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Women buy a Christmas tree in Paris, France. December 14, 1951
Women buy a Christmas tree in Paris, France. December 14, 1951 -  Copyright  AFP
Copyright AFP
Copyright AFP

Get in the holiday spirit with these vintage photographs

By Natalia Liubchenkova
Published on •Updated
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Festive food and ‘window shopping’ in France, Christmas in Hollywood and a holiday spirit in the Soviet Union: here's a look at some vintage holiday photos.

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With the holiday season hindered by restrictions on travel and gatherings, Christmas and New Years could look very different in 2020.

So this selection of old photographs invites us on a journey through time, from the 1930s to the 1980s.

The photos reveal how the holidays were celebrated throughout different periods of history in various spots of the world.

AFP
Children look at a Christmas window display at a department store in Paris, France December 11, 1946 AFP
AFP
Men pile Christmas trees in a field during the harvest in Maine, USA. December 1, 1938 AFP
AFP
Santa Claus distributes toys to the children leaving on a barge in Brentford, United Kingdom. December 21, 1938 AFP
AFP
A giant Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame in Paris, France. December 20, 1957 AFP
AFP
Children look at toys displayed in a department store in Paris, France. December, 1938 AFP
-/AFP or licensors
Children look at toys displayed in a department store in Paris, France. December, 1938 -/AFP or licensors
AFP
Employees bottle Champagne before Christmas in Reims, France, as buyers visit the Pommery cellars. December 1946 AFP
AFP
Employees pack bottles of Champagne in the Pommery cellars before their expedition for Christmas in Reims, France. December 1946 AFP
AFP
Pastry chefs prepare traditional Yule log cakes for Christmas in Paris, France. December 1938 AFP
AFP
Children admire an electric train circuit in a department store before Christmas in Paris, France. December 23, 1949 AFP
Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA. November 26,1939. AFP
Santa Claus and celebrities take part in a Christmas parade on Hollywood Boulevard, which was renamed ‘Santa Claus Lane’ and illuminated for the holiday season Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA. November 26,1939. AFP
AFP
Acrobats entertain a crowd of people waiting to enter the Lyceum Theatre on Boxing Day. London, the UK. December 27, 1937 AFP
AFP
A crowd gathers in front of giant Christmas trees in Vendome square in Paris, France. December 14, 1950 AFP
AFP
Several Santa Clauses arrive at the Orly airport, near Paris, France. December 15, 1953 AFP
AFP
People queue in front of giant mailboxes, installed in several places around New York, USA, for New Yorkers to drop off their Christmas letters. December 15, 1961 AFP
Joel Robine/AFP
Jacques Chirac, the former French president and then-mayor of Paris, gives a speech during the ‘Christmas Tree’ reception at the Paris Town Hall. December 9, 1981 Joel Robine/AFP
Nabil Ismail/AFP
Muslim soldiers of the Lebanese Army set up a Christmas tree on the Green Line dividing west and east Beirut, to celebrate Christmas with Christian soldiers. December 23, 1987 Nabil Ismail/AFP
Vitaly Armand/AFP
A woman with a cat in her arms watches television in Moscow, USSR, as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev delivers his New Year message to the Union. December 31, 1988 Vitaly Armand/AFP
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