A very vintage Christmas: 50 heartwarming pictures of festive London in the early 1900s
Share:
While a modern-day Christmas is a blur of festive jumpers, prosecco cocktails and more leftovers than you can fit in a turkey curry – just a century ago, things used to look quite different at Christmas. From British soldiers reading their festive mail during the Boer War to two little boys in flat caps dragging home a fir tree plucked from Covent Garden Market, these photographs give a fascinating glimpse into Christmas in bygone decades.
The images feature all manner of festive goings-on during the period between the 1900s to the 1930s, from the familiar scenes of wreaths, twinkly lights and letters to Father Christmas to the more unusual sights of a chef pouring litres of rum into 600 pounds of fruit for a giant figgy pudding mix.
Of course, Father Christmas makes several appearances, listening to children’s Christmas wishes and delivering gifts across the country. In one photo from 1926, he’s even got himself into a spot of bother - he’s being chased through the streets of south London by a group of excited youngsters.
In one of the most striking photographs, a little girl hammers up a request to Saint Nicholas above her bed at the Brecknock Blind School for Children in 1926. It reads 'please give me a big dolly'. But it’s not all gift giving, bribing Father Christmas and turkey dinners. There are also the members of the Plymouth Ladies Swimming Club, who challenged the usual Christmas Day traditions to drive their motorbikes to the local lido for a Christmas Day dip.
