# What was Christmas like, in the 50's? Back to Golden Days



## Meanderer (Dec 15, 2019)




----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 15, 2019)

Brings back memories of the hustle and bustle of downtown shopping.

I remember the days when all of the major department stores were still locally owned and each one tried to outdo the other with decorations and window displays.  Every purchase seemed to end up in a box, lined with tissue paper, bearing the store's colors and then into a sturdy shopping bag.  You could look at the packages a shopper had and know exactly where they had been.

I also remember the ponds of slush on every street corner and the methods that people used to navigate them, some men pulled up their pant legs, some women tiptoed, children were hoisted by one arm and many young adults just jumped.

The smells from the Karmelkorn Shoppe and the Planters Peanut store.

One of our department stores had a monorail for the children that took them around the store, lots of hard surfaces and sharp edges in those days but we all survived the trip!


----------



## Gary O' (Dec 15, 2019)

'What was Christmas like, in the 50's?'

For me, it was the huge Montgomery Wards store in Portland



Always had me in awe, all year

But...the bottom floor had a Christmas toyland that was unmatched


----------



## Ruth n Jersey (Dec 15, 2019)

Loved the video. We had a store in Hackensack NJ not far from where I lived growing up. Packard Bambergers. It had just about everything you could want. During the holiday season they turned the upstairs into a winter wonderland. Trains,Santa and a huge selection of toys.  

The grocery department was fantastic. Wooden floors and saw dust. I remember the barrels of pickles. You could pick them out yourself. dills, half sour,and many more.

We didn't shop there often because in the 50's my dad took the car for work and we would have to go by bus but my mom made sure we went at least once during the holiday season which was a real treat. 

Aunt Bea you did outdo my store with that monorail though. Must have been such fun.


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 15, 2019)

What a smashing Thread! Love the pics and posts. Christmas for me back in the 50's was special. An only child I spent time with rellies and close cousins.
I recall my Mother's Sister had annual get togethers at their house and us kids enacted the Nativity.
My Uncle did the organising and us cousins played our roles and two were sisters and always got the plumb roles especially Dee who was very precociuos youngster and demaned to be Mary. Jesus was a doll wrapped in a blanket in a bed of straw.

My other cousins played smaller roles as I did and were Shepherds and Kings and Angels. This Nativity was magic and I can see it all in my mind's eye. I think folk were more mindful of the Nativity back then.

Going to bed with a pillow case at the end of the bed and waking to find it stuffed with goodies and in my child- like way was agog with excitement thinking "He's (Santa)been"!! 

I lived in central London, England and our flat overlooked the River Thames and we could see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben from the front windows of the flat. It was sheer magic and New Years Eve was amazing and the ships hooters on the river would sound at the stroke of midnight from Big Ben.
Shopping was simple for my Parents but plentiful with good food and treats.
The Queen's Speech on Christmas Day was listened to with reverence by the majority of the populace.
Will conjure up more of my memories of Christmas in the 1950's


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 16, 2019)

Thank you GaryO' and Aunt Bea.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)

Kaufman's was the big department store in Pittsburgh, growing up.





















The Buel Planetarium was a regular stop to see the Christmas train display


----------



## Pappy (Dec 16, 2019)

Mine was a lot like the photo. My stocking had a orange, smalls toys and a variety of nuts. We always emptied the stockings first. I remember the Woolworths and Grants in our small town. Always had beautiful decorations and toys displayed in their windows. It was a fun time for a young teenager.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)

"The image is from a Sixth War Loan parade in East Liberty during the holiday season of 1944, which was also advertised as the East Liberty Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade. Uncle Sam and two Santas (maybe one is a helper) are standing at the top of the “Toyland Express” train bringing holiday spirit and reminding Pittsburghers to include a few more war bonds in their Christmas stockings. "


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)

1958


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 16, 2019)

When I was a kid the ladies from our church used to knit/crochet mittens from leftover yarn and then just before Christmas they would put them on a mitten tree near the altar in the front of the church and every kid rich or poor would go up during the service and get a pair.


