▲Peasants at work preparing toys for Christmas in Soviet Russia.

▲Mikel Utsi of Lapland with some of the reindeer that he uses to deliver presents to children in Aviemore, Scotland.

▲Saint Lucy, a Christian feast day celebrated in some Nordic countries on December 13. Pictured is 1931's Sankta Lucia in Stockholm, Sweden, wearing the traditional crown of candles.

▲In a change from their regular lessons, Catholic school children on the Netherlands Island of Volendam prepare paper Christmas decorations for the forthcoming festivities.

▲Pope Paul VI talking to workmen during a visit to the great iron and steel works of the Italsider in Taranto, southern Italy, where he said a special Christmas Eve Mass.

▲A group of mummers in Ireland celebrate St Stephen's Day or "Wren's Day" on 26 December. Mummering is a Christmastime house-visiting tradition practiced in Newfoundland, Ireland, and parts of the United Kingdom.

▲A hurdy-gurdy player seen on the streets of Copenhagen playing Christmas carols. The notice on the organ says "Merry Christmas."

▲Women packing candles in Germany in preparation for the Christmas rush.

▲Christmas shoppers throng a main street in Frankfurt. The Second World War had been over for five years, but Germany was still adjusting to a peacetime lifestyle.

▲A youngster donates coins to a Salvation Army post, known as the L'Armée du Salut, in Paris, December 20.

▲Rural Midwestern mailboxes sticking out of the snow with Christmas packages and cards. The American Midwest is infamous for its bitter and freezing winters.

▲A crowd of women doing some London Christmas window shopping on December 1. Shopping in those days tended to be a very elegant affair, a social occasion in fact.

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'War Is Over!' from John Lennon and Yoko Ono on a billboard in New York City. The message protests against US involvement in the Vietnam War. Lennon later wrote and recorded 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over),' which has since become a favorite Christmas song.

▲Australian soldiers receiving gifts from the Christmas tree at an Anzac's (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) buffet.

▲A young Christmas shopper leaving a department store with her presents, helped by a commissionaire—an attendant, messenger, or subordinate employed in hotels.

▲Crowds line an Adelaide street during the annual Santa In The Sun Australian Xmas Parade.

▲British soldiers reading their Christmas mail in camp at De Aar in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

▲Sydney's Bondi Beach has been drawing Christmas sun worshippers to its golden sand for decades.

▲Finishing touches are applied to a homemade Christmas card—an artistic tradition that has diminished since the advent of the digital card.

▲Haitians carrying Christmas trees and shopping in a very tropical festive environment.

▲An elegant young woman in a fur coat holding Christmas gifts. Today of course, fur is often frowned upon, but back then it was the height of fashion.

▲No snow but plenty of goodwill as Santa Claus and his team of reindeer set off on a gift run from the John Zumstein reindeer ranch near Redmond, Oregon, then the largest reindeer farm in America.

▲An improvised oversize mailbox, introduced to help alleviate the New York Christmas rush.

▲In this rather pious portrait, a family in the US state of Kentucky prepare to say grace before their Christmas dinner.

▲Two sisters from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey hold up Christmas presents. The dolls look identical, perhaps a deliberate ploy to stifle sibling rivalry.

▲A close-up of a woman making Christmas tree decorations in Crisfield, Maryland.

▲A rather prim and proper demonstration showing how to make candlesticks and boxes to present them for Christmas.

▲Claimed to be the tallest Santa Claus in the world, 2.37-m (7 ft-8 in) Jacob Hudson Nacken is fitted for his costume by a tailor on arrival in New York from Germany.

▲Four elderly craftsmen painting toys for Christmas in a New York gift shop. The gentleman on the right appears not too pleased to be caught by the camera.

▲The Master and crew of the 'Barrow Deep' and 'MidBarrow' light-vessels with the Christmas gifts and food brought to them on December 20 by the Clacton-on-Sea lifeboat, England.

▲A modern Santa "drives" to Eton College in a miniature car to meet public schoolboys outside the famous British boarding school. It remains one of the most prestigious schools in the world.

▲While making a tour of Salford hospitals in northern England, this Father Christmas lost his way in the fog, which enveloped the city. Here he is being safely directed by a policeman.

▲A German woman putting the finishing touches on a Nutcracker Ballet Christmas decoration.

