The Dec. 9, 1971 issue of The Villager featured a photo of past carolers at the Christmas tree in front of the Washington Square Arch. The caption read, “An old photo, a good old spirit.” The issue noted that the Village Christmas tree had been decorated by the Washington Square Association going back to 1924. Eleanor Roosevelt once visited the tree on a city tour in 1938 and said “it makes the city seem a friendlier place.” The Villager noted that the caroling tradition in the Village also went back to 1924, and it was “the first community to revive the Old World tradition of singing carols in the street at Christmas.”
— Gabe Herman
