Vintage Christmas: Best 1950s Holiday Inspiration

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All about 1950s Christmas, including a bit of 1950s history, Christmas dinner, Music, Trees, Santa, Presents, Gift-wrapping, Parades, Decorations, Fashion, and Christmas movies

This post is all about 1950s Christmas

This is part of our Vintage Christmas series:
Gorgeous Holiday & Christmas Outfit Ideas From the 1940s
Ultra-Glam Holiday & Christmas Outfit Ideas From the 1930s

As the holiday season approaches, you drift off to sleep in front of a crackling fire, with Elvis Presley crooning White Christmas in the background...

And in your dream, you imagine what holidays looked like in the 1950s.

Vintage Decor… 

Glitzy Old Hollywood glam evening wear or perhaps matching pajamas…? 

Retro Christmas trees with piles of presents…

Today, we’ll look back at how the 1950s celebrated the most wonderful time of the year!

1950s Vintage Holiday Historical Context: Major World Shifts

First, to get the full picture, you need to understand the 1950s setting.

In contrast to the harrowing and scarce years of World War II, the 1950s America was like a boomtown. A time of wonderful prosperity.

With extra money in their pockets, families loved spending their money experimenting with new holiday foods and cooking lavish holiday feasts together. 

Also, going all out with holiday decor and rounding up the perfect holiday outfit was so much fun!

Instead of looking to Germany, the United States started producing their own Christmas ornaments, toys, and special traditions.

Vintage Christmas (1950s):  Christmas Dinner

The Christmas feast of yesteryear was centered around cherished family recipes passed down through the generations.

The main star of the Christmas feast was…?

A glorious centerpiece of meat. A slice of turkey anyone? Dark meat or light?

Menus evolved as new products were introduced in the 1950s.

Green bean casserole anyone?

This delicious savory side dish was invited in 1955 by the Campbell Soup Co. testing kitchen.

It continues to be a popular holiday dish today.

Other favorite ingredients for appetizers and sides included jello, cream, and bacon.

(Is anyone else getting hungry yet?)

Vintage Christmas (1950s):  Christmas Dinner with Grandma

I don’t know about you, but our Grandma (born in 1932!) would sit down at her kitchen table and type individual copies of her famous traditional recipes for us. 

Her trusty old-fashioned type writer was the stuff of legends.

What were a couple of the incredible vintage recipes that were a must for Grandma’s 1950s inspired traditional Christmas dinner?

Grandma’s 1950s holiday feast would include a meat centered course, a couple of savory sides, and a host of delicious fruit and jello salads.

And of course, mouth-watering desserts.

A sampling from Grandma Hanson’s Christmas spread included:

•  Turkey or ham
•  Green bean casserole (of course made with Campbells soup!)
•  Brussel sprouts and bacon 
•  Creamed corn (so easy with just creamed corn + crackers + milk/butter)
•  Red ribbon jello salads (strawberries + strawberry jello + cream cheese)
•  Bixby jello salads (green lime jello + celery + cottage cheese + nuts — surprisingly delicious) 
•  Frozen marshmallow frozen fruit salads (with mayo + whipped cream)
•  Homemade fudge (so creamy and rich, with being overtly sweet!) 
•  Cookies galore! (chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, thumbprint cookies (with jam in the middle), and snickerdoodle cookies)

(If you’re dying to recreate these vintage treats, we’ve got you covered, as we plan to dedicate a post in the future to sharing Grandma’s legendary holiday recipe collection.)

If you can’t tell, our awesome Grams always had (and still has) a sweet tooth!

For those who lived in the city, and got milk delivered, the milkman still made his rounds on Christmas morning.

Ho ho ho! what’s not to love about fresh milk to pair with warm homemade chocolate chip cookies?

Vintage Christmas Season (1950s): Christmas Carol Singles & Music

Can anyone image Christmas without the iconic big band holiday tunes from Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley?

Why do many of the original 1940s and 1950s Christmas songs continue to be most popular holiday music?

In the 1950s, not only was there a legendary line up of talent, but there were major technology advances. 