▲An elephant named Mae West accepts an apple from a passing tram driver while taking her morning exercise on December 16 along Gray's Inn Road, London. Mae is helping to publicize the Christmas season.

▲Baseball legend Babe Ruth (1895–1948) dressed as Santa Claus and handing out gifts at the Hotel Astor in New York City.

▲A man in a Santa Claus outfit helping to publicize a free Christmas dinner event organized by the Salvation Army for "25,000 Poor" at the Grand Central Palace, New York City.

▲The Society of Friends of the Paris Zoo in Vincennes organize a Christmas party at the elephant compound.

▲Kids gather at an open-air Christmas market in Holborn, London.

▲American actress Joan Crawford (1908–1977) carving a huge Thanksgiving turkey for a publicity shot. Oddly, movie stars were often requested to strike this pose by their publicists.

▲Advertising posters at Christmas time in Bouverie Street, off Fleet Street, London. Note the Sweeney Todd hairdressers. Seventy-two years after this picture was taken, Johnny Depp appeared in 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.' Art imitating life?

▲Children from all the elementary schools in Poplar, east London, gather to stage a Christmas pantomime in the local parish town hall.

▲Christmas goods being loaded for delivery at Kings Cross Station, London.

▲A young boy and his pet getting into the festive spirit on Christmas Eve.

▲Girls of the Royal Female Orphanage in Beddington near Croydon, England, gathering holly from a tree in their quaint old costumes. The image resembles an old Dutch Master painting.

▲In a sure sign that summer is long gone and winter has arrived, a schoolgirl and her young companion collect buckets and spades from a beach to be put away until after Christmas.

▲Christmas carols on Muswell Hill in London. Though taken over 90 years ago, this photograph looks like it was recently snapped, such is its timeless quality.

▲Father Christmas—one of the teachers— hands out presents at St. Margaret's Camp at Great Gaddesden in Hertfordshire, England.

▲A large selection of toys, donated by staff at Weldon's store in London, to be distributed among children in the hospital at Christmas. Today, every item pictured here would be considered a rare and valuable antique.

▲'The Nation's Wartime Christmas Card' with spaces for the recipient to attach postage stamps and save for a War Savings Certificate. In Great Britain, Christmas cheer prevailed despite the horrors of the First World War unfolding across Europe.

▲An array of Christmas lights brightening department stores Bon Marche and Quin and Axtens on Brixton Road, London.

▲British troops billeted in France not fortunate enough to secure Christmas leave celebrate the best they can. Indeed, these three manage to conjure up a nativity scene of sorts.

▲Tiny tots at St. Werburgh's Nursery School in Bristol, England busy preparing for their Christmas carol service.

▲A lucky soldier on leave from the trenches greets his wife and young son for some well deserved rest and relaxation. Hundreds of thousands of combatants never saw their loved ones again.

▲The offspring of one of the musicians in the East Compton Silver Band rehearse their own particular style of Christmas music before a concert in Bristol, England.

▲A girl in the novelty department of a toy shop completing a Goosey Gander containing crackers, musical toys, and hats.

▲A family enjoying the now almost obsolete custom of handbell ringing at their home in Graveley, a village in Hertfordshire, England.

▲A beaming Father Christmas reading to three happy young children.

▲A London Underground train (metro) being decorated with foliage for the Christmas Season

▲Even Father Christmas follows the war time safety precautions as he arrives, complete with tin helmet, at Harrods in London.

▲Sandbags protect a shop window at Selfridges in London, during the first Christmas of the Second World War. A surreal experience if ever there was one!

▲Boys have festive fun in a London air raid shelter during Christmas. As the war progressed, many children were evacuated away from cities into the countryside.

▲Wild animals such as lion cubs are among the newest cuddly toys on sale in shops throughout the Christmas of 1930. It is believed that the popularity of the Pets' Corner at London Zoo has helped sell these popular children's gifts.

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As many of us gear up for Christmas, have you ever wondered how the festive season was celebrated in the past? Tradition for the most part has been maintained—shopping, a tree, gifts, and lots of decoration. And as a time of reflection and an excuse to gather together family and friends, nothing has changed.

But over the years the way we honor this special occasion has moved along as times have changed... and this makes for some fascinating imagery of a bygone era, with many religious and cultural celebrations leading up to and including December 25.

Browse the gallery for a nostalgic throwback to Christmas past.