Vintage photos show how people decorated for the holidays over the last 100 years

Tinsel-covered Christmas trees and brightly colored stockings are vintage holiday decorations that could now feel dated.

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Dec 4, 2024 - 08:00
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Vintage photos show how people decorated for the holidays over the last 100 years
A family gathers around the Christmas tree while a young girl opens her present.
A family gathers around the Christmas tree while a young girl opens her present.

Mike Kurtz/Getty Images

  • Through the years, families have decorated their homes for the holidays.
  • Tinsel-covered Christmas trees and brightly colored stockings are trends that now seem dated.
  • However, holiday light displays have only become more spectacular.

With the holiday season in full swing, many families are decking the halls.

However, some common holiday decorations like tinsel, ceramic Christmas trees, and colorful stockings, feel more nostalgic, and could even be inspiring holiday decorating trends this year.

Leaning into nostalgic holiday decorations can also be a way to save money, especially as 31% of people say they plan to spend less on holiday shopping this year than last year, WalletHub reported.

Many resurging decorating trends, from cranberry or orange garlands to vintage Christmas villages, can either be made at home or found in thrift stores.

Take a look back at how people decorated their homes for the holidays in years past.

By the 1920s, some families were decorating their Christmas trees with electric lights.
A family with a Christmas tree, between 1921 and 1924.
A family with a Christmas tree, between 1921 and 1924.

Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Electric lights replaced the long-held tradition of attaching lit candles to branches.

By the 1930s and '40s, families were decorating their Christmas trees with festive candy canes and strands of tinsel.
A young girl helps to decorate a Christmas tree in Newton, Massachusetts, in December 1939.
A young girl in front of a Christmas tree in Newton, Massachusetts, in December 1939.

Archive Photos/Getty Images

Tinsel added sparkle to the tree, while candy canes could be used as both holiday snacks and festive decorations.

However, wartime shortages in the 1940s also meant families had to conserve with handmade ornaments and less tinsel than usual.
A family looking at a Christmas tree in 1948
A family looking at a Christmas tree in 1948.

Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images

Tinsel, which was often made with metallic materials, had to be rationed for the war effort.

Christmas stockings were typically made of red or green felt and trimmed with bells.
A girl hangs a stocking on a fireplace in 1951
A girl with a Christmas stocking by a fireplace in 1951.

Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images

People still use similar stockings today, hung by the fireside with care.

By the mid-1950s, tinsel and other elaborate decorations were back in full swing.
A boy and his sister decorate a Christmas tree with tinsel in 1955
A boy and his sister decorated a Christmas tree with tinsel in 1955.

Orlando/Three Lions/Getty Images

There were tinsel garlands or long strands of metallic tinsel called icicles, like on the tree shown above.

Hanukkah tables were often decorated with ornate tablecloths.
A table setting for Hanukkah in Los Angeles, California, mid 1950s.
A table setting for Hanukkah in Los Angeles mid-1950s.

Underwood Archives/Getty Images

Menorahs could also be simple or ornate to match the tablescape.

In the 1950s, ornaments became more uniform, and colored lights came into fashion.
American actress Jayne Mansfield decorates a Christmas tree, circa 1960.
Jayne Mansfield with a Christmas tree, circa 1960.

Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Trees became centerpieces of the home for holiday entertaining, and fashionable sets of ornaments were sold to replace more homemade or collected ornament collections.

For holiday meals, families would break out a red tablecloth and festive-colored taper candles.
A mother bringing a large turkey to the table for Christmas dinner, circa 1965.
A mother bringing a large turkey to the table for Christmas dinner, circa 1965.

L. Willinger/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Taper candles are still commonly used in holiday table settings.

Strands of pearlescent beads were used to decorate Christmas trees in the 1960s.
Children looking at a Christmas tree in 1965.
Children in front of a Christmas tree in 1965.

Bettmann/Getty Images

"Silver and Gold," a famous Christmas song performed by Burl Ives in the 1964 film "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," embodied the Christmas tree-decorating trends of the time.

Some families, like President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, adorned their trees with strands of popcorn, colorful flowers, and mismatched ornaments.
Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, on the eve of her 55th birthday, standing in front of the White House Christmas tree in 1967.
Mrs. Lyndon Johnson stood in front of the White House Christmas tree in 1967.

Bettmann/Getty Images

White House Christmas decorations are now even more extravagant.

"Flocked" trees covered in fake snow were also trendy in the 1960s.
People stand in front of a flocked tree in 1963.
People stood in front of a flocked tree in 1963.

Denver Post/Getty Images

People DIY-ed the look by dipping their tree branches in laundry starch.

Lawn ornaments like snowmen and reindeer also grew in popularity.
A residential street decorated for Christmas in 1962
A residential street decorated for Christmas in 1962.

William Gottlieb/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images

Inflatable versions of these vintage-looking lawn ornaments are still commonly seen today.

Families in the 1970s embraced colorful decorations with tinsel garlands and knit stockings.
A family sits by a fireplace and a Christmas tree in 1975
A family sat by a fireplace and a Christmas tree in 1975.

Photo Media/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

Some holiday decorating trends never go out of style.

One popular decoration was the light-up ceramic Christmas tree.
Vintage tabletop glazed ceramic bisque Christmas tree with multicolored lights in dark.
A vintage tabletop glazed ceramic bisque Christmas tree with multicolored lights in the dark.

Joseph Connors/Getty Images

The lights were often multicolored and in the shape of miniature birds.

Christmas villages were also popular, and people would collect different scenes to create a miniature town for their mantel.
A light-up Christmas village decoration.
A Christmas village scene with a church and people ice skating.

Crispin la valiente/Getty Images

People would often add cotton wool or sparkly white felt to create a snowy environment for their miniature Christmas villages. This decorating trend is still popular today, either new or secondhand.

Many trends have remained the same throughout the years.
A house decorated with Christmas lights in the early 2000s.
A house decorated with Christmas lights in the early 2000s.

J. Irwin/Classicstock/Getty Images

However, elaborate light displays are one trend that probably would have seemed out of place 100 years ago.

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