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 16, 2019)

What awesome dept stores and buildings you have in America and Canada. We have Selfridges and John Lewis House of Fraser Harrods to name but a few. Wonderful buildings and architrcture lovingly and maintained. I am so pleased and happy these old massive stores are still trading and these lean days in the world of retail it's good to know but wonder if some will shut their famous doors


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 16, 2019)

London, England is a paradise for large dept stores and always was back in the 50's. DH Evans, Bourne & Hollingsworth, Libertys, Peter Robinson and in Chelsea, London Peter Jones Hamleys Toys stores and a children's paradise.

Link deleted, could be Copyrights.


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)

Harrod's is known 'round the world I think!


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 16, 2019)

RadishRose said:


> Harrod's is known 'round the world I think!




 Yes, I would think it is, RR. It's amazing and been a couple of times and bought a ladies coat in their sale years ago and still have it in the wardrobe.


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)

CrackerJack said:


> Yes, I would think it is, RR. It's amazing and been a couple of times and bought a ladies coat in their sale years ago and still have it in the wardrobe.


Wear it in good health, CJ!


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 16, 2019)

I love watching Christmas TV channels here in England and especially the American films as they are so colourful and with charming stories and some romantic and boy meets girl themes .These films cheer me up no-end My top fave is The Polar Express for and my nine year GD too
Ooops a bit off topic..


----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 16, 2019)

RadishRose said:


> Wear it in good health, CJ!


 
It's a full length faux fur and pure white and may be too big for me as I've lost quite a bit of weight. I will try it on just to see..


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)

CrackerJack said:


> It's a full length faux fur and pure white


Sounds beautiful.. sometimes coats can look good even if somewhat oversized. Hope it works out!

You'll need this


----------



## jujube (Dec 16, 2019)

Somehow, it was always the coldest night of the year when we'd go downtown to see "the windows" and make a visit to Santa in the auditorium on the 7th floor of the biggest department store.   We'd be dressed for the Arctic and then would broil when we got inside.  Coats, leggings, boots, gloves, scarves. 

There would be a small Salvation Army band playing carols ever so slightly out of tune.  The big monument in the middle of downtown was turned into a Christmas tree with strings of lights.  

Christmas was magic, sheer magic.


----------



## debodun (Dec 16, 2019)

From my family album:


----------



## debodun (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)

Picture post writer Denzil Batchelor plays Father Christmas and wearily answers another child’s question at Harrods, 1953


----------



## Catlady (Dec 16, 2019)

Let's see.  I spent half the 50's in Venezuela, I don't remember celebrating Christmas there, no tree or Santa, and it was summer there in December.  The other half of the 50's was spent in the US and we started using the tree and giving presents.  I remember going to mass on Christmas eve and using my allowance and my part-time job pay working at the hospital cafeteria to buy presents.  The stores were always crowded, which I hated, but it also added to the Christmas character.  I have no vivid memories of it all, just general remembrances.


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)

debodun said:


> View attachment 84882View attachment 84883View attachment 84884View attachment 84885


How adorable these are. You were well-loved, Deb.

That stroller in the first pic...it was blue. I remember a blue one.

Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Catlady (Dec 16, 2019)

Aunt Bea said:


> When I was a kid the ladies from our church used to knit/crochet mittens from leftover yarn and then just before Christmas they would put them on a mitten tree near the altar in the front of the church and every kid rich or poor would go up during the service and get a pair.


I'll take the red ones in the upper right corner.  Thanks!


----------



## debodun (Dec 16, 2019)

RadishRose said:


> How adorable these are. You were well-loved, Deb.
> 
> That stroller in the first pic...it was blue. I remember a blue one.
> 
> Thanks for sharing.


I still have the tie my dad wore in the photos - probably a gag gift and quite risque for the 50's but wouldn't raise an eyebrow nowadays. He always threatened to wear it to church sometime, but had the taste not to.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## DaveA (Dec 16, 2019)

CrackerJack said:


> What awesome dept stores and buildings you have in America and Canada. We have Selfridges and John Lewis House of Fraser Harrods to name but a few. Wonderful buildings and architrcture lovingly and maintained. I am so pleased and happy these old massive stores are still trading and these lean days in the world of retail it's good to know but wonder if some will shut their famous doors


Selfridge's will always be familiar having watched the mini-series, "Mr. Selfridge" with Jeremy Pivan is the lead role.  The real Mr. Selfridge came to such a pathetic ending after having attained such great heights in the retail trade.


