It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
As December 25 draws ever closer, the DC Thomson archives team has unwrapped some photographs of people celebrating the festive season in years gone by.
There are also images of popular shop displays enjoyed by the public at Christmas.
Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy having another browse back through the ages courtesy of The Dundonian, which appears in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday.
Some of these photographs have not been seen for years.
Do they awaken any memories for you?
Christmas cards
The 500 staff working at the West Kingsway factory of Dundee’s iconic Valentines card company were being kept busy ahead of Christmas in 1955.
The factory girls were almost finished making the 1955 cards with nine weeks to go and most of the 1956 issue had already been designed to go to wholesalers in February.
Let there be light
The giant tree from yesteryear standing outside the Caird Hall in 1989.
The Christmas tree light switch-on was always special for Dundonians, who would watch as City Square dazzled under the illuminations.
A visit from the main man
This looks like a festive scene from Steptoe and Son.
Christmas came early for Dundee shoppers in November 1990 when Santa and his sleigh were pulled by a horse and visited City Square and the Wellgate Centre.
Wrapped up shopfront
The Christmas window display at Arnotts in December 1990.
The Arnotts department store was a fixture on the High Street in Dundee for 30 years before its closure was announced in June 2002.
In good voice
The sparkle of 10,000 bulbs and the cheers of 3,000 children cast the spell of Christmas over a packed City Square during the switch-on event in November 1996.
Dundee Schools Senior Choir, Braeview Academy Junior Choir, Dundee Choral Union and City of Discovery brass band performed throughout the city centre.
By land and by sea
Santa arrived in style at Broughty Ferry in December 1996.
He was all smiles after being brought in by the RNLI lifeboat and took up residence in the community for the week with his stint beginning at Broughty Ferry Library.
Santa on terra firma
A small crowd gathered at the Broughty Ferry harbour to welcome him.
He was kept busy in 1996 and was booked solid from Monday to Friday by pre-school groups but he still managed to find time to meet as many local children as possible.
NHS festive cheer
The annual hospitals’ Christmas carol concert taking place in the Caird Hall in 1996.
The massed choirs of Tayside, Fife and the Lothians served up a Christmas cracker in aid of the Malcolm Sargent Fund for Children.
Deck the halls
The Dundee home of Mike Brown became a festive visitor attraction for local children in December 1997 when he covered it with more than 1,000 Christmas lights.
Mr Brown told The Courier the inspiration had come from a scene in the 1989 comedy classic holiday movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Santa joins the Round Table
Christmas time in Broughty Ferry in December 1997.
Broughty Ferry Round Table’s annual Santa cavalcade was visiting many streets in the community in the weeks leading up to December 25 to raise money for charity.
Gillies display
The countdown to Christmas was on in Broughty Ferry at Gillies furniture store in 1999.
The decorations were looking resplendent, although the Gillies window display has evolved and become as much a part of Christmas as Santa Claus and Brussels sprouts.
Comic book heroes
Dundee entered into the festive spirit in style in 1999 when 15,000 people thronged the city centre to witness the switching on of the Christmas lights.
In Murraygate Desperate Dan and Dennis the Menace did the honours with the new flashing comic character lights displayed all along the street.
A Christmas concert taking place at RRS Discovery in December 1999.
The grand old ship provided the perfect backdrop for carol singing on the cobbles, although this part of the waterfront has since changed beyond recognition.
It’s the final image in our gallery.
Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories for you?
Let us know.
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