With almost 14,000 historic editorial cartoons in Iowa Digital Library, we have no shortage of Baby New Years, a figure commonly seen in newspapers around this time of year. Early samples below of older, fully-clothed children show the symbol still in flux, but by the 1930s it had solidified into the top-hat-and-diaper-clad infant we’re familiar with today.
View more New Year cartoons from the Des Moines Register Cartoonists digital collection here.
Detail from "Well, here I am!" 1903 | Editorial Cartoons of J.N. "Ding" Darling
Detail from "The new delivery boy," 1914 | Editorial Cartoons of J.N. "Ding" DarlingDetail from "Here's wishing everyone a happy New Year," 1931 | Editorial Cartoons of J.N. "Ding" DarlingDetail from "A tip to a stranger in town," 1935 | Editorial Cartoons of Harold "Tom" CarlisleDetail from "You're lucky. You missed Phase I," 1972 | Editorial Cartoons of Frank MillerDetail from "Yeltsin," 1991 | Editorial Cartoons of Brian Duffy