Some of the most popular 1940s-1950s Christmas music that continues to spread nostalgic holiday cheer include:

• “White Christmas” – Bing Crosby (Best-selling Christmas/holiday single, and best-selling single of all time!)
• “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” – Jimmy Boyd 
• “The Chipmunk Song” – The Chipmunks 
• “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – Judy Garland 
• “Jingle Bells” – Frank Sinatra 
• “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” – Frank Sinatra, Sammy Kaye, & Various Big Band Artists 
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – Gene Autry 
• “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole 
• “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee 
• “Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms
• “Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)” – Doris Day 
• “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” – Bing Crosby

And of course, the King of Rock n’ Roll, Elvis Presley was one of the biggest artists in the 1950s. His 1957 Christmas Album (RCA Victor) is the best-selling Christmas album of all time worldwide.

Although there are no Elvis Presley originals in this twelve song album, yet his original arraignments of the classics “Blue Christmas” and “White Christmas,” caused some drama for 1950s housewives.

Even though this was a 1950s tradition, we cannot imagine Christmas without Elvis crooning in the background.

This was music we always played at Christmas, since it Grandma’s favorite. 

“Let’s play Elvis’ White Christmas” — Grandma, every Christmas.

Vintage Holiday Season (1950s): Christmas Trees

“Christmas: the only time of year you can sit in front of a dead tree eating candy out of socks.” – Unknown

What types of Christmas trees were popular in the 1950s?

There were three types of popular Christmas tree styles in the 1950s. These included glittering tinsel trees, futuristic aluminum trees, and real trees. 

Although kind of funny looking by modern standards, tinsel trees were very popular in the 1950s. They never required watering and stayed shiny all season long!

In the late 1950s and into 1965, the futuristic space age aesthetic of aluminum Christmas tree styles were a fad.  

These trees were made from aluminum and covered in foil needles. Plus they lit up with a rotating color wheel. Talk about retro cool!

Families in the 50s were fascinated with space exploration and technology.

And last, but not least, was the real Christmas tree.

“Flocking” real Christmas trees to achieve the magical ‘snowed-on’ look was a huge hit.

What’s more magical than bringing the glittering snow inside?

What was Grandma’s favorite Christmas tree?

A flocked Christmas tree was (and is) Grandma Hanson’s favorite Christmas tree.

Growing up with these, flocked trees continue to be our favorites too! 

Vintage Christmas Holidays (1950s): Visiting Department Store Santas

Legend has it that Santa Claus’ first visited a department store in Massachusetts in 1890.

The 1950s ushered in a new and very popular retail venue experience–the glorious indoor mall.

This had lots of stores under one roof, and was climate-controlled. 

1950s malls were the prime location for the North Pole winter wonderland magic and Santa workshop displays.

Of course for this big experience, parents lined up their little ones to meet Santa.

Vintage Christmas (1950s): Writing Letters to the North Pole

Writing letters to Santa started in the mid 1800s.

It was popularized with pictures, poems, and illustrations of St. Nick.

Thomas Nast, a 19th century cartoonist is credited with creating the adorable vintage modern image of Santa Claus! 

His famous illustration in the 1871 Harper’s Weekly showed Santa Claus reading and sorting mail from the good and bad children.

Plus it spilled his secret address to children. Santaclausville, North Pole!

Don’t you just adore this vintage rendition of Santa that looks so familiar to how he is depicted today?

In the 1950s, childhood Christmas traditions included mailing letters to Santa.

Vintage Christmas Season (1950s): Influence of Pop Culture on Christmas Presents

In the 19th century, Germany was the toy making capital of the world.

But after World War II, industries and toy manufacturers sprang up in the US.

Pop culture exploded as popular kids shows on the radio and TV skyrocketed.

Westerns and hit TV shows like The Adventures of Superman were hugely popular.

A whole new category of TV toys were launched copying plots and heros from kids’ TV shows. 

So what were popular 1950s gifts for boys and girls?

In the 1950s, Christmas presents for boys and girls were heavily influenced by the 50s pop culture and reflective of the era’s gender norms. These nostalgic toys have a special and enduring vintage charm. 

Vintage Holiday Season (1950s): Christmas Presents for Boys

Davy Crockett was the ultimate frontier Superman whole stole hearts and minds in the smash hit TV shows and 1955 film. 

