Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
December 19, 1959 places this issue of The New Yorker at a moment that carries a particular cultural resonance — the last Christmas issue of the 1950s, arriving in the final days of a decade that had defined postwar American life in ways the country was only beginning to fully assess. By late 1959, the anxieties and aspirations of the decade were simultaneously at their most visible and most ready to be superseded. The Cold War was the permanent backdrop of American consciousness; the quiz show scandals of 1959 had shaken public trust in television and mass media; and the cultural stirrings that would reshape the 1960s were already present and identifiable to attentive observers. The New Yorker's Christmas issues were traditionally among the most carefully produced of the year — seasonally themed, generous in their illustration and humor content, and aimed at the gift-giving readership that made late December one of the magazine's most important publishing dates. For collectors building a documentary archive through original magazines from 1959, a late December issue from the final year of the decade carries a historical completeness that other dates in the calendar cannot quite match.
The cover by Charles Saxon gives this issue a specific and distinguished place within the magazine's mid-century visual history. Saxon joined The New Yorker as a cartoonist and cover artist in the 1950s and became one of its most valued contributors over the following three decades, known for a style that captured suburban and upper-middle-class American life with warmth, precise social observation, and a humor that was affectionate rather than cutting. His work is characteristic of a particular mode of postwar American illustration — literate, clean, and socially aware without being polemical — that The New Yorker cultivated with exceptional consistency during this period. A Saxon Christmas cover from December 1959 is an artifact of that tradition at a moment when it was fully mature, and for collectors tracing the visual history of the magazine through original New Yorker issues, his covers from the late 1950s represent an important and often underappreciated chapter in the publication's long artistic lineage.
It is also worth noting what the Christmas issue specifically meant within the magazine's annual publishing identity. The New Yorker's December issues were produced with the awareness that they would be purchased as gifts and kept longer than the average weekly number — a context that shaped their editorial and artistic content in ways that make them consistently interesting as collector objects. A December 19 issue was typically the last number before the Christmas week gap, carrying the full weight of the season's editorial ambition in a single issue. That intentionality, combined with the specific historical moment of late 1959, makes this a date worth understanding on its own terms.
About the Publication
Founded in February 1925 by Harold Ross and continuing under editor William Shawn from 1952, The New Yorker of the late 1950s was at the height of its postwar influence and prestige. Its readership was educated, culturally engaged, and expected the combination of literary quality, serious journalism, and distinctive humor that had defined the magazine since its founding. By 1959 the format was well established and authoritative: "Talk of the Town" commentary opened each issue, followed by reported features, fiction, poetry, and critical reviews across theater, books, art, and film, all interwoven with cartoons and spot illustrations that represented the most celebrated tradition in American periodical art. The magazine's Christmas issues were particularly anticipated, typically featuring themed cover art and a generous complement of seasonal illustration and humor alongside the publication's standard editorial content.
Key Highlights Inside
- Charles Saxon theme cover illustration: The cover is the defining collectible feature of this issue — original seasonal artwork by one of The New Yorker's most valued mid-century contributing artists, known for his warmly observed depictions of postwar American social life.
- Christmas issue editorial content: Late December issues of The New Yorker were characteristically among the most carefully produced of the year, with themed illustration content, seasonal humor, and editorial material shaped by the awareness that these numbers were purchased as gifts and kept.
- Final Christmas of the 1950s: As the last December issue of the decade, this number carries a particular cultural completeness — a document of postwar American life and sensibility at the precise moment the 1950s were about to give way to the transformative energies of the 1960s.
- Late 1950s cartoon and illustration tradition: By December 1959, The New Yorker's art department represented the full maturity of its postwar visual tradition, with a roster of contributing cartoonists and illustrators whose collective work defined American graphic humor for a generation.
- No address labels: The listing confirms this issue is free of subscription label adhesive damage — a meaningful condition detail for collectors of newsstand copies from this era.
Note: Specific article titles, bylines, and interior content for this exact issue have not been independently confirmed beyond what appears in the listing. The highlights above reflect only what is verifiable from the cover credit, publication date, condition notes, and the magazine's well-documented editorial format during this period.
Condition & Rarity
The listing describes this issue as used but charming, free of address labels, with edge wear, the possibility of small rips consistent with age, a folded crease in the front middle, and no plastic protective covering. Translated into collector-grade language: this is an honest, handled survivor rather than a preserved specimen. The absence of address labels is a genuine positive — subscription label adhesive causes irreversible cover damage and significantly reduces collectibility. The folded crease in the front middle is a common condition note for newsstand copies of this era that were read actively rather than stored flat; it affects display presentation but not the integrity of the content. Edge wear and minor rips are entirely consistent with sixty-five years of age on wood-pulp paper stock not designed for archival storage. When evaluating any surviving copy of this issue, the meaningful criteria beyond these noted attributes are the vibrancy of Saxon's cover art, the completeness of all interior pages, and the absence of moisture damage or significant toning to the interior. A copy at this grade is appropriate for reading, display, and general collection purposes; collectors seeking a higher-grade example for archival or exhibition use should expect to search accordingly.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Charles Saxon Christmas covers from the late 1950s are genuinely appealing collector objects, and this specific December 19, 1959 date — the last Christmas issue of the decade — is one that serious New Yorker collectors will find worth tracking down. If this issue is no longer available, the extensive original New Yorker collection at OriginalMagazines.com is one of the deepest archives of the magazine accessible to collectors, with issues spanning many decades of its history. For those drawn specifically to the aesthetics and cultural atmosphere of the late 1950s, the full 1959 magazine collection is well worth exploring — it's a year that captures postwar American life and its distinctive visual culture at a particularly complete and self-aware moment.