Images(7)

Night Before Christmas

Object number2019.67.2

Illustrator Hilda Miloche

Illustrator Wilma Kane

Publisher Whitman Publishing Company

Date1947

OriginRacine, WI

MediumPaper; Ink; Metal

Credit LineGift of Sandra D. Palmer

DescriptionChristmas children's book. Rectangular heavy paper soft cover book features color illustrations and printed text. Bound with two metal staples. Ten pages plus front and back cover.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 12.75 × 9.438 × 0.188 in. (32.4 × 24 × 0.5 cm)
InscriptionsFront cover has title at top "Night / Before Christmas".

Back cover has red text across top "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT".

Black printed text inside.
MarksFront cover has "929" printed in black ink in the top left corner.

Front cover has black printed text in bottom left corner "Copyright, 1947, by / WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO. / Racine, Wisconsin / Printed in U. S. A."

Front cover has black printed text at bottom center "Illustrated by / HILDA MILOCHE AND WILMA KANE".
Historical NotesThis "Night Before Christmas" book was read to donor Sandy Palmer and her sister every Christmas Eve. Sandy and her sister, Suzanne, had to be in their pajamas. They hung up their stockings and had a mug of hot chocolate while one parent or the other read the book. It was a major holiday milestone in Sandy's life when she was old enough to be the reader. “The first time I got to read the story out loud was to her [Suzanne]. A very special moment for me. The picture [see 2019.67 object file] is from 1949. Suzanne is 10 months old and already hanging on my every word.” The family lived in Pleasant Hills from about 1945-1946 where Sandy’s parents (dad was Sanford E. DeBerry born in Brownsville, PA, and grew up in the McKeesport area) built their house after her father returned from WWII. After her dad retired, they moved to a post-Civil War built farmhouse outside Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Sandy has had it since moving to Annapolis when her husband, who worked for Westinghouse, was transferred in 1972.

Previous owner Sandra D. Palmer

Subjects

Terms

On View

Not on view