Sir – I enjoy Chris Koenig’s weekly column for his interesting, well-researched historical insights. Unfortunately last week he suffered a lapse of critical judgement by repeating the old saw about Santa Claus’ red and white livery being invented to advertise Coca-Cola in the 1930s.

This is a fabrication that even Coca-Cola themselves deny (see www.coca-cola.co.uk/faq/rumours/is-it-true-santa-is-red-because-of-coca-cola.html) and there are depictions of Santa in red garb that long pre-date the 20th century.

It’s widely accepted that Santa Claus/Father Christmas is an amalgam of numerous influences and his ‘look’ has evolved over the centuries. Some even believe that his red coat echoes the scarlet vestments worn by the original St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (in modern Turkey) in the 4th century and later by the gift-giving Yuletide figure of Sinterklaas in Northern Europe.

While Chris is right that many of the supposedly traditional elements of Christmas are relatively recent inventions, the origins of Santa are much further back in history. I hope this helps restore some of his festive cheer!

Henry Spilberg, Long Hanborough