The Grinch stole Christmas 60 years ago. Ted Geisel’s (aka Dr. Seuss) classic 1957 story about a miserly Grinch who sets out to rob the Christmas spirit from the inhabitants of Whoville made its debut in a rather surprising place: An October, 1957, issue of Redbook magazine. At the time, Redbook was known as “the largest illustrated fiction magazine in the world,” and this wasn’t the first appearance by the Grinch. According to The Guardian , in 1955, the little-known Dr. Seuss story The Hoobub and the Grinch appeared in Redbook’s pages, introducing readers to the bright green Christmas character millions of fans would later grow to love.
A few weeks after the story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, appeared in the women’s magazine, Random House released the published version of the story, on Nov. 24. 1957, and the rest is holiday history. According to Neatorama , the Dr. Seuss book received rave reviews and the Grinch was described as “easily the best Christmas cad since Scrooge.”
Less than a decade after the book was published, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was made into an animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. Dr. Seuss was initially against making his book into a TV special, but Jones convinced him to do it.
The cartoon feature, which debuted on CBS on Dec. 18, 1966, was animated by Geisel and starred Boris Karloff as the narrator and the voice of the Grinch. The theme song “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch” was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also known as the voice of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes spokesman, Tony the Tiger. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas went on to become a perennial holiday favorite, ranking right there with the Rankin-Bass features Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town .
In honor of the 60th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ story, several licensing deals have been developed for anniversary memorabilia.
“It’s a tribute to the originality and timelessness of Dr. Seuss’s stories, that a character that first appeared in the 1950s is still attracting new fans and enjoying strong licensing support 60 years later,” Susan Brandt, president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said in a statement .
And of course, that 60-year-old Redbook article is still creating buzz. A search on online shopping sites such as eBay and Amazon reveals that the first edition copy of the complete magazine with the story is still a hot collectible, garnering upwards of $1,000 from eager collectors.
You can see a scene from the 1966 animated classic Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas below.
[Featured Image by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc./NBC]
