Last minute shoppers never learn! Nostalgic photos show Britons dashing to the high street in the Eleventh Hour for Christmas presents
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Everyone will be familiar with the last-minute panic of trying to find the perfect Christmas present and making a frenzied dash to the shops. This year is no different, as shoppers have taken to the streets across the UK to stock up on what they need with just two days to go.
![[Fascinating unearthed images from the 1990s and 1980s show the last-minute Christmas shopping rush. Pictured: Bargain hunters in Woolworths in Holyhead]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/14/93428431-14221611-image-m-6_1734965801567.jpg)
But it appears the last minute shopper never learns - as fascinating unearthed images from the 1980s and 1990s show how the Great British High Street inevitably becomes packed with people each year in the final days before Christmas. The pictures show bustling crowds in London's Oxford Street and Hamleys Toy Store frantically trying to get their shopping done.
![[It was spend, spend, spend all the way at Marks and Spencer on Christmas Eve 1993]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/14/93428287-14221611-image-a-5_1734965797127.jpg)
Meanwhile shoppers in Selfridges can be seen forming an organised queue to buy the new Spice Girls dolls in 1997, while a similar line can be seen forming outside Toys 'R Us in Brent Cross that year. And it's not just London - as huge gatherings can be seen lining the streets of Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow in a last-minute dash to the high street.
![[Huge gatherings can be seen lining the streets of Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow (pictured, in 1994)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/14/93428437-14221611-image-a-3_1734965787891.jpg)
Despite the rise of online shopping, and customers tending to turn away from due to empty stores and soaring parking costs, it appears the appeal of the high street at Christmas time remains the quintessential way to get into the festive spirit. That is, if you don't mind the crowds - or the risk of everything selling out if leaving it all to the last minute.
![[The pictures show bustling crowds in London 's Oxford Street and Hamleys Toy Store (pictured, 1992)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/14/93428277-14221611-image-m-23_1734965983058.jpg)
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