When the Grinch First Stole Christmas

On Sunday, December 18, 1966, the Dr. Seuss TV special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was shown for the first time on the CBS Television Network. The Grinch was so mean, he preempted "Lassie," although young fans of the beloved collie probably didn't mind. The half-hour animated special has been shown every year since and has been seen by countless millions, most of whom at this point in time were born decades after its original broadcast.

The issue of TV Guide from that week (December 17-23, 1966) featured a "close-up" of the special along with an ad for the soundtrack album in its local programming pages, plus a three-page article about it in the national section, with some interesting insights.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" had already been a best-selling children's book, first published in 1957. When Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) teamed up with Chuck Jones, head of MGM's animation department to adapt it for television, a few details had to be worked out. For instance, what color is the Grinch, actually? In the book he was drawn in black and white with red eyes. It looked good on paper, but in the TV special, where things had to be in fuller color, it was decided the Grinch was green.

Also, according to the TV Guide article, "In studying the 'Who's,' whose village the Grinch invades on Christmas Eve, Jones discovered that 'Lady Who's don't have high-heeled shoes--they have high-heeled feet,' and the little girl, Cindy-Lou, 'is not a regular little girl--she has antennas.'"

Production of the special took nearly a year, was made up of more than 25,000 individual drawings, or cells, and according to TV Guide it was at the time "the most expensive half-hour animated cartoon ever created for television." Well-known monster movie actor Boris Karloff narrated the special, virsitle voice actor June Foray ("Rocky the Squirrel" among many others) voiced Cindy Lou, and Thurl Ravenscroft (voice of "Tony the Tiger" of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes fame) sang, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Theodor Geisel was 62 at the time, and although he had been married for 39 years, they had no children. "Kids frighten him," an unnamed friend is quoted in the TV Guide article. The article went on to tell an interesting story about Geisel and his relations with kids. "Once, in Cleveland, autographing his books at a department store, Ted found himself facing a hostile group of children, who finally told him that one of their number could draw better than he could. Geisel invited the boy to join him at the blackboard.

"'By God, he could draw better!' Geisel recalls."

Theodor Geisel died in 1991 at the age of 87. But it was predicted, even back in 1966, that Dr. Seuss would live on. "I predict that Dr. Seuss will emerge as one of the great classics of this era. In 2059, children will hoot for joy when they come across Seuss books," said Rudolph Flesch, author of "Why Johnny Can't Read" in TV Guide. Added Bennet Cerf, head of Random House, which published the Dr. Seuss books, "We have some great names on our list--Faulkner, O'Hara, Capote. But Ted Geisel is the only real genius among them."

Pierre's Proffesional Recipes for the Housewife

In the late 1930s, a feature called "Pierre's Professional Recipes for the Housewife" was syndicated to newspapers across the country by J.C. Mutty of Rochester, New York. It was a comic strip featuring a French chef, complete with a mustache and white chef's hat, demonstrating in simple, easy-to-follow illustrations, how to prepare main courses for evening meals. That is, if the Depression-era housewives reading the strip in their local papers could afford things like baked ham, lamb shoulder and crown roast. In some American households at the time, the family was lucky to get canned soup and crackers for dinner.

Still, for people interested in old recipes and chef lore, these comic strips are rather interesting and the recipes might be worth trying, if one has the gumption. The samples reprinted below originally appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune from 1937-1938.

Dixie Baked Ham
(originally published July 20, 1937)

                                                          
Roast Lamb Shoulder
(originally published January 7, 1938)

 

                                                           
Sauerbraten
(originally published January 13, 1938)

                                                           
Crown Roast of Pork or Lamb
(originally published January 21, 1938)

   



                                                        
Shepherd's Roast
(originally published June 17, 1938)

Mobile phones--as conceived in 1945

Found an interesting short article under the title "Your Life Tomorrow" by David O. Woodbury, from the June 23, 1945 issue of the long-defunct Collier's magazine, page 66. Published just before the end of the Second World War, the concept of cell phones, or at least mobile telephones in your car, was discussed as one of the big things to come in post-war America. It would be decades before any such thing was workable enough to become commonplace, but here's how cell phones, if you will, were envisioned in 1945:



Illustration from Collier's, June 23, 1945

   "The mobile telephone will give the driver on the road exactly the same performance that his business or home phone does. Rolling along city streets or speeding down a country highway, you will simply lift the insturment off its hook on your dashboard, hear the familiar, 'Number please,' and get your connection. In town the call will go through almost as fast as the present-day local call. In some cases you may even be able to dial it yourself. In the country you will be making what amounts to a toll call, with the usual waits for connections.

 

   "The trick will be accomplished by a combination of short-wave radio and standard land-line systems. Behind the dashboard will be located a compact low-power transmitter and receiver unit much like that used in Army jeeps and trucks. It will be fed by your car battery and will be entirely automatic.

 

   "When you make a call, your voice will be broadcast ten to thirty miles. Somewhere in this area the telephone company will have a radio pickup station, on the air all the time to receive your signal. These stations will be spotted along the highways closely enough to assure good transmission; in cities they will be so located that steel buildings can't cast radio shadows and so cause fading or echoes. In any area where the service is given, you can be sure of being heard. Frequency modulation will be used to cut down static.

 

  "From the pickup station onward, the system will work as part of the regular telephone network. The operator will signal the exchange you ask for and have your party rung.

 

   "But the service is to be two-way. You can be called while driving along, just as reliably as you can be reached in your home."

 

   The article goes on about how this system would be useful for delivery drivers in particular, and "The sets to be used in trucks and cars are highly developed and reliable. They will be furnished either by the telephone companies on rental or you can purchase your own. Servicing will be done by company electricians or perhaps by special garage mechanics if you get your own set."

 

   "The cost of all of this will not be great. To car owners, having a telephone may be a luxury for a time. But to commercial trucking companies, the cost will be nothing compared to the savings made in operating expenses and time. Drivers who now have to return to headquarters for orders or go ahead entirely on their own will be in touch with the home office wherever they are.

 

   "In the city, practically every type of commercial vehicle can be operated more effectively with telephone aboard. Ambulances, taxis, armored cars, service trucks, delivery wagons -- all can save time and extra miles and give better service, too. The mobile telephone will be especially valuable to doctors and will protect a community better than stationary telephones in an emergency."

 

   The article concludes, "One great advantage on the open road will be that if you are in any kind of trouble, you can get through a speedy call for help that may save a life."

 

   Imagine that!