From aluminum Christmas trees to retro Santa costumes to vintage holiday dolls, these photos will take you back to a simpler time.
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Most Americans today lionize Christmas in the same path . There ’s a tree diagram , decoration , string lights , presents , and maybe a glass of eggnog with brandy , as learn in the vintage Christmas photos above . But many American holiday custom are surprisingly modern .
Across the pond , Queen Victoria of England and her German - born hubby Prince Albert started the Christmas tree trend in the 1840s , allot toThe Washington Post . But the vacation did n’t really catch on in the United States until the Civil War , which happened about 20 years afterwards .
A young boy is moved to tears after receiving a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas in the 1980s.
That conflict , which endure from 1861 until 1865 , wrought awful tragedies for the country . At least 620,000 Americans diedas countrymen from the North and the South struggle and killed each other . And during those bloody battles , the once down in the mouth - cay holiday of Christmas took on a renewed grandness .
AsHistoryreports , American medium attempt to observe a light climate during those dreary days by write happy tarradiddle and illustrations about Christmas . From the carnage of the Civil War came the famous depiction of Santa Claus as a gay and cerise - cheeked fiber , created largely by political cartoonist Thomas Nast , according toNational Geographic .
Even after the war was over , American medium continued to publish cheery stories about the holidays . And Americans , looking for something to celebrate after suffering for years , list into Christmas custom . See some of the merriestvintage Christmas photosin the art gallery above , and then learn more about the modern story of the holiday below .
The Modern History Of Christmas In America
Bettmann / Getty ImagesAn grave by Thomas Nast of Santa Claus , waiting on the roof for tike to precipitate benumbed .
Christmas became a federal holiday in the United States in 1870 , and American yuletide celebrations quickly develop . Nast ’s figure of speech of Santa Claus leaped from the page in the 1890s , when businessman James Edgar dressed up as Santa in Brockton , Massachusetts , to recognize children at his section storage . That same X , Historyreportsthat the Salvation Army take off draft volunteers dressed as Santa Claus to collect donations .
Other traditions , like Christmas lights and sending Christmas cards , soon blossomed as well . And Americans progressively feed each other gifts for the holiday , though these gifts have shift mightily over the past C .
As theWall Street Journalnotes , the early twentieth 100 saw a desire for simple Christmas gifts . Women might ask for a stitching machine , men might request a pocket watch , and children often asked for dolls or gearing sets . During the post - global War II gold rush , however , gift requests started becoming more extravagant . cleaning lady might enquire for mink coat coats , men want radios and cameras , and fry desired gifts like rollerskates and empty-headed putty .
RedditA vintage Christmas photograph of an excited child with Transformers toy in the 1980s .
In the decades that trace , the increasingly commercialized Christmas time of year often featured a " must - have " miniature . In the 1980s , children implore Santa Claus for Cabbage Patch Kids , transformer toy , and " Koosh ball . " By the destruction of the decade , the most coveted gift for many was a Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES ) or a Game Boy , according toInsider .
The nineties saw a demand for Barney dame , Power Rangers toy , Furbies , Pokémon card , and , of course , Beanie Babies . In the 2000s , American child desired toys like Razor scooters , Xbox 360s , and iPads . Since then , youngster have asked for toys relate to movies , like dolls fromFrozen(2013 ) , thoughInsiderreports that 2016 see a funny blast from the past when the re - expel NES Classic became one of the year ’s most democratic presents .
Over the geezerhood , the gifts and tradition of Christmas in the United States have changed quite a bit . But the joyful purport of the holiday has largely stayed the same . As the 40 vintage Christmas photos in the gallery above demonstrate , Christmas is a time for class , parties , and children so overwhelmed and excited by their natural endowment that they ’re moved to tear .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesAn engraving by Thomas Nast of Santa Claus, waiting on the roof for children to fall asleep.
RedditA vintage Christmas photo of an excited child with Transformers toys in the 1980s.
