1/56Perry family gathering on Stradbroke Island, Christmas 1885. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
In pictures: Queensland’s Christmas past
Christmases of the past may have included scary-looking Santa Claus masks and smileless photos, but Queenslanders still celebrated the festive season in similar ways.
2/56A Christmas card sent to the Brisbane Post Office from the Postmaster General of Great Britain and Ireland in 1897. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
3/56 Girls from the Trackson family playing on the verandah of their Newmarket home on Christmas day, 1900. The two older girls are having a tea party with their dolls, while the younger girl, on the right, has fallen asleep in a toy cart. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
4/56 A Queensland Police Service Christmas card from 1900. It was signed by the Commissioner of Police, W.E. Parry-Okeden, with artwork