The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree
1931
According to the Thrillist website, the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was not officially sanctioned but a powerful symbol at the height of the depression. As the story goes, a group of construction workers building Rockefeller Center put up the tree to celebrate the fact they had good jobs that allowed them to pay their bills. They decorated the 20-foot tree with cranberries, paper garlands, and tin cans and a clerk distributed their paychecks from the foot of the tree later that night.
View photos of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from 1931 to now.
Tennessee Christmas scene
1950s
This holiday scene is from Johnson City, Tennessee sometime in the late 1950s. Now the eighth largest city in TN, Johnson City was founded by Henry Johnson in 1856 and became a major rail hub in the Southeast with three railway lines crossing the downtown area. It is thought the city was also once a distribution center for Chicago crime boss All Capone during prohibition in the 1920s.
The Very First Macy’s Day Parade
1924
In 1924, store employees from Macy’s Department store marched to their the flagship store on 34th Street dressed for the holidays to kick off the inaugural Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The event featured floats, professional bands, and even live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo! At the end of that first parade, Santa Claus appeared on “Santa’s Sleigh” surrounded by evergreen trees and waved to the crowd. With more than 250,000 people watching, the parade was such a smash hit and Macy’s announced afterwards that it would become an annual event. This year the iconic parade celebrates its 100th anniversary, though details on what that entails have yet to be released.
Christmas in July begins in a summer camp in 1933!
It was a typical summer day at Keystone Camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina more than 85 years ago when Holt came up with the clever idea to celebrate Christmas in July, according to an article in Country Living magazine. In a locale where summer temps typically hit 80- to 90-degrees, Holt must have thought a Christmas celebration in July was a fun and novel way to fend off the heat. Current camp owner and director Page Ives Lemel told Country Living that it was no surprise to her that Holt came up with the idea.
“Miss Fannie was such a character: a whimsical, dreaming, creative type who added all of this uniqueness to the program,” Lemel said.
Lemel said Holt’s first Christmas in July took place on July 24 and 25 in 1933 and included carolers, a Christmas tree, a visit from Santa Claus, lots of presents, and, of course, fake snow made of cotton. The tradition evolved over time and campers began to use laundry bags as stockings, which they placed outside their cabins to be filled with candy overnight. Later on, they added a gift exchange, which tended toward the crafty and creative.
Sixty years of vintage Christmas
1940-2000
Earlier this year, the Taste of Home website ran a fun vintage feature that included 60 years worth of vintage Christmas images, one for every year between 1940 to 2000, which demonstrate visually how the holidays have changed over time. Check out this fun feature, which includes the 1940 Christmas photo you see above.
Macy’s Department Store, 34th Street, New York City
1946
When referencing the term “vintage Christmas,” I always think first of the department store window displays that have traditionally kicked off the holiday shopping season in cities and towns across America. And the king of all window displays remains Macy’s Department Store, particularly at its flagship store on 34th street in New York City. The photo above, taken by the Associated Press on December 24, 1946, captures Macy’s holiday display during the time when the movie Miracle on 34thStreet was filmed in and around their department store. Macy’s window display theme that year focused on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.
Originally a dry goods store selling home goods, Macy’s opened its New York City location in 1858. Like many department stores of its time, Macy’s eventually began using its street-facing windows to market its products during the holidays. Their first New York window display appeared in 1874 and featured a collection of dolls posed in different scenes from the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Eventually, Macy’s began developing themes for their windows, which quickly became a tourist attraction for residents and those visiting the city during the holidays.
Donaldson’s Department Store in Minneapolis
Circa 1950s
Donaldson’s, also known as William Donaldson and Company and L. S. Donaldson’s, was a Minneapolis department store located on Nicollet Avenue and Sixth Street.
Started by two immigrant brothers, the company grew to be one of the major retail chains in the Twin Cities, rivaling Dayton’s for much of the twentieth century.
Donaldson’s became more than a department store, but a public center that hosted civic and cultural affairs and provided a venue for fashion shows, art collections, special exhibits, Christmas programs, and lectures.
By 1987, Donaldson’s had 12 stores across Minnesota but was struggling to compete against Dayton’s. Chicago merchandiser Carson Pirie Scott bought the company and changed its name to Carson’s.
