20 Historic Photos of San Antonio Celebrating Christmas
It's no secret that San Antonio loves the holiday season. It seems such has been the case for awhile, given these historic photos of old San Antonio. Here's a look at the Alamo City getting in the holiday spirit back in the day.
Photos courtesy of UTSA Libraries Digital Collections
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Anyone who was in San Antonio in the '60s surely remembers Fantasyland at Joske's.
This was truly a winter wonderland.
In this 1950 photograph, you can see the Christmas lights hung on the Gibbs building. Note the Christmas tree, from the city's Rotary Club, set up behind the Alamo Cenotaph.
While this photo is undated, you can see the city's official Christmas tree on display in Alamo Plaza.
Downtown San Antonio was plenty festive with subtle decorations along the city streets.
The tamaladas back in the '50s must have been poppin'. Here you can see meat counter workers at La Gloria Food Market.
At the SA Fire Station No. 12 in 1938, this presumed firefighter can be seen constructing a display to draw in visitors.
In this 1939 photo, you can see choir boys from Central Catholic High School. The boys, dressed in the traditional vestments, sung carols during the Christmas season to serenade folks downtown.
While the days of toys filling window displays may be long gone, you can peep this 1939 photo to relive that era. Here you can see two shoe shine boys (hello, child labor) getting excited about these toys.
Joske's didn't play around with its holiday decorations. Just take this giant Santa Claus display as proof.
