Have You Seen This Claus?
Thanks to the magic of computer modeling from researchers at the Image Foundry Studios, based on a clay model created by Caroline Wilkinson, an anthropologist at Manchester University, and the X-rays and measurements done by Luigi Martino, an anatomist from the University of Bari, we finally get to see the true face of Santa Claus. A trimmed, white beard was added after studies of paintings of religious leaders on Orthodox icons revealed that to be the contemporary fashion. According to the story, "Nearly all the images show him as having short hair, mainly gray, with a receding hairline typical of male pattern baldness, with a gray short to mid-length beard," Anand Kapoor at Image Foundry Studios told Discovery News.

So who the heck is that other guy who's been around all these years? Well, the present-day portrayal of Santa Claus is the result of a Coca-Cola advertising campaign created by Chicago illustrator Haddon Sundblom in 1931. (Now you know why it's the "Lab of Doom & Pepsi Cola."
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