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Classic Christmas Photos

Vintage Holidays

From skiing with the Kennedys to tree trimming with Sophia Loren, it’s the time of year to remember holidays past. See pictures of Christmas through the years.

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From skiing with the Kennedys to tree trimming with Sophia Loren, it’s the time of year to remember holidays past. See pictures of Christmas through the years.

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Santa Claus surfs with Lisa Seconda in Florida on December 13, 1978.

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Rockette seamstress Leanne Mitchell takes the final measurements on the Rockettes' costumes at Radio City Music Hall.

AP Photo
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An exhausted Father Christmas wearily answers another child's question on Dec. 19, 1953, at Harrod’s department store in London.

John Chillingworth, Picture Post / Getty Images
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Elvis Presley poses by a Christmas tree at his home in Memphis in 1960.

AP Photo
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One Santa was a hit with the ladies on a beach in Miami in the early 1960s.

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Santa and several children piled their sleigh with presents for a ride at the North Pole Workshop in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

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At her villa in Rome on December 23, 1971, Sophia Loren decorated her tree—wearing head to toe Christian Dior.

AP Photo
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Two of Santa's more alluring helpers decorated an underwater Christmas tree in a pool at Cypress Gardens, Florida, in 1968.

Alan Band, Fox Photos / Getty Images
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The Christmas tree in the White House Blue Room gets a visit from a young Caroline Kennedy on Dec. 13, 1961, as she inspects it before a party for White House employees given by her parents. In the background are her aunt, Jean Kennedy Smith and cousin Stephen Smith, Jr.

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Three children in pajamas looked out of their snow-covered window in 1955.

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One woman planted a Christmas tree in the sand on the beach in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the 1960s.

Getty Images
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John F. Kennedy Jr. got a ride from his his uncle Ted Kennedy on the slopes in Stowe, Vermont, in 1964.

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Actress and competitive swimmer Esther Williams offers a Coke to her snowman in Sun Valley, Idaho.

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Water-skiers sent a message, “Merry Xmas and Happy New Year To Y’all,” in Cypress Gardens, Florida, in 1969.

Alan Band, Fox Photos / Getty Images