We are deep into the Holiday season right now and now that I’m not stuck in bed with the cold, I can finish my shopping and get some presents wrapped (thank goodness, I was so far behind).

For today’s post I wanted to share with my readers images of what the Christmas season looked like in Toronto in years gone by, particularly 1960s and older.

vintage Christmas TTC Ad — Vintage TTC Ad. Source: Blog TO

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Vintage Images Of Toronto Christmas Seasons

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Christmas Fleet 1956 outside of the CNE Prince’s Gates.

1950s Vintage Photo: T.T.C. Christmas Fleet, G.M.C. TDH 4512 buses and 1 Can-Car trolley coach. Photo taken at C.N.E. Prince's Gates, [Toronto, Ont.] Dec. 16, 1956. — Source: Archives Canada

The hustle and bustle of the season at shopping malls is not just a modern-day issue. This image from downtown Toronto in 1935 shows you the traffic jams that have been going on for days leading up to Christmas.

Looking south on Yonge St, opposite centre line of Trinity Square; like this from Queen St, to Dundas, every afternoon for days before Christmas; 2 p.m., Tuesday, December 24, 1935, (Traffic Study Department) — Source: Toronto Archives

1920s St. Lawrence Market building all decked out for Christmas.

1920s vintage photo of St. Lawrence Market building all decked out for Christmas. — Source: Toronto Archives

City Hall Christmas Tree in the 1950s (now called ‘Old City Hall’). Residents of Toronto will notice the ‘Eaton store’ in the background. This is now a mall called ‘Toronto Eaton Center’ but no longer holds an Eaton store.

1950s vintage photo: City Hall Christmas Tree in the 1950s (now called 'Old City Hall'). Residents of Toronto will notice the 'Eaton store' in the background — Source: Toronto Archives

Christmas light tour circa 1950s.

1950s vintage photo Toronto christmas lights tour featuring a 1950s bus taking people to look at lights. — Source: Toronto Archives

Toronto annual Santa Claus Parade (see Blog post HERE).

1950s vintage photo of a float in the Toronto Santa Claus parade in 1956. The float features ladies on sleds with snowman and the queen or princess of the parade. — Source: Toronto Archives

December 23rd, 1930-Childrens Christmas Party via the Lions Club. Can someone explain why there are kids dressed as clowns in the crowd?

Further Reading: Vintage Photos of Christmas Parties

1930s Vintage Photo: December 23rd, 1930-Childrens Christmas Party via the Lions Club. — Source: Toronto Archives

Snapshot of what was under the Christmas Tree at Miss Marjorie Lang’s home in 1930s Toronto.

Christmas windows at one of the big department stores in Toronto (either Simpsons, or Eatons. I believe Simpsons).

Vintage image of people looking at a Christmas window display at either Simpsons or Eatons.

Christmas Carols for everyone! Wanting to make sure that everyone remembered their carols, the Toronto Telegram inserted the below leaflet into their paper for their readers to have (circa 1960s).

1960s christmas carols vintage paper insert Toronto — Source: Etsy-UNSC2

Santa’s helpers are everywhere, like on airplanes (Trans Canada Airlines to be exact) taking the first consignment airmail from Toronto to Winnipeg in 1939.

1930s vintage photo: First consignment of airmail flown by Trans-Canada Air Lines from Toronto to Winnipeg with Santa making the delivery. — Source: Archives Canada

Family in Toronto unwrapping their Christmas presents in 1953 (notice the vintage Archies and Krazy Kat comics? ohhh want!).

1950s vintage photo: Family in Toronto unwrapping their Christmas presents in 1953 (notice the vintage Archies and Krazy Kat comics? — Source: Flickr-pjs_deceased

And there you have a snapshot into what Toronto looked like during Christmas of times gone by. I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into another view of the city I live in.

Further Reading:

Liz 🙂

Toronto’s Annual Santa Claus Parade is a yearly traditional that originally started on December 2, 1905 by the Eaton’s chain of department stores, and had just a single float. It now has over 25 floats, 24 bands, and 1,700 participants (Wikipedia).

With that much history lets take the Vintage Inn Time Travel Bus and see what past parades looked like from the 1920s-1950s.

Note: Vintage Fashion Lovers-The crowd pictures when you look close enough have some lovely vintage fashion.

Vintage Photos of Toronto’s Santa Claus Parade

1920s Photos

Santa and his Reindeer on the final float of the parade.

Further Reading: Images Of Toronto Christmas Seasons Gone By

Vintage Toronto: 1920s Vintage Photo: Eaton's Santa Claus Parade, Santa Claus & reindeer on curve. - November 20, 1926

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The crowd of 1920s parade viewers. The Cloche hats and coats are just lovely in these pictures.

Vintage Toronto: 1920s Vintage Photo: Eaton's Santa Claus Parade, Noah's ark & animals. - November 20, 1926

Source

1930s Photos

History Note: To escape from the realities of the Great Depression, families pressed their ears to the radio. Starting in the early 1930s, CFRB radio began broadcasting a month of dramatic programming that followed Santa’s journey from the North Pole to Toronto. By the time the Parade took place, children and adults alike were beyond excitement. Santa brought with him a magic and mystery that gave everyone hope (Source).

1930s Santa and His Reindeer float.

History Fact: In 1939 when the Second World War brought on shortages, organizers were forced to make the elaborate costumes out of paper (A Century of Memories by Citynews).

Vintage Toronto: Toronto Santa Claus Parade 1930s vintage photo

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I love that the road is dirt in these two pictures, hard to imagine that this was even so in a city with concrete and asphalt everywhere now.

Source

1940s Photo

History note: During World War II when materials were scarce, most of the Parade costumes were made of paper. A big draw during this period was for children to watch the Parade from office buildings along the route. All the windows facing South were crowded with children, including the Park Plaza Hotel (today’s Park Hyatt) (Source).

Here is a great video of the Santa Claus parade in the 1940s.