1967-1968 Celebration

Color image shows the Allied Chemical Tower shining "1968", announcing the new year to the crowd.

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1968-1969 Celebration

The 1967-1968 Celebration was the 64th New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, New York and took place on Sunday, December 31st, 1967. In this event, the 59th ball drop took place. The lighted time ball, six feet in diameter, resting on the tip of a seventy five foot pole atop the 363 foot Allied Chemical Tower was was raised at 6 pm and during the last minute of 1967, it was lowered down to signal the start of 1968 at the stroke of midnight.

## Summary

At 11:10 pm, all traffic to Times Square was cut. Due to heavy snow in New York this particular evening, the usual crowd was shallow in attendance with an estimated count of nearly 250,000 people. NYPD Chief Inspector at the time, Sanford Garelik described the crowd as one of the smallest he had seen. But the blizzard could not dampen any excitement for the new year. At around 11:59:00 pm, the lighted ball atop the Allied Chemical Tower began its minute-long descent. While the ball dropped, some revellers set off firecrackers and flares, building up the excitement for the new year. At precisely midnight, a bright '1968' shined north on the front of the tower’s lightwell, as it was the prominent notice of the new year's arrival. The weather for this evening had an average of 30°F (-1°C). 2 to 3 inches of snow fell on the ground. By 12:15 am, the crowd had started to break up and leave Times Square.

According to ***The New York Times***, the Paramount Building which lies in the west side of Times Square, was dark for this festivity. The Hotel Astor stood there dark as well, as later that year it would be torn down to make way for a newer improved structure. The mayor of New York City at the time, John Lindsay welcomed in the new year with his own message above a screen overlooking Times Square, it read: "Season's greetings. As mayor of the City of New York, I join my fellow New Yorkers in extending to you best wishes for peace, happiness and prosperity in 1968."

## Coverage

As had been since New Year’s 1946, the Times Square festivities were covered on both television and radio.

### Television

This specific New Year's Eve was the first Times Square New Year's Celebration to be televised in color by all networks.

Guy Lombardo’s New Year’s Eve Party, produced by WABC-7 New York, aired in syndicated for the third straight year. The program, as usual, included Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians performing several musical numbers at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The special switched its cameras to Times Square at 11:55 pm, where WABC news reporter Bill Beutel narrated the Times Square scenes from his vantage point on the Loews State Marquee. As midnight drew near, cameras trained towards the Allied Chemical Building to provide a view of the ball drop as Guy Lombardo counted down the last seconds of 1967. Special guests Jean-Paul Vignon and Margaret Whiting joined Guy Lombardo after 1968 was welcomed in.

WCBS-2 New York had their own live television coverage of the event. Beginning at 11:53 pm, the coverage had Jim Jensen of CBS News reporting for the live pick-up.

NBC, which usually had pickups of the event on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, did not air any Times Square coverage, due to New Year's Eve falling on a weekend.

Advertisement promoting Guy Lombardo's show on WABC-TV 7, December 31st 1967.TV Listings for both programs on The New York Times, December 31st 1967.

### Radio

NBC Radio broadcasted coverage of the celebration with commentary from NBC veteran reporter, Ben Grauer. During the broadcast, he has reportedly to have said *"A rocket! Somebody in the crowd shot off a rocket! I've never seen that before! ... a touch of the jet age in this celebration!..."*, describing a firework shot during the celebration.

## Trivia

* During the celebration, a 17 year old decided to climb up a traffic signal. He was then bombarded with snowballs by the crowd and was then picked up by police and charged with disorderly conduct.
* This was the first celebration to feature Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs open for business on the corner of 43rd Street and 7th Avenue, as it had just opened months prior.

## Gallery

Large, bright "1968" numerals announce the arrival of 1968. Courtesy of arie07 on Photo.netCourtesy of arie07 on Photo.netCourtesy of arie07 on Photo.netCourtesy of arie07 on Photo.netCourtesy of arie07 on Photo.netThe snow doesn’t stop the celebration. Courtesy of arie07 on Photo.netImage taken from the Loew’s State Marquee. Courtesy of the Associated Press.Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

## Media

* 8mm Footage of Guy Lombardo’s special, showing the ball drop. C/O Jay Sebastian on YouTube.
* Low quality home movie showing some footage of Guy Lombardo’s special, countdown to 1968.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/127947405/
4. ↑ https://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/CentralPark/NewYearsEveBallDropwx.pdf
7. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/127947405/