SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Chances are you watched the old year end and the new one start on television.
It’s just something many of us do, but it’s not exactly a new trend. Our station started the tradition in Utah 75 years ago.
On New Year’s Eye in 1948, it was a show unlike any other Salt Lake had seen on TV. Channel Four threw a party in the studio, in what is now City Creek above the old post office on Regent Street.
Channel Four’s music director, Eugene Jelesnik, played with the station’s band. And there was a magician performing tricks! There were party hats! Even champagne!
As the clocks ticked closer to midnight, there was a countdown. It was a tradition that would carry on in other New Year’s Eve shows in the years that followed.
To get a feel of the festivities, watch the video above.