1940's CHRISTMAS COMIC STRIPS

I have started collecting vintage comic strips from old newspapers and these are some typical examples. I will upload more soon.

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

How the Grinch Stole Christmas was first published in 1957, the classic children’s tale about a Grinch who hates the yearly Christmas celebrations in the nearby village of Whooville. The Grinch, along with his sweet dog, Max does what he can to destroy Christmas by stealing all the food and decorations.


The books can be seen as an indictment of Christmas with it’s focus on presents or seen as another version of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, but either way it was a classic Christmas tale.


In 1966 the Chuck Jones Christmas special aired for the first time and became a yearly tradition. Boris Karloff was the narrator and the special was a big hit and soon became a Christmas classic.

I would have been 5 years old when this special first aired and I don’t remember that first year specifically but I don’t remember an year where I didn’t look forward to this special. I can pretty much quote it from memory and sing the songs and it still holds up today. I did not see the Jim Carrey movie, the movie was unnecessary, the Christmas special was perfect as it is and I still watch it every year.

CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS SPECIALS

I am old enough to remember the introduction several classic Christmas specials. I remember A Charlie Brown Christmas, Little Drummer Boy, How the Grinch stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty The Snowman. I'm going to spend the next few weeks getting more information about these specials and posting my memories of the shows.

more Christmas cats

early Christmas cards featuring cats

For some reason cats were a popular motif on early Christmas cards. I don't understand, but really the early Christmas cards did not have explicitly Christmas themes. You were as likely to get daisies as mistletoe for example, so I guess the Christmas cats aren't really out of place.

Santa and Prince Albert

Nothing says Christmas (and cancer) like Santa delivering Prince Albert tobacco.

1946 MAXWELL COFFEE CHRISTMAS AD

CIGARETTE CARTONS FOR CHRISTMAS

Believe it or not cartons of cigarettes used to be an acceptable Christmas presents and there were lots of ads extolling the virtues of this easy present.

CHRISTMAS CANDY WITH KARO SYRUP

Karo syrup is essential for making popcorn balls, taffy and other Christmas treats and it has been for over 100 years as these ads show. The first ad was from about 1910 and the second is from the 1970's.

JELLO CHRISTMAS ADVERTISEMENTS

During the 1950's Jello put out a very popular series of magazine advertisements featuring various animals with a rhythm extolling the virtues of Jello and they had a special Christmas themed advertisement. If you are interested in classic advertising check out my blog at vintage American advertisements.

1970'S ARCHIES COMICS CHRISTMAS COVERS

ADDAMS FAMILY AFTER CHRISTMAS CARTOON

"I don't think that little boy next door had a very nice Christmas."

FAMILY CIRCUS

ADDAMS FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARTOONS

“I’ve been thinking. This year, instead of giving everything away, why don’t we charge a little something?”

DECORATING OUTDOOR TREE

1879 PRINT CHILDREN HANGING UP STOCKINGS

1800'S NEW YORK CITY CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS

1950's Christmas train advertisements

early Christmas Eve Santa illustations

Felix Octavius Carr Darley was a prominent 19th century illustrator who illustrated an 1862 edition of Clement C. Moore’s “A Visit From Saint Nicholas.”

Christmas giveaways

When I was growing up I would do my Christmas shopping on my favorite store, Woolworths. The stores are long gone now but I remember them fondly. Every year they had different Christmas coloring books to buy and lots of Christmas decorations. They also sometimes had Christmas giveaways for children, such as this booklet.

novelty Christmas card

This Christmas card had a secret. The landscape when turned on it's side revealed a new subject.

THOMAS NAST SANTA CLAUS ILLUSTRATIONS

This illustration from Harper's Magazine from 1881 is the most famous Thomas Nast Santa Claus and the most reproduced.





1871 HARPER'S MAGAZINE







1874 HARPER'S MAGAZINE







1876 HARPER'S MAGAZINE







1979 HARPER'S MAGAZINE







1881 HARPER'S MAGAZINE

NAST CHRISTMAS CARTOONS

1863 HARPER'S MAGAZINE SOLDIER'S FURLOUGH







1860'S ILLUSTRATION NO FURLOUGH







1870 HARPER'S MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION







HARPER'S MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION JANUARY 1876







HARPER'S MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION DECEMBER 1876







HARPER'S MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION JANUARY 1879







HARPER'S ILLUSTRATION DECEMBER 1886

Happy snow couples

THOMAS NAST FAMOUS AMERICAN ILLUSTRATOR

Thomas Nast was a German immigrant to America. He started to work for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper at a young age. In 1855 photographs could not be inserted into printed material so woodcuts, which were taken from pen and ink illustrations, were needed. At first Nast just illustrated stories, but soon he started creating political cartoons. Nast created the elephant and the donkey as symbols of the Republican and Democratic parties. Nast also helped bring down a corrupt New York City government. But Nast also drew yearly Christmas illustrations for Frank Leslie’s and other papers. These drawings are less well known than his Boss Tweed illustrations. But Nast deserves some credit for our modern interpretation of Santa Claus.



Nast was the first artist to illustrate The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore. After he worked on that poem his Santa resembled the man in the poem. Since the poem and the artwork were so influential they became our modern interpretation of Santa Claus: a chubby, jolly man with a fur cap and flowing white hair. He delivers toys on Christmas Eve with the help of 8 flying reindeer.

I will be posting several Thomas Nast Christmas Cartoons over the next few posts.