Picturing the Night Before Christmas

"'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

Pretty evocative, isn't it? I dare you to read the whole poem and tell me it hasn't conjured up some type of imagery in your head! I bet you can't. That's what makes this poem so memorable!

But incidentally, this also happens to be why this poem lends itself so well to illustration. There have been countless illustrated editions of this poem since it's publication in 1823, and while some are more easily recognizable than others, it goes without saying that they pretty much run the gamut. No matter what your stylistic preferences are, there's an edition for you--or even more than one! In our family Christmas box, we have several different editions, including (my personal favorite) a 1984 edition with very detailed and whimsical drawings by Anita Lobel. (As a very young child, I enjoyed it because of the faint and barely visible faces she drew on the moon.)

Illustration by Arthur Rackham (circa. 1931)

The poem itself, while evocative enough to spawn a plethora of illustrated editions, was also evocative enough to accomplish much more. At the time of its publication, New Years' was the family holiday of choice, while, owing to heavy Protestant criticism, Christmas took a backseat. It was The Night Before Christmas that cemented the idea of Christmas as a family holiday into the American psyche, and it's remained there ever since. In fact, our tradition of putting the kids to bed on Christmas Eve while waiting for St. Nick to leave all kinds of goodies under the tree was influenced in a major way by this poem. [Source: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/influential-images-the-night-before-christmas]

And now let's take a look at some illustrations and graphics from various noteworthy editions of this poem.

W. W. Denslow (1902) Denslow is best known for illustrating L. Frank Baum's

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

"He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" (Illustration from an 1862 edition)

"He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" (Illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith, 1912)

"His eyes, how they twinkled." (Illustration by Arthur Rackham, circa. 1931)

Illustration from 1896 (illustrator unknown)

"In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there" (1928, illustration by Elizabeth MacKinstry)

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Honoring Graphic Design's Past

It's a sad state for designers in today's world, as machine learning and artificial intelligence begin to dominate creative professions and disciplines. Naturally, it's a concern for designers themselves, (which is why I never became a graphic designer, although I wanted to at one point,) but I'm more inclined to think about the bigger picture. Namely, not just how design jobs are affected, but also the way the general aesthetic quality of design will be affected.
We've already seen the computer come along and change design quite a bit, and while typesetting, for instance, became no more difficult than using a keyboard and mouse, there was still an actual person at the other end. An actual person who knew what looked good and what didn't. When that actual person is gone, we're left with the aesthetic judgments of a robot, which, quite frankly, I don't trust.

This is a huge reason why I started this venture. Having witnessed a lot of these changes firsthand, I wanted to preserve and honor the glorious history (and integrity) of graphic design. And I thought the best way to do this was to make some of the most beautiful works of art from design's heyday available as decorations for the modern day homeowner--and incidentally as monuments to an era that has all but slipped away.
We'll never forget the amazingly intricate typesetting, the creative artwork, and the incredibly rich and nuanced aesthetic that enriched our lives with the amazing design work we saw all around us. Here are some visual examples that will (probably) make you cry. And that's because we won't see anything like them in the years to come.

 Rhinocerus, by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

Hartmann Schedel's (1440-1514) Register (circa. 1493)

"Rip Van Winkle" Title Page (1905) by Dard Hunter (1883-1966)

Poster by Alfred Leete (1882-1933)

The Crystal Goblet; Sixteen Essays on Typography (1955) by Beatrice Warde (1900-1969)

Beethoven Festival Poster (1983) by Michael Cronin (1951-2013)

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