Betty Bacon Blunt’s wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas, details the frantic events in family life leading up to Christmas day.

Most wordless novels, especially those pre-1960, deal with social realism and rather grim themes. This story lacks the seriousness often associated with wordless novels and some would question including it here. Our policy is to include anything that comes within the strict definition of a wordless story, lighthearted or not.

The front cover of Betty Bacon Blunt's wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas.
The front cover of Betty Bacon Blunt’s
wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas.

Bibliographic description of Blunt’s, The Day Before Christmas

Title: The Day Before Christmas BUT notice the cover has crossed out “Day” and written, “The Daze Before Christmas“.
Author: Betty Bacon Blunt
Illustrator: Betty Bacon Blunt
Introduction: Yes, author not indicated
Date of publication: 1940
Publisher: A Cider Press Book, (a division of Stephen Daye Press)
Place of publication: Brattleboro, Vt.
Printer: The General Printing Company
Copyright: Artist
Dimensions: 8″ x 6″
Dust jacket: ?
slipcase: ? unlikely
Binding: metal wire spiral
Boards: stiff card
Language: English titles, etc
Paginated: unpaginated
Printed: verso and recto
Edition: Trade only, no limited edition

The copyright page and dedication of Betty Bacon Blunt's wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas.
The copyright page and dedication of Betty Bacon
Blunt’s wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas.

Dedication above: “Dedicated to Happy” – who is Happy?

Betty Bacon Blunt’s novels appear to be somewhat auto-biographical. Her prior book, Bet It’s a Boy published in 1940, ended with twin girls being born. Her third book published in 1945, Double Trouble, starts up just as the twin girls are coming out of the hospital and is dedicated to “Em” and “Su”. This would suggest that, in her personal life, Blunt is the mother of twin girls but The Day Before only shows Happy in the family. Is it possible Happy is an older sister to the twins?

The front and back covers of Betty Bacon Blunt's wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas showing the metal spiral coil binding.
The front and back covers of Betty Bacon Blunt’s
wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas
showing the metal spiral coil binding.
The introduction and the title page of Betty Bacon Blunt's wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas.
The introduction and the title page of Betty Bacon
Blunt’s wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas.
Sample pages of Betty Bacon Blunt's wordless novel, The Day Before Christmas, printed verso and recto.
Sample pages of Betty Bacon Blunt’s wordless novel,
The Day Before Christmas, printed verso and recto.

Portions of the black line drawings are strengthened by adding a pinkish shadow line. Other than the pink shadow line there are no areas filled in with blue or orange unlike Bet It’s a Boy and Oh Doctor!.

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