The Surprising Origins of ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’

The Grinch has become more than just a character from a popular book and TV special — today, the cranky, green creature who steals Christmas from Whoville is a major holiday icon, appearing in multiple beloved films and showing up in household Christmas displays, greeting cards, and other symbols of the season. But before all of that — before even the 1957 Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas — the Grinch began his life as something else. In fact, the Grinch started out as a character in a poem — one that had nothing to do with Christmas at all.