Think the holiday season was any less hectic 36 years ago? The 51st State, a local nightly news program on THIRTEEN from 1972-1976, aired a Christmas special that was a bit unusual, to say the least. View it as it was originally broadcast in 1972….

“Christmas Night” opens with a montage about the hassle of the holiday season in New York, with musical accompaniment. This is followed by children saying what they want for Christmas. In the studio, Patrick Watson showcases presents for New York City officials and organizations. The Watson gift bit is interspersed between various films: “A Christmas Story,” a silent film about poverty, American enterprise, and capitalism; “The Body Language of Gift Selection,” by Al Levin, about the sociology of buying gifts; an interstitial of a trip to the woods to cut a tree; several sections of interviews on the street about Christmas; and a film about the Christmas Bar at 43rd Street, a bar where it’s Christmas 365 days a year.

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Chapter 3:

About The 51st State
On the air from 1972-1976, The 51st State (read more here) began as a nightly news program with a mission to present in-depth and thoughtful reporting of regional issues. During this period, New York City was struggling with the national traumas brought on by the civil rights movement, women’s liberation, and the Vietnam War, as well as facing a rising crime rate and heading towards the largest financial crisis of its history (“Ford to City: Drop Dead”).

The program was noted for an unorthodox journalistic style and covered a wide range of subjects, from a town hall meeting of youth gangs in the Bronx and the pollution of the Hudson River to statewide hearings on abortion legislation, and NYC’s take on such national issues as pornography and the war in Vietnam.