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)

Meanderer said:


>


My Robbie the Robot is in there! And my Tinker Toys and Slinky! Hey, what......


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 16, 2019)

DaveA said:


> Selfridge's will always be familiar having watched the mini-series, "Mr. Selfridge" with Jeremy Pivan is the lead role.  The real Mr. Selfridge came to such a pathetic ending after having attained such great heights in the retail trade.


I enjoyed that series!


----------



## Catlady (Dec 16, 2019)

Yeah, Selfridge died broke at age 89 in 1947 from too much womanizing and gambling, but what a life, eh?


----------



## hollydolly (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## hollydolly (Dec 16, 2019)

Christmas shopping at Selfridges 1954, ( before I was born)  no sound unfortunately...


----------



## Warrigal (Dec 16, 2019)

What was Christmas like in the 1950s?

Stinkin' hot, as usual. Also as usual we all gathered round the dinner table for a hot dinner in the middle of the day.

After that we stripped down and cooled off under the hose.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 16, 2019)




----------



## CrackerJack (Dec 17, 2019)

DaveA said:


> Selfridge's will always be familiar having watched the mini-series, "Mr. Selfridge" with Jeremy Pivan is the lead role.  The real Mr. Selfridge came to such a pathetic ending after having attained such great heights in the retail trade.


Yes we had the tv series Mr Selfridge here and it was excellent and riveting imo. Yes, a tragic end for this retail entrepreneur. Not a very nice individual but so successfull in business.

I loved the popular series and wish they would do a re-run on our telly


----------



## Llynn (Dec 17, 2019)

Because of the boonies environment in which I grew up, Wish Books were important to my late 40s early 50s Christmases. I do remember one year going to Seattle and visiting Frederick and Nelson. I think I spent that entire shopping trip with my mouth hanging open in amazement.

Normally we shopped at the logging camp general store. They really tried to bring in some gift items but most of what they carried was pretty utilitarian. One lady in the camp made wonderful fruit cakes and others made warm socks, sweaters and quilts.

The county seat was 50 miles away and there was a Sears and several small department stores and of course there were several dime stores where a kid could by "wonderful" things for his mother....you know, Evening in Paris, Japanese vases and the like.


----------



## Grampa Don (Dec 17, 2019)

Ah, Evening in Paris.  It was my Mom's favorite.  I can remember the first time I bought a Christmas gift for her.  My Aunt took me to a Savon drugstore and helped me pick out a crank type wall mount can opener.  I guess she needed one.  Anyway, when we checked out, they added tax to the price, and I was shocked.  What's this?  You can post one price then charge more?  Welcome to the real world, kid.

Don


----------



## jujube (Dec 17, 2019)

I just remembered the custom of pinning small jingle bells to our crinolines at Christmas, so that we jingled when we walked.

When I was in the 8th grade, that was banned from school because of the noise.  Imagine a couple hundred girls swishing around in crinolines jingling away merrily?  My mother always made me take them off for church, too.  Stand up....jingle, jingle...sit down....jingle, jingle....cross your legs.....jingle, jingle.....


----------



## debodun (Dec 17, 2019)

My dad loved cut rock and ribbon candy. I never cared much for hard candy. My March it was all stuck together.


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 17, 2019)

Some of our local merchants used to hand out these little pins when you visited Santa Claus.






I also remember all of the women young and old had a large Christmas pin on their coat.


----------



## CarolfromTX (Dec 19, 2019)

Meanderer, I grew up in Pittsburgh. I remember Kaufmann's very well. And that clock on Smithfield street was a meeting point. "See you under the clock." My bus stop was just around the corner. The windows at Christmas time were always great. I remember going downtown just to see the windows. Thanks for the memories.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2019)

CarolfromTX said:


> Meanderer, I grew up in Pittsburgh. I remember Kaufmann's very well. And that clock on Smithfield street was a meeting point. "See you under the clock." My bus stop was just around the corner. The windows at Christmas time were always great. I remember going downtown just to see the windows. Thanks for the memories.


