The Library of Congress > Blogs > Picture This > 2012 > December

Happy New Year, 2013!

December 31, 2012 by Jeff Bridgers

New Year Resolutions – Till They Melt! Color offset print by Leighton Budd, 1913. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.27906

One hundred years ago, Leighton Budd created this illustration for the January 1, 1913 edition of Puck, the humor and satire magzine. It pictures two fashionable young women stopping by a snowbank so that one of them can record her New Year’s resolutions: “1913 No Jealousy No Anger No Flirt.” Alas, it is unclear whether she intends to say “flirting,” or is having second thoughts. In any case, she need not be too concerned as her resolutions will not prove indelible, lasting only until the next snowfall or warming trend renders them invisible . . . and forgotten!

Wishing you a Happy New Year, 2013!

Learn More:

In case you missed it in the rush of the holidays, revisit Woody Woodis’s December 20 post Puck Cartoons: “Launched at Last!” to learn more about these recent additions to the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

Caught Our Eyes: Last Minute Shopping

December 24, 2012 by Kristi Finefield

Have you left your holiday shopping to the last minute? Hoping you can find that perfect gift just minutes before the stores close? Well, it turns out shopping on Christmas Eve – and fighting the crowds to do it – is nothing new, if this photograph from December 24, 1920 is any indication: Several things …

Puck Cartoons: “Launched at Last!”

December 20, 2012 by Jeff Bridgers

The following is a guest post by Woody Woodis, Cataloging Specialist, Prints & Photographs. Imagine the pleasure of spending your days looking at cartoons created over a century ago. That opportunity landed on my desk in the form of a digitization and cataloging project of over 2,500 color cartoon illustrations published in Puck magazine between …

Looking into Urania’s Mirror: The Geminid Meteor Shower

December 12, 2012 by Kristi Finefield

Every December, the Geminid Meteor Shower fills the evening sky with shooting stars (meteors). The first step to enjoying the shower, which will peak the evening of December 13 and into the morning of the 14th, is to locate the constellation of Gemini in the night sky, as the meteors will appear to radiate from …

Caught Our Eyes: One Tall Cowboy

December 6, 2012 by Barbara Orbach Natanson

A pair of pictures from the Harris & Ewing Collection caught the eye of Prints & Photographs Division reference technician, Jonathan Eaker. He shared them with the comment, “Really tall cowboy!” I looked at the first picture. On the basis of the length of the chaps, alone, not to mention the interested stares of the …