From Newsday, To All of You!

Regular readers of this blog (which would be me, four mental patients and Kafka's ghost) know that I collect the Newsday TV Books of my Long Island childhood. Good ol' Tee-Vee was a pal that I visited for hours every day, checking in on all the funny folks I knew who lived in there. It seems only natural, if absurdly anachronous, that the schedule listings I once pored over are again a thing of mild obsession to me. Sure, it's a kick to rediscover all the programs I was watching back in the day, but it's downright fascinating to see what I wasn't viewing, for whatever reason. I've got 214 editions, plus twenty or so doubles, spanning the very first one (from April 1972) to Christmastime of 1985.

One annual feature of the TV Books I looked forward to was their collection of Yuletide greetings from the celebrities of the day, mainly TV stars of course, often with local personalities represented. Alas, as of that 1985 issue, the greetings article had been discontinued. I doubt 16-year-old me even noticed, considering this tradition met its demise the same month as my father, who departed with a brutal abruptness the day after his 63rd birthday. 

I've posted in bits and pieces about the seasonal salutations before (such as here, and here, and here and here). This time out, I done gone and scanned in every damn page I have--an endeavor I had pondered undertaking many times, but figured to be so dauntingly dull that it was just better to avoid the whole thing. But at last it’s finished, and by golly, I was right--what a drag! Scanning, titling, saving, straightening, cropping, sharpening, brightening, saving again, oy vey it's a slog!

I decided it would be worth it, however, because these pages have been largely unseen since their initial publication, and many of the erstwhile notables quoted have been pretty much forgotten, as have their vehicles of semi-stardom. Many of the familiar, beloved performers offering their good wishes have long since succumbed to our shared, inexorable finale. Others, still with us, have suffered the equally ignominious fate of an appearance on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, a nostalgia repository so enjoyable (not to mention informative and gut-bustingly vulgar) that I've contributed to it monthly for years. (I can't even recollect the last time I went to a movie theater, so I figure my entertainment dollar should go somewhere worthwhile.)

I have nine of the Christmas issues, the covers of which can be found in this post. Most of them are Disney illustrations created especially for Newsday. The pages are peppered with neat drawings from the Newsday staff artists (including my favorite, Gary Viskupic). The first one of my collection is indeed the actual first, 1972. I'll try to add some commentary, but for the moment I just want to get these pics up before the big day...

[click pics to enlarge]

1972

1973
This year, the inchoate custom deviated, becoming Maude star Bill Macy's imaginary presents for his co-stars and their characters (inventing TCM and DVR's in the bargain).

1974

1977

1980

1981

1983

1984

And here's one last celebrity greeting: Merry Christmas from your humble non-Parader!