christmas 1921: seasonal scenes from buffalo newspapers
Buffalo Times, December 18, 1921.
To compensate for not being able to visit Buffalo anytime soon (thanks Omicron!), I'm settling for flipping through the pages of the city's newspapers during the holiday season a century ago.
OK, that's not the entire truth.
Awhile back, I spent a few days down a rabbit hole leafing through the Sunday editions of the great selection of early 20th century Buffalo papers found on Newspapers.com. There was a plan to begin a regular series of posts on Sunday papers of the era, focusing on a century ago, but the time wasn't there. File this idea under "projects for 2022."
Still, material like this awkward shot of Santa hovering over a sleeping girl didn't deserve to be left in the can this holiday season.
Illustration by Dan Smith, Buffalo Times, December 18, 1921.
A children's kingdom of toys and fairy tales, with characters ranging from classic comic strip character Krazy Kat to dolls that are inappropriate to own a century on. Let's zero in on the text...
Artist Dan Smith (1865-1934) enjoyed a long career as an illustrator, including a long stint with the New York World.
Illustration by Dan Smith, Buffalo Times, December 25, 1921.
Another Smith illustration appeared in the Christmas Day edition of the Buffalo Times, which foreshadows his biblical comics of the 1930s.
The accompanying text mixes the story of the Three Wise Men with the lingering effects of the First World War (only three years in the past) and the emerging role the United States would need to play globally. The writer must have been disappointed in the streak of American isolationism which emerged during the 1920s.
Buffalo Courier, December 18, 1921.
I'm guessing that this ad was originally published in colour or on high quality photo supplement paper. Something about the design of Fanny Farmer's boxes looks familiar...
Toronto Star, November 23, 1921.
It's no coincidence.
A few years after launching Laura Secord, Frank O'Connor opened his first Fanny Farmer chocolate shop in Rochester, NY in 1919. Instead of choosing another war hero, O'Connor was inspired to name his new chain after American culinary expert Fannie Farmer. The chain survived the rest of the 20th century, but eventually disappeared into the Fannie May chocolate company.
Buffalo Express, December 25, 1921. Click on image for larger version.
A photo essay on holiday shoppers. The Sunday papers regularly featured these vignettes of everyday life in the city.
Buffalo Times, December 18, 1921.
Humorous character sketches such as these were also a staple of Sunday papers, usually by syndicated cartoonists. The jokes are generally groan-inducing.
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