Yeah, a real landmark!


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 19, 2019)

Aunt Bea said:


> Some of our local merchants used to hand out these little pins when you visited Santa Claus.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, Christmas corsages=


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2019)

1950's Christmas...Inside & Out!


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2019)




----------



## debodun (Dec 19, 2019)

Do people drink out of pilsner glasses anymore? I remember my dad having beer in that style of stemware. They had etched dots in the glass.


----------



## DaveA (Dec 19, 2019)

debodun said:


> My dad loved cut rock and ribbon candy. I never cared much for hard candy. My March it was all stuck together.
> 
> View attachment 85042


It was popular in our house as well, but even as a kid, they were never my favorites.


----------



## debodun (Dec 19, 2019)

Dig the red rotary phone


----------



## squatting dog (Dec 19, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2019)




----------



## Capt Lightning (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks like a 'Tonka' lorry.

Christmas only became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958 and Boxing day in 1974.  In the 17th century it was banned by the church, but this was later repealed.  In the post WW2  period,  it was celebrated quietly and the Church did not attach much religious significance to it.  It is still a fairly low key event here and it is possibly because of this that Hogmanay became the major Yuletide celebration.


----------



## debodun (Dec 19, 2019)

Do they still burn the clavie?


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2019)




----------



## Sassycakes (Dec 19, 2019)

I have such wonderful memories of Christmas in the 50's. My Dad loved the decorating.





Church on Christmas day


Shopping and Visiting Santa at Wanamakers


Me and Santa


----------



## Capt Lightning (Dec 20, 2019)

debodun said:


> Do they still burn the clavie?


Yes, indeed - on the 11th Jan.  Apparently the date is a hangover from the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendars.  There's also the Stonehaven fire festival..
Stonehaven New Year fire festival


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 20, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 20, 2019)




----------



## RadishRose (Dec 20, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 20, 2019)

1955 Chevy Nomad Ornament





1955 Chevy Nomad Painting


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 20, 2019)

Christmas Alphabet


----------



## debodun (Dec 20, 2019)

I remember this table top decoration from my childhood. The noses used to blink (in no particular order), but the bulb that controlled the action burnt out years ago and I can't find a replacement. They will light, but not blink.


----------



## jujube (Dec 20, 2019)

I remember all the extremely delicate glass decorations on the tree.  Several would get broken every year; it seemed all you had to do was look at them wrong and POP! they were nothing but sharp splinters.


----------



## JB in SC (Dec 20, 2019)

A cool website with Christmas catalogs (US) from years gone by. 

http://www.wishbookweb.com


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 20, 2019)




----------



## jujube (Dec 20, 2019)

One year as a kid, I bought my mom and grandma two extremely pitiful tiny poinsettia plants on Christmas Eve for five cents each.  

My mom tossed hers out on Dec. 26th but grandma took hers home and nursed it back to health.  She put it in the corner and over the next six or seven years, it grew up the wall and part way across the ceiling. It never "bloomed" again but it was beautiful nonetheless. 

Poinsettia bushes grow up to 15 feet or more here in Florida, but this was in the frozen North.


----------



## Aunt Bea (Dec 21, 2019)

I remember when I was quite young we used to go on various secret missions to buy or make little Christmas presents for parents, grandparents, etc...

We used to be able to buy things like linen calendar towels on a wooden dowel, Yardley soap, thin ribbon candy from the Fanny Farmer store, fancy jams and jellies, tea, a pouch of pipe tobacco or a pack of cigars, etc...

I also remember the fuss they made over our little offerings on Christmas morning.

IMO it was good training that helped us to understand the importance of giving and thinking about the people around us instead of thinking only about ourselves and what we might receive.






I also remember getting these chocolate cigarettes from Fanny Farmer in my Christmas stocking!


