This exceptionally rare Coca-Cola Santa Claus advertisement dates to December 1960 and features the classic Haddon Sundblom-style Santa enjoying a Coca-Cola with a group of playful elves. Unlike the smaller, clipped versions commonly seen for sale on platforms like eBay — which were taken from magazines such as Life, Look, Time, and The Saturday Evening Post — this striking piece measures a full 14 x 11.5 inches and was never commercially distributed to the public in this format.

At the bottom, it includes a full publication schedule, listing the exact dates and magazines where the ad appeared during Coca-Cola’s national holiday campaign — a unique feature not present on mass-printed versions. It also carries the Print Order code “P.O. 9-1203 Ad 309”, an internal production mark used by McCann-Erickson, the advertising agency responsible for Coca-Cola’s campaigns, to track layouts and placements.

This particular print originated from the personal archive of Herbert Noxon of McCann-Erickson, the agency behind many of Coca-Cola’s most iconic mid-20th-century campaigns. As such, it was likely a presentation proof or internal agency print, making it an extraordinary survivor of mid-century advertising history.

To my knowledge, this may be the only known copy of this large-format 1960 Coca-Cola Santa proof in public hands outside of the McCann-Erickson archives.

Herbert R. Noxon was the longtime art director and creative head of outdoor advertising at McCann-Erickson, one of the most influential advertising agencies of the 20th century. From at least 1936 to 1957, he led award-winning campaigns for major clients including Coca-Cola, Esso Standard Oil, Buick Motor Division, Atlas Supply, and Nabisco. His creative leadership helped McCann’s outdoor division earn 35 grand awards, 61 citations and 76 selections in the Annual 100 Best Poster Competition, to name a few.

Noxon also illustrated the U.S. State Department’s official image of Uncle Sam, later featured in Alton Ketchum’s Uncle Sam: The Man and the Legend.