He “routinely killed bears bare-handed, pursued truth and justice, and carried the weight of America on his shoulders.” –Envisioning the American Dream

Suddenly vintage frontier flintlock rifles, coonskin hats, and powder horns were a top ask from Santa.

Time Magazine dubbed 1955 as the “The Year of the Coon Skin Hat.” 

Crockett frenzy was in full throttle.

Legend estimates that a whopping 3,000 different Davy Crockett products launched!

Also, the highly popular Roy Rogers craze included every copycat toy imaginable. This included Roy Rogers pjs, tents, watches, and even toy models of the cowboy’s jeep, Nellybelle.

Oh, and the Lionel electric train was a huge hit–both for boys and for their Dads.

Other favorites included anything with wheels (trucks, police cars, etc.), sports gear (baseballs, footballs, and football helmets), as well as chemistry sets for the budding scientists. 

Vintage Christmas Holidays (1950s): Christmas Presents for Girls

Just as the boys toys encouraged masculinity, gifts for little girls encouraged femininity.

Girls’ gift sets like the “Little Homemaker Pastry Set” included all of the household gadgets a girl needed to be 1950s housewife, from a fancy eggbeater and juicer,  to bowls, spoons, and a rolling pin.

The “Glamour Girl Beauty Kit” was a little’s girls make-up set dream.

It had a brush, comb, mirror, and her very play makeup and dressing tray. Just like Mom at her make-up vanity.

Of course dolls were hot picks too. These ranged from barbies, to doll sets with outfits, and accessories.

And dressing up as a cowgirl and frontier woman to assist Davy Crockett was a huge hit in the 1950s.

Just ask Santa for the “Polly Crockett” coonskin hat for girls with white “fur”.

Of course a couple of other popular toys for both boys and girls included bicycles, Radio Flyer red wagons, rocking horses, play doh, Mr. Potato Head, toy sets, hoola-hoops… the list goes on.

Vintage Christmas (1950s): Gifts for Him 

What better way to show off your macho manliness than do-it-yourself?

The do-it-yourself craze was in full steam for men in the 1950s. 

Men were fascinated with their automobiles. So, car packs and accessories to keep their wheels in tip top shape were a sure hit.

Home fix-it kits, workbench tools, and wood-carving knives were also popular. 

A backyard and grilling were also central to 1950s American culture, so outdoor equipment and grilling supplies were great gifts.

And of course for guys into sports or hunting, all kinds of gear for these sports was available. 

And what 50s guy didn’t want TVs, cars, or razors?

And don’t forget those soft packages.

No matter how old her boy was, so many mothers loved to gift new shirts, ties, and socks to their boys. 

Vintage Holiday Season (1950s): Gifts for Her

What presents were popular in the 1950s for women?

For the classy 1950s lady, gifts to make a woman even more ladylike and beautiful, or practical ones that helped in the homemaking department were a big hit.

Christmas gifts catered to the 1950s housewife persona?

Think make-up, often in glitzy holiday containers (like jeweled gold lipstick tubes), pretty cosmetic cases, and aromatic bubble baths. 

Other 1950s gifts included jewelry, like diamond watches (for the more wealthy) and clothing (dainty lingerie, pajamas, you name it!). 

What girl wouldn’t want those gifts today?

Also, more practical gifts for the nifty 1950s lady included sewing machines and dishwashers… Not sure if these would go over as well today. 😆

What do you think of this cool vintage Cadillac 1950s Christmas car advertisement? The keys appear to be wrapped in a jewelry case! Hummm… do you really think she’d be that excited for a new car?

And of course, don’t forget all of the spectacular 1950s cigarette Christmas ads for him and her? That’s not such a healthy habit. That should be a No, no no… not a Ho ho ho! 

If you love the 50s housewife aesthetic, you might like:
Women’s 50s Fashion: Vintage 1950s Housewife Dresses

Vintage Holiday Season (1950s): Christmas Wrapping — It’s a Big Deal!

