New Year

A candid shot of my parents and grandparents all dolled up and getting ready to ring in 1965. Before I was born, my parents were party people, and I can see that Mom's got the ever-present cocktail in hand. Not sure whose home this is; it isn't my grandparents, and it certainly isn't my folks' house, as they would never have had a replica schooner or green-upholstered furniture. View full size.

My grandparents celebrated the New Year of 1954 in their new ranch style home that replaced the old farmhouse. Champaign County, Illinois. View full size.

Washington, D.C. "New Year celebration, 1940." Happy New Year from Shorpy! National Photo Company Collection safety negative. View full size.

December 31, 1956 (or January 1, 1957). A party my brother, then 19, went to. Other than recognizing a couple family friends, that's all I know about this Ektachrome slide. View full size.

Sept. 5, 1925. "Intoxicated ducks at 611 Yon.[?] Street." This one's a mystery to me. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Welcome to the first annual Shorpy Top 20 New Year's Eve Image Countdown, where we recap the year's most popular posts based on number of reads. You can keep track as the evening progresses on the grid below. (We'll get to the Top 10 starting around 11 p.m. Eastern Time.) And the No. 1 post of 2007, with 104,800 reads: A screen grab of  . . .  The Beaver Letter! Whew. Well that was fun but exhausting. Thanks to everyone for making this a super first year for Shorpy!

The ranking grid and read numbers reflect picture standings as of 4 p.m. Eastern time on December 31, 2007. View counts rounded to the nearest whatever.

No. 1: The Beaver Letter, 1958 (104,800 reads)
No. 2: Pie Town Dugout, 1940 (89,800 reads)
No. 3: Weeki Wachee Mermaid, 1947 (85,500 reads)
No. 4: Brooklyn Pin Boys, 1910 (84,700 reads)
No. 5: Inter-City Beauties, 1927 (73,200 reads)
No. 6: Pageant of Pulchritude II, 1928 (37,300 reads)
No. 7: Beach Policeman, 1922 (37,100 reads)
No. 8: Mr. 535-07-5248 and Wife, 1939 (36,800 reads)
No. 9: Custer Car, 1924 (24,700 reads)
No. 10: Carina Nebula (20,935 reads)
No. 11: Chicago & North Western Locomotive Shops, 1942 (20,750 reads)
No. 12: 1951 Oldsmobile Final Assembly (18,290 reads)
No. 13: Flying Fortress, 1942 (18,270 reads)
No. 14: Pageant of Pulchritude, 1928 (18,200 reads)
No. 15: The Virtual Buick, 1953 (17,300 reads)
No. 16: Carnival Ride From Hell, 1911 (16,600 reads)
No. 17: Hi-Fi Boombox, 1954 (15,000 reads)
No. 18: Bathing Girl Parade, 1920 (14,900 reads)
No. 19: Migrant Mother, 1936 (14,800 reads)
No. 20: Manhattan skyline in 1901 (14,500 reads)