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 23, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Dec 23, 2019)




----------



## Ken N Tx (Dec 23, 2019)




----------



## Meanderer (Nov 23, 2020)




----------



## Meanderer (Nov 23, 2020)




----------



## Aunt Marg (Nov 23, 2020)

What a feast for the eyes this thread is!

Christmas without snow? Forget that, but everything else is stellar!


----------



## Aunt Bea (Nov 23, 2020)




----------



## Damaged Goods (Nov 23, 2020)

Meanderer said:


>



How I coveted a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun but they were not allowed inside city limits.


----------



## Lewkat (Nov 23, 2020)

Whenever I hear the song, Silver Bells, it reminds me of how it was Christmas shopping when I was young.  But the most fun we had was going from one department store to the next and seeing toyland.  Some of the stores really outdid themselves in making it fun for us kids.  Later, I loved looking at the window displays at the major stores in New York but in recent years you cannot get near them.  The tourists line up for blocks and you would have to wait your turn.  Today, we shop on line.


----------



## debodun (Nov 23, 2020)




----------



## Chet (Nov 23, 2020)

As a senior in high school I got a seasonal job for Christmas in the largest department store in the area at the time. My job was to take a cart on the freight elevator to all the floors and pick up Christmas gifts to be wrapped then take them down to the basement where the wrapping was done. The work environment was all about Christmas with decorations and constant Christmas music and the hustle and bustle of shoppers and everyone in a good mood. We ate at the in-store restaurant and got an elevated view of it all. Best job I ever had.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 18, 2022)

A Look Back At 1950s Christmas


----------



## Lewkat (Dec 18, 2022)

Meanderer said:


> A Look Back At 1950s Christmas


Pictures for that era are spot on, but the music was not.


----------



## JustBonee (Dec 18, 2022)

Lewkat said:


> Pictures for that era are spot on, but the music was not.


----------



## CarolfromTX (Dec 18, 2022)

I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I love the pic of Kauffman’s. The big clock on Smithfield Street was where I’d meet up with friends.


----------



## Pappy (Dec 18, 2022)

My oldest sons first Christmas. Year was 1958 and I had just gotten  back home from California after being discharged from the Army.


----------



## Victoria (Dec 18, 2022)

Meanderer said:


>


Lovely!


----------



## Victoria (Dec 18, 2022)

Toys were so simple and non electronic.


----------



## Pepper (Dec 18, 2022)

In the fifties I would pretend that the big green overstuffed chair that my grandma sat in was a Christmas Tree.


----------



## Mizmo (Dec 18, 2022)

Every year..never missed it...great fun for everyone

Eaton Store's Santa Claus Parade in the 1950s Toronto​


----------



## squatting dog (Dec 19, 2022)




----------



## Pappy (Dec 19, 2022)

And then, a year later in 1958, my oldest son happy at Christening time.


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2022)




----------



## jujube (Dec 19, 2022)

Meanderer said:


>


I just did that jigsaw puzzle on the computer last night!


----------



## Meanderer (Dec 19, 2022)

Christmas Homecoming - Norman Rockwell

"With the barest of clues that this is Christmas, Rockwell brings his readers a festive holiday scene purely through the smiles on everyone's faces and a few touches of bright red paint. Son Peter (with eyeglasses) is in the left corner; son Tom is in the plaid shirt; Mary is hugging son Jarvis who has just arrived from school and Norman is to the right of them. In the upper left corner good friend and fellow Post illustrator Mead Schaeffer looks on, as does Grandma Moses." _Saturday Evening Post_ December 25, 1948





The painting is Magical!


----------



## RadishRose (Dec 19, 2022)




----------



## RadishRose (Dec 19, 2022)




----------



## RadishRose (Dec 19, 2022)




----------



## debodun (Dec 20, 2022)

We'd get the Montgomery Ward's Christmas catalog in September. I'd circle what I wanted in it and my parents would order, then go to the store in Menands, NY and pick up. Of course there was Frear's Departent store in Troy, NY and the Latham Circle Mall - all defunct now.   The Montgomery Wards and Frear's buildings are still there, but repurposed.


----------



## debodun (Dec 20, 2022)




----------



## debodun (Dec 20, 2022)




----------

