At the end of Scrooge (1970), during the reprise of "Thank You Very Much", Scrooge dons a red Santa Claus suit. This version of Father Christmas/Santa is American and didn't appear in Britain until much later (this version of the story is set in 1860, according to the Ghost of Christmas Present).
Wikipedia says "The popular American myth of Santa Claus arrived in England in the 1850s and Father Christmas started to take on Santa's attributes. By the 1880s the new customs had become established, with the nocturnal visitor sometimes being known as Santa Claus and sometimes as Father Christmas. He was often illustrated wearing a long red hooded gown trimmed with white fur."
So 1860 puts Scrooge at the forefront of the popular peception of Father Christmas, but not actually ahead of it.
(I'm admittedly less sure about the red stocking cap with the bobble, rather than a fur-lined hood, but I can't find any solid information either way on that one.)
Pulled this one:
Wikipedia says "The popular American myth of Santa Claus arrived in England in the 1850s and Father Christmas started to take on Santa's attributes. By the 1880s the new customs had become established, with the nocturnal visitor sometimes being known as Santa Claus and sometimes as Father Christmas. He was often illustrated wearing a long red hooded gown trimmed with white fur."
So 1860 puts Scrooge at the forefront of the popular peception of Father Christmas, but not actually ahead of it.
(I'm admittedly less sure about the red stocking cap with the bobble, rather than a fur-lined hood, but I can't find any solid information either way on that one.)
Edited by DaibhidC