December 1942. "New York. Corset display at R.H. Macy & Co. department store during the week before Christmas." Behold the $12.29 "average figure" corselette. Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size.

From the "Linda" Kodachromes, circa 1950s, somewhere in New England. A place at the table, just for you. Gravy, anyone? View full size.

        One hundred years ago -- yet it seems like just yesterday that we first posted this.

New York, December 1913. "Christmas tree, Madison Square." 8x10 glass negative, G.G. Bain Collection. View full size. Happy holidays from Shorpy!

December 1942. "New York. R.H. Macy & Company department store the week before Christmas. Children line up to talk with Santa Claus. There are two Santas, concealed from one another by a labyrinth to prevent disillusionment of the children. Each child is presented with candy and tells Santa his or her desires." Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size.

December 1953. Continuing the Look magazine series "night photographs of houses decorated for Christmas." You know what they say about people who live in glass houses -- they don't throw Christmas parties. At least not until they can afford curtains. From photos by Jim Hansen and Bob Lerner. View full size.

Pennsylvania circa 1958. This little boy was evidently on the "nice" list. (Isn't it funny how Santa and Uncle Bert have the same eyeglasses?) Note the abundance of mid-century tchotchkes. 35mm Kodachrome found on eBay. View full size.

December 1, 1951. "Shopping center, Great Neck, Long Island, New York. Wanamaker's. Lathrop Douglass, architect." A toy display and its audience of tots. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.

From around 1953, in a bathroom somewhere in New England, comes this curious Kodachrome from the "Linda" series of slides that your webmaster found on eBay. This would be a much less precarious scenario if the household observed a strict lid-down protocol. In any case we have a Christmas party to get back to, but business before pleasure. Excuse us for a sec, will you? View full size.

        The spherical tree, the scattershot expressions, the faint undercurrent of anomie and alienation -- yes, it's our annual holiday dispatch from the family of Washington, D.C., lawyer Raymond Dickey, who has a decade's worth of Christmases preserved in the archives of the National Photo Company. Their 1918 portrait, with an Army surgeon and map of World War I Europe, is even more dire than usual.

"Dickey Christmas tree -- 1918." 8x6 inch glass negative. View full size.

From the Linda Kodachromes, circa 1957, comes this unlabeled slide of posters for the school Christmas play on December 16, so get your tickets soon. WHS is, as near as we can figure, Whitefield High School in New Hampshire. View full size.

"Christmas 1957." Having seen the boy toys at Kermy and Janet's house in Baltimore, we now move on to the girl gifts, which include Little Miss Revlon and Betsy McCall dolls as well as a Fun With Needlepoint Kit ("Make your own horse"). What else do we recognize here? 35mm Kodachrome slide. View full size.

"Christmas 1957" is the label on this slide from the Kermy and Janet Kodachromes, taken at their house in Baltimore. Gifts include a Revell model aircraft carrier and something called the Shopping Center Game. View full size.

December 1921. "Christmas tree -- Dr. Julio Bianchi, Guatemalan minister in Washington during the Herrera regime." National Photo Co. View full size.

December 1953. "Outdoor Christmas decorations." Color transparency from photos by Jim Hansen and Bob Lerner for Look magazine. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1928. "Chez Curtis shop, Connecticut Avenue." With a chic little Christmas tree. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.