Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Chicago. We’re grateful that you joined us at WTTW News and Daily Chicagoan this year. 

Santa Claus’ Varied Depictions Can Be Viewed Through a Local Library’s Postcard Archive

A postcard featuring Santa Claus is part of the Newberry Library collection. (WTTW News)

Over time there have been many interpretations of Santa’s look – and vintage postcards from the early 20th century prove that he’s had more makeovers than a movie star. At the Newberry Library, a rare collection tracks Santa’s evolution. “The Newberry has one of the largest institutional postcard collections in the world. These postcards — postcards related to Santa and Christmas — are from the collection of a man named Brian Bossier, which is a fine collection of postcards, early postcards in particular from around the 1890s to 1920s,” said Will Hansen, curator of Americana at the Newberry Library.

The library is digitizing hundreds of postcard images of Santa Claus – including some truly strange ones. For a full view of the digital collection, visit the Newberry Library’s online archive.

Chicago’s Christmas Tree Is a Logan Square Original, 53-Foot Spruce Lighting Up Millennium Park

Chicago's 2024 Christmas tree is 53-foot Colorado blue spruce from Logan Square. (Photo by Lori Sapio, courtesy of the Holden-Shaddick family)

Chicago's official Christmas tree for 2024 is a 53-foot Colorado blue spruce donated by the Holden-Shaddick family of Logan Square, who inherited the tree when they purchased the historic Spencer Kimbell home in 2021. The spruce was planted 50 years ago by the late Jim Mulligan, a stalwart of the Logan Square neighborhood along with his wife Patricia. The couple owned the Kimbell house for decades, and Jim is about to be memorialized with an honorary street sign.

Who’s Kimbell? Well, the Kimbells were among the earliest settlers of what’s now Logan Square. When Chicago annexed the land in the late 1800s, officials famously converted Kimbell to Kimball as streets were renamed. You can impress friends and strangers alike with these fun facts while visiting the Kimbell-Mulligan-Holden-Shaddick tree in Millennium Park, where it will be the focal point of Chicago’s holiday celebrations.

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Geoffrey Baer's 'A Celebration of Hanukkah' Premieres on WTTW

With the new WTTW special "A Celebration of Hanukkah," Geoffrey Baer tells the story of Hanukkah, exploring the holiday’s time-honored traditions and culinary delights with the help of Chicago-area Jewish and interfaith families and children, musicians, and religious leaders. He stopped by “Chicago Tonight” to talk about the holiday and the new program. Stream the show anytime on the PBS app or wttw.com/hanukkah.

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Where's your favorite place in the city or local neighborhood to go to look at holiday lights and decorations?

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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry