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Category: Vintage Catalogs

Vintage Christmas Magazine & Catalog Covers

Step back in time to the golden age of holiday cheer with vintage Christmas magazines and catalogs from the 1920s through the 1960s. These publications captured the magic of mid-century festivities, from dazzling holiday fashion spreads and retro gift ideas to nostalgic recipes and charming home décor inspiration.

Whether you’re a history buff, a collector, or simply love the timeless charm of old-fashioned Christmases, these treasures offer a delightful glimpse into how past generations celebrated the season.

Further Reading: December Magazine Covers 1920s-1950s (feature some festive Christmas covers) & Vintage Christmas Catalogues

Mid Century Homes as seen in a December 1950s Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Magazine.

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy & eBay, are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. 

Note: If the item you click on is no longer available, don’t fret! Etsy has loads of vintage items that might just catch your eye. Just do some searching. Happy shopping!


Vintage Christmas Magazine & Catalog Covers 1920s-1960s

FAO Schwarz Christmas Catalog in 1920.

1920s Vintage Catalog Cover-FAO Schwarz Christmas Catalog in 1920 featuring an illustration of Santa checking his list.

Family Circle Magazine December 1961. Available as a Digital Download to enjoy right now!

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:


* Just Like a Man!
* How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas – 12 paged illustrated story
* Exciting Holiday Decorations to Make Yourself
* Little People Craft made from Clothespins
* All Aboard for Cookyland – vintage Christmas Cookie Recipes
* Open House – the friendliest way to Entertain – entertaining ideas and recipes for your own MCM-style Open House
* 6 Make-Ahead Casseroles
* Discover the Joys of Reading to Your Children
* Piggy Bank Gifts Children Can Buy

1960s Vintage Magazine- December1961 Family Circle Christmas Edition featuring Mr and Mrs. Claus on the cover. Magazine featured Holiday Decorating Ideas, 22 Cookie ideas and more!

Mid-Century Christmas Cookie Ideas & an Open House Candlelight Buffet Menu.

All Aboard for Cookyland - vintage 1960s Christmas Cookie Recipes
Open House - the friendliest way to Entertain - entertaining ideas and recipes for your own MCM-style Open House

Source: Etsy-VintageMagLuv

1956 Sears Christmas Wish Book featuring two little kids in the PJ’s amazed by the tree with all the gifts under it.

I love this catalog cover so much because it brings me back to my brother and I doing the same thing as kids.

(Note: avail for sale from ArtComixHaven at time of posting)

1950 Vintage Catalog: 1956 Sears Christmas Wish Book featuring two little kids in pajamas looking at the Christmas Tree filled with toys

Source: christmasmusetechnical.com

“Let’s give the boys a Merry Christmas”. December 1941 Farmer’s Magazine featuring a man and woman in uniform enjoying a Christmas cake.

1940s Vintage Magazine: "Let's give the boys a Merry Christmas". December 1941 Farmer's Magazine featuring a man and woman in uniform enjoying a Christmas cake.

Source: Etsy-OldbutGoldCrafts

The American Journal of Nursing – the Christmas edition – from December 1950.

The magazine is filled with medical/nurse-related articles, photographs and fabulous advertising.

1950s vintage magazine: The American Journal of Nursing - the Christmas edition - from December 1950

Source: Etsy-BarnboardAntiques

Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas for 1963 Magazine.

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Delicious Recipes for holiday treats
  • 400 New Ideas that say Merry Christmas
  • Decorations for home, Inside & Out
  • Traditional Tree and novelty tree designs
  • And more!
1960s Vintage Magazine: Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas for 1963. This magazine has Christmas stories, crafts, recipes, and great Christmas advertisements.

I love these stunning Mid Century entry way holiday decoration ideas, especially the two red door looks.

Mid Century home Entry way door ideas for decorating for Christmas as seen in a 1963 Better Homes & Gardens Magazine.

Source: Etsy-TwoLadybugsVintage

Mademoiselle magazine from December 1947 “Christmas”, featuring a stylish skier on the cover.

1940s Vintage Magazine: Mademoiselle Christmas December 1947 featuring a woman in a ski outfit and skis on the cover.

Source: Etsy-PapayasStudio

December 1969-EBONY Magazine.

December 1969 EBONY Magazine-Christmas Cover featuring an image of a young Black boy sitting on the lap of a Black Santa.

Woman’s Home Companion December 1932. Carrying Christmas gifts in the snow.

1930s Vintage Magazine Cover: 1930s vintage magazine cover Vintage Christmas Magazine Cover from Women's Home Companion 1932 featuring an illustration of mom with her kids in the snow with Christmas presents

Chatelaine Magazine December 1949 Christmas CoverThe Canadian Woman’s Magazine.

Further Reading: Chatelaine-The Canadian Magazine for Women since 1928

1940s vintage magazine: Chatelaine Magazine December 1949 Christmas Cover-The Canadian Woman's Magazine. Cover features an illustration of a woman holding Christmas Presents.

1965 December Scouting Magazine –A Magazine For Adults (featuring teenagers on the cover).

1960s Vintage Christmas Magazine-SCOUTING December 1965 featuring two young adults decorating a Christmas Tree.

Source: eBay

1930’s Christmas Catalog “Western Auto Stores” “Christmas w/Gifts For Everyone” (see inside here-avail at time of posting).

1930's Christmas Catalog "Western Auto Stores" "Christmas w/Gifts For Everyone". The cover features an illustration of Santa checking his list.
1930s Vintage Christmas Catalog from Western Auto Stores featuring gifts for everyone like toys for kids.

Source: eBay

December 1950, 1951 & 1952 Le Petit Echo de la Mode French ladies magazines Christmas special.

The magazines from the 1950s is full of beautiful illustrations of very chic women and kids in 1950s fashions, gorgeous advertisements, diagrams for sewing and knitting patterns, and bits and pieces of novels and interesting articles.

1950s vintage magazine: Le Petit Echo de la Mode Dec 1950 a fashion and sewing magazine for women featuring illustrations of women. girls & boys around the Christmas tree in 1950s fashions on the cover.
1950s Fashion Magazine from 1951- Le Petit Echo de la Mode French ladies magazine Christmas cover.
==> See MORE Vintage Christmas Magazine & Catalog Covers from the 1920s-1960s at the Vintage Inn Blog
1950s Fashion Magazine from 1952- Le Petit Echo de la Mode French ladies magazine Christmas cover.
==> See MORE Vintage Christmas Magazine & Catalog Covers from the 1920s-1960s at the Vintage Inn Blog

Source: Etsy-LaceandlinenDesigns

December 1932-The Farmer’s Wife, The Magazine for Farm Women.

1930s vintage magazine: December 1932-The Farmer's Wife, The Magazine for Farm Women. Featuring an illustration of a little kids singing a Christmas carol with a dog.

Source: Etsy-OldbutGoldCrafts

Better Homes & Gardens December 1943 featuring a farmhouse 1940s kitchen with festive decor (Note: Read the magazine at the BHG archive).

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Wartime Christmas Gifts BEYOND PRICE
  • Late Tips on Wartime Living
  • Kitchens Be Gay
  • How to Keep Your Radio Top Notch
  • The Diary Of A Plain Dirt Gardener
  • And more!

Further Reading: Better Homes & Garden Vintage Magazine Covers 1920s to 1960s

1940s vintage magazine-Christmas magazine: Better Homes & Gardens December 1943 featuring a farmhouse 1940s kitchen with festive decor

Source: Better Homes & Gardens Archive

1920s Christmas Catalog-The March of the Toys from H. Wehmhoefer –  Beecher’s leading hardware merchant.

1920s vintage Christmas Catalog-The march of the toys from H. Wehmhoefer featuring an illustration of santa with toys.

Source: eBay

Sears Christmas Wish Book-1946. “Let the gladsome carols ring! Let the happy voices sing! MERRY CHRISTMAS!”.

1940s vintage catalog: Sears 1946 Christmas Wish book featuring an illustration of Santa's on the covee

Source: christmasmusetechnical.com

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this festive post and please share any memories you have on this topic in the comments section below.

Further Reading:

Liz

Woodward’s Department Store -101 Years of Shopping for Western Canadians

Attention vintage fans – explore Canada’s vibrant past with its iconic department stores! From Hudson Bay, established in 1692, to Eaton’s (1869-1999) and Sears (1892-2018), our country’s history is steeped in retail traditions. But today, we’re shining the spotlight on Woodward’s, the beloved Vancouver and Western Canada institution, which graced the scene from 1892 until 1993. Join us on a trip down memory lane as we delve into Woodward’s rich legacy.

Woodward's Department Store logo

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay, are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase


1940s vintage photo from 1948 of a Woodward's department store truck parked by a Trans-Canada Air Lines plane at the airport

Woodward’s truck parked by a Trans-Canada Air Lines plane at the airport-1948

Brief History of Woodward’s Department Store

  • Charles Woodward established the first Woodward store at the corner of Main and Georgia Streets in Vancouver in 1892 (Source).
  • Woodward’s established a mail-order department in 1896 and published its first catalogue in 1897. “The Great Mail Order House of the West.” (Source).
  • On September 12, 1902, Woodward Department Stores Ltd. was incorporated, and a new store was built on the corner of Hastings and Abbott Streets (Source).
  • In 1926 a store was opened in Edmonton and by the late 1940s the company operated numerous stores in British Columbia and Alberta.
  • The growth kept happening and Woodward’s would become a central feature of the retail scene in southwestern British Columbia for much of the twentieth century..
  • Woodward’s gambled that malls were the wave of the future, and this was the driving force behind their new location in the Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver, which opened in 1950.
  • Woodward’s filed for bankruptcy protection on December 11, 1992, after a decade of failing to keep up with the changing retail landscape.
  • In June 1993, Hudson’s Bay Company acquired 21 of the total 25 Woodward’s locations in a $235 millions takeover.
  • On December 8, 2009, the Woodward’s Food Floor reopened for the first time since the chain’s sale to Safeway (Source).

For a full read of the Woodward’s history, visit the HBC Heritage website. To explore vintage Woodward’s catalogue history, visit the Canadian Museum of History.

Vintage Photo of Woodward's Store at Hastings and Abbott in 1902.

Woodward’s store at Hastings and Abbott. Source-Canadian Museum of History

Woodward’s Department Store History Thru Vintage Photos, Advertisements & Catalogues

Inside Woodwards grocery department in Vancouver in 1904.

1900s vintage photo of Woodwards grocery depaertment in Vancouver in 1904

Source: dailyhive.com

“Pineapple Special! $0.35.” The fruit department of Woodward’s Department Store in 1905.

1900s vintage photo of the fruit department featuring a pineapple sale at Woodward's Department store in 1905

Source: dailyhive.com

The Woodward Beacon

In 1927, Percival Archibald Woodward (VP of Woodward) built a 75-foot-high beacon to act as a giant billboard advertisement for the department store. The tower held a searchlight that threw out a two million candlepower beam which revolved six times each minute and could be seen from Vancouver Island. When the war hit he was told to remove the tower and the 16-foot W took its place (Source).

Photo – 1938

1930s vintage photo: The Woodward Beacon. In 1927, Percival Archibald Woodward (VP of Woodward) built a 75-foot-high beacon to act as a giant billboard advertisement for the department store. The tower held a searchlight that threw out a two million candlepower beam which revolved six times each minute and could be seen from Vancouver Island.

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

Image of the “W” that was replaced during the war.

vintage photo of the Woodward/s department store W beacon sign

Source: hbcheritage.ca

Woodward’s Spring/Summer Catalogue, No. 60, 1927, cover.

Further Reading: Archived ‘Vintage Catalogue Blog Posts from the Vintage Inn Blog

1920s vintage catalog / catalogue: A Woodward's Spring/Summer Catalogue, No. 60, 1927, cover.

Source: historymuseum.ca

1920s vintage advertisement for Canada’s Woodward’s Department store from 1927. Published by the Vancouver Tourist Association.

1920s vintage advertisement for Canada's Woodward's Department store from 1927. As published by the Vancouver Tourist Association

Source: Pinterest

The Food Floor

The chain was distinctive in that stores included a large supermarket known as the “Food Floor”.