“A sloppily wrapped package, or one too gaudy or too skimpy, indicates poor taste, indifference, or lack of skill—and inevitably detracts from the pleasure intended.” — Drucella Lowrie in her 1950 “The Art of Wrapping Gifts” book.

The art of wrapping gifts was a very important element of 1950s Christmas.

Dozens of how-to guides were published in the 1950s to instruct in this important craft. 

Families built happy and special memories together, while expressing creativity.

The 1940s mindset was that the wrapping was just as important as the gift itself.

This continued to be a tradition with our Grandma, who arguably spent just as many hours wrapping the gifts, as she did shopping for them.

She is the one who taught me how to wrap and how to twirl the ribbon ‘just so.’

Do you have a similar memory from your Grandma?

Vintage Christmas Holidays (1950s): Christmas Cards

Christmas cards were a special and important element of 1950s holidays. 

During the holidays, a hand-written Christmas card was often the only communication one had with a loved one. 

Plus what better way to remind someone far away of the true meaning of Christmas?

The vintage kitsch of 1950s Christmas design styles has an enduring retro atomic age charm. 

(Atomic Age designs are those produced from 1940 to 1963 when the Western world was gripped with nuclear fears.)

Are you looking for a 1950s vintage mid-century modern Santa Claus Christmas card to spread the charm of yesteryear to a loved one? 

Or perhaps you want a vintage 1950’s mid-century retro Santa card? 

A couple of great spots to find these would be Etsy and Swirly World.

They have are lots of fabulous vintage options with free shipping. 

Vintage Christmas (1950s): Christmas Parades

Christmas parades were a big hit and important holiday tradition in the 1950s.

Millions of people would gather in towns and cities across America to celebrate 1950s Christmas parades.

Other fabulous Christmas parades across the country included Mars and Space Cadet floats, and those featuring Santa Claus coming to visit.

Vintage Christmas Season (1950s): Christmas Decorations

The sky was the limit when it came to decorating your home for the holidays in the 1950s.

The 1950s Christmas ornaments were beautiful and came in almost every color and shape imaginable, from silver bells, to stockings, to reindeers, to snowmen, to snowflakes, to the iconic round balls or baubles. 

Novelty lights included the “high-tech” bubble lights. 

These vintage Christmas lights were shaped like candles with a charming art deco base. When warmed, the liquid inside would bubble gentle, throwing off a cozy flickering candle effect. 

Electric tree toppers, like angles or stars, as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, were also popular.

And for those who opted for real Christmas trees, decorative tree stands to hold water. “Drink up, Thirsty Mr. Christmas Tree!”

Vintage Holiday Season (1950s): Christmas Movies

Of course, no Christmas season would be complete without curling up in front of the crackling fire with your your favorite classic Christmas film playing in the background.

Some of the most magical Christmas films were produced in 1940s and 1950s. 

For an inside look at what Christmas looked like in 1950s, start with these classics:

•  Danny Kaye musical White Christmas (1954)
•  Bob Hope comedy The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
•  Humphrey Bogart comedy We’re No Angels (1955)

For the full list of the greatest holiday films:
Best 40s & 50s Christmas Movies & Vintage Holiday Fashion.

Vintage Christmas Holidays (1950s): Festive Attire

Curious what families wore for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Of course the everyday 1950s classy everyday style was elevated to a whole new level for the most wonderful time of the year.

From cozy retro pajama outfits, to chic and casual lounging wear, to glitzy formal evening wear, the 1950s styles continue to inspire.  

We’ve included a couple of favorites to perk your interest.

This post was all about 1950s Christmas

Do you have any special childhood Christmas memories to share?

What did you love most vintage Christmas time and holidays?

References
- Atkinson, Nora. “A Brief History of Sending a Letter to Santa.” Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institution, 16 Dec. 2015
- Vanover, Lori. “Here’s What Christmas Looked Like in the 1950s.” Taste of Home, 4 Dec. 2019, Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.
- “What a 1950s Christmas Was Like in Rural Alberta.” Reader’s Digest Canada, Trusted Media Brands, www.readersdigest.ca/travel/canada/country-christmas-nostalgia/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2024.
- “What Is a Flocked Christmas Tree? – Explained by Experts.” King of Christmas,  Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.