Blue Gown [SEP] father
Blue Gown was a bay horse standing 15.3 hands high, sired by the 1858 Epsom Derby winner Beadsman out of the Stockwell bred mare Bas Bleu. Blue Gown derived his name from the residents of medieval hospitals. The Beadsman sometimes wore blue gowns. Royal beadsmen received their alms from the reigning monarch in Scotland. Blue Gown was bred and owned by Sir Joseph Hawley. The colt was trained by John Porter, first at Cannon's Heath and then at Kingsclere.
Racing career.
Racing career 1867: two-year
Father Christmas and the comparatively new Santa Claus, as, by both wearing the same garb, they have effected a happy compromise."
It took many years for authors and illustrators to agree that Father Christmas's costume should be portrayed as red—although that was always the most common colour—and he could sometimes be found in a gown of brown, green, blue or white. Mass media approval of the red costume came following a Coca-Cola advertising campaign that was launched in 1931.
Father Christmas's