PIX11 To Air The Original 1966 Footage Of Its Classic 'Yule Log' On Christmas Eve

Here's your chance to watch a bit of holiday history.

PIX11 will air recently discovered footage of the station's original "Yule Log" on Christmas Eve.

It was 50 Christmas Eves ago the footage debuted. It was filmed at Gracie Mansion in New York City, back when John V. Lindsay was mayor.The Yule Log was a soothing break from the Christmas rush. People wrapped presents to it, drank cocoa or simply sat on the couch and watched it.

The footage is from the original November 1966 version filmed on 16 mm film at Gracie Mansion in New York City and first aired in 1966. The restored film has not been seen on the air since on the air since 1969. The tape degraded after that and a a new Yule Log was filmed in Palo Alto, California in 1970 on 35 mm film.

The 1966 Yule Log, long assumed to be permanently lost, was found and restored. It will air as a one-hour presentation exclusively on PIX11 on Christmas Eve 2016, exactly 50 years after its debut and again on Christmas morning.

A new Yule Log was filmed in 1970 as a replacement, and has aired ever since. But no one knew where the original footage was, until it was located in the WPIX archives.

PIX11’s digital director and archivist, Rolando Pujol, was sifting through the vast WPIX film collection that was donated by the estate of former WPIX executive Bill Cooper and his wife Kay Arnold, who died in 2014. Cooper produced the 1966 and 1970 versions of the holiday classic.

After Kay Arnold died, WPIX was invited to examine dozens of tapes and film reels from their New Jersey home

Pujol was exploring the film cans from the Cooper/Arnold collection, when he came across a 16mm film labeled “Original WPIX Fireplace."

"Stunned and hopeful this might be a Christmas miracle, PIX immediately had the film digitally transferred at Technicolor-Postworks in Manhattan," according to a PIX11 release. "A few days later, the station had confirmation; it was indeed the lost 1966 Yule Log."

The master film contains two minutes of color footage, and the fireplace itself loops every seven seconds.

"PIX11 is thrilled the 1966 Yule Log has been found and restored, and will air as a one-hour presentation exclusively on PIX11 on Christmas Eve from 11pm to midnight, 50 years after its debut," according to the website.

PIX11 will also air the 1966 Yule Log on Christmas morning from 7-8am followed by the traditional 1970 version of the Yule Log from 8a-12p. The 1970 Yule Log will feature a new hour of music produced by Lawrence F. “Chip” Arcuri, the creator of theyulelog.com fansite. It will also stream on PIX11.com from 8am-5pm.

Video: Youtube

Image: http://pix11.com/2015/12/24/wa...