Christmas in London: then and now – in pictures

Photographer Christopher Ratcliffe has digitally merged the past with the present in a series of festive images. From sandbags in Selfridges in 1939 to Santa Claus at a Holborn bus stop in 1960, the photos deftly connect the old with the new

Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Main image: Parliament Square in 1938 and 2017 Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

  • Crystal snowflakes and aluminium stars hang in Regent Street on 30 November 1955. Christmas shoppers walk past the same spot on 23 November 2017
    Crystal snowflakes and stars made of aluminium hang in Regent Street on 30 November 1955. Christmas shoppers walk past the same spot on 23 November 2017

  • King’s College students sing carols outside the Old Curiosity Shop, as immortalised by Charles Dickens, on Portsmouth Street on 12 December 1956. The store was photographed again on 24 November 2014
    King’s College students sing carols outside the Old Curiosity Shop, as immortalised by Charles Dickens, on Portsmouth Street on 12 December 1956. The store was photographed again on 24 November 2014

  • Two police officers look at the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square on 1 December 1 1948. Tourists walk through the area on 23 November 2017
    Two police officers look at a 64ft Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square on 1 December 1 1948. Tourists walk through the area on 23 November 2017

  • Father Christmas carries his sack of gifts through wartime London on 23 December 1940. Shoppers walk along Regent Street on 24 November 2017
    Father Christmas carries his sack of gifts through wartime London on 23 December 1940. He has exchanged his civilian red hood for a military-style tin hat as the blitz rocked the capital. Shoppers walk along Regent Street on 24 November 2017

  • Sandbags protect Selfridges shop window in the run-up to the first Christmas of the second world war, on 16 December 1939. People stroll by the department store on 24 November 2017
    Sandbags protect a Selfridges shop window in the run-up to the first Christmas of the second world war, on 16 December 1939. People stroll by the department store’s festive window display on 24 November 2017

  • Father Christmas arrives at the Arding and Hobbs store in Clapham Junction on 2 November 1926. Shoppers walk past on 24 November 2017
    Father Christmas arrives at the Arding and Hobbs store on 2 November 1926 in Clapham Junction. Shoppers walk past on 24 November 2017

  • Men dressed as Father Christmas wait for a bus in Holborn in December 1960. Commuters wait at the same spot on 24 November 2017
    Men dressed as Santa Claus wait for a bus in December 1960. Commuters wait at the same bus stop in Holborn on 24 November 2017

  • Stable companions appear in Song of the Drum at Drury Lane theatre in Endell Street on 30 December 1933. Text on the pavement marks a loading bay on 23 November 2017
    Stable companions appear in Song of the Drum at Drury Lane theatre in Endell Street on 30 December 1933. Text on the pavement marks a loading bay on 23 November 2017

  • Selfridges in Oxford Street is illuminated by Christmas decorations on 6 December 1935. The department store sparkles decades later, on 23 November 2017
    Selfridges in Oxford Street is illuminated by Christmas decorations on 6 December 1935. The department store sparkles decades later, on 23 November 2017

  • Turkeys are auctioned in Smithfield market on 21 December 1968. Shoppers walk past on 23 November 2017
    Turkeys are auctioned in Smithfield market on 21 December 1968. Shoppers walk past on 23 November 2017

  • Christmas turkeys hang outside a poulterers in Watling Street in December 1923. The street has hardly changed by 23 November 2017
    Christmas turkeys hang outside a poulterers in Watling Street in December 1923. The street has hardly changed by 23 November 2017
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