At Oakridge Centre and Chinook Centre (Calgary), the Woodward’s Food Floor had a conveyor system from the cash registers out to a structure in the parking lot. Upon request, the bag boys would pack customers’ groceries into numbered bins and send the bins through the conveyor system. Then customers would take tags with matching numbers out to the structure, and more bag boys would load the groceries from the matching bins into the customers’ cars. This service was called the Grocery Parcel Depot (Source).

Further Reading: This book chronicles what it was like to work at Vancouver’s legendary Woodward’s Food Floor in the sixties

Vintage Postcard for Woodward’s Dept Store Vancouver British Columbia Canada featuring 'Canada's Largest Food Floor".

Source: eBay

Woodward’s Grocery Buyers’ Guide for Spring, No. 64, 1929, cover.

Interesting Fact:  In 1902, after opening its first food centre, the company also started to issue separate food catalogues (Source).

1920s vintage catalogue: Woodward's Grocery Buyers' Guide for Spring, No. 64, 1929, cover.

Source: historymuseum.ca

Woodward’s Fall/Winter Catalogue, No. 71, 1932-33, cover.

1930s vintage catalog cover-Woodward's Fall/Winter Catalogue, No. 71, 1932-33, cover.

Source: historymuseum.ca

Woodward’s, Ltd. – “We Sell Everything”, international “S” series panel trucks appear ready to deliver their goods back on September 24, 1931 (Source).

1930s Vintage Photo: Woodward’s, Ltd. – “We Sell Everything”, international “S” series panel trucks appear ready to deliver their goods back on September 24, 1931

Source: Pinterest

1944 photo of women and a man buying war stamps at jeep shaped booth inside Woodward’s store.

1940s vintage photo of people in 1940s hairstyles and 1940s fashions buy war stamps at Woodward's department store in Canada -1944

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

Photo of shoppers inside a Woodward’s in 1945, going up the escalator and looking at items for sale.

1940s vintage photo of shoppers in a Woodward's Department store in Canada, 1945 shopping and going up an escalator.

Source: Pinterest

Woodward’s Beacon “The guide to better value” parade float. 1940s vintage photo.

Woodward's Beacon "The guide to better value" parade float. 1940s vintage photo featuring women and young girls on the float for the Canadian department store.

Source: hbcheritage.ca

Women’s bathing suit window display from 1946.

1940s vintage photo of a Woodward's department store window display of women's 1940s swimsuits from 1946

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

Woodward’s Fall/Winter Catalogue, No. 100, 1947–48, inside front cover.

1940s vintage catalog: Woodward's Fall/Winter Catalogue, No. 100, 1947–48, inside front cover.

Source: historymuseum.ca

1940s vintage photo: Clover Leaf canned clams sampling display.

1940s vintage photo: Clover Leaf canned clams sampling display at Woodward's department store in Canada.

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

1953 vintage postcard from a Woodward’s window display in Vancouver, BC featuring a recreation of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Further Reading: Fashion Window Displays of the 1940s & 1950s

1953 vintage postcard from a Woodward's window display in Vancouver, BC featuring a recreation of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Source: eBay

“Woodward’s Christmas Gifts” as seen in a 1954 Christmas Catalog.

1950s vintage Christmas Catalog from Woodward's Department Store in Vancouver Canada. "Woodward's Christmas Gifts" and features a mother and daughter in matching robes and an illustration of Santa and a doll.

Source: Pinterest

1963 35mm slide of the parking lot and entrance of Woodward’s Department Store. So fun!

1960s vintage photo-1963 35mm slide of the parking lot and entrance of Woodward's Department Store.

Source: eBay

Pumping gas, at Woodward’s in Vancouver Canada 1966.

1960s vintage photo of a 1960s Gas Station at Woodward's Department Store. Image showcases a man pumping gas at the pump.

Source: Pinterest

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Canadian department store, as much as I did. I knew nothing about them until I did this post so it was a lot of fun to put together.

Liz Observation: I did notice that there was not a lot of content for this post compared to the big department stores I mentioned at the start of the post. The 1950s was especially hard to find and I was surprised on the lack of advertising. If anyone has any light to shed on this, please let me know!

Question Time: Did you shop at Woodward’s? Or have any memories you wish to share? Please comment below as I love hearing from my readers.

Further Reading:

Thanks for dropping by!

Liz