Eric When did Death (or Grim) go from wearing a classical white robe or cloth oft with skin over skeleton to a black hooded robe with only a skeleton? This will be an interesting search for tomorrow.

Mark Dain Probably around the same time Santa turned red, white and very fat from being a green elf.

Martijn The Santa thing is actually described pretty well by CGP Grey, the red probably comes from Saint Nicholas' bishop's tunic: youtube.com/watch?...

Eric I won't be surprised the reason for the shift is tied to US culture in some way. Funnily enough I read your comment as Satan, rather than Santa this morning - which made me think that Satan has over-gone several shifts in how he's personified through the centuries. One which always stuck in my head (for the humour of it) is an old drawing of Satan wheeling his own over-sized member in a wheelbarrow.