company now proudly states that "the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on our advertising".
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