If the past is a different country, as the saying goes, we invite you to take a trip via these charming images to celebrate the holidays in a simpler, smaller place.
Mr. Claus Goes to Washington
These days, our skies are filled with everything from drones to jumbo jets, and we’re struggling to regulate all of them. Back in the law-abiding past, Santa himself went to the Department of Commerce in our nation’s capitol to obtain his official airplane pilot’s license and get flight maps from government officials. Here, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics William P. MacCracken (left) and Director of Aeronautics Clarence M. Young, in 1927, as well as their assurances that airways would be lit come Christmas Eve.
A Different Kind of Traffic
Bus terminals were the busy transport hubs during the holidays of yore, because air travel was too pricey for most folks. In the 1940s, a round-trip plane ticket between NYC and San Francisco cost around $300, nearly 40 percent of what you would have paid for a brand-new car. Here, a view of a crowded Greyhound Bus terminal in 1941.
Senators Played Santa…
Rather than spending their days locked in fierce debate, in the kinder, gentler past Congressional representatives came together at the holidays to collect toys for poor children. Here, U.S. Senators Joseph F. Guffey of Pennsylvania (left) and D. Worth Clark of Idaho assembled their haul in 1939.
… And So Did the Police
Members of a NYC precinct handed out toys to underprivileged kids in this photo taken between 1915 and 1920.
Bark the Herald Angels Sing
Even shelter animals got their share of Christmas cheer. In 1936, Washington, D.C., poundmaster Frank B. Marks showered stray dogs and cats with festivities.
Window Shopping Never Goes Out of Style
Compared to today’s brightly-lit, packed, and high-tech store windows, the displays of the past appear rather empty and dull. But what has remained unchanged is kids’ excitement in daydreaming about the toys they might find under their trees on Christmas morning. Here, children gazed at Macy’s in New York City between 1908 and 1917.
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