Christmas Eve Front Page of the Journal – Dec. 24, 1971

Well, it’s Christmas Eve. If you subscribed to the Journal fifty years ago, that meant that you could look forward to this particular front page design, which the paper featured for many years. As I noted back on this post, the beautiful artwork was illustrated by Passing Scene cartoonist Gene Patrick.

The front page of the Christmas Eve edition back then also included the final tally for the Clothe - A - Child campaign, usually across the top of the page, as well as a photo of seasonal interest. But the news was still important, and a few items of international significance were featured as well, in a manner that did not disturb the whole holiday effect.

For me, the whole image brings back pleasant memories of being a kid, and seeing this particular image each Christmas Eve when the paper was delivered (by a paper boy) in the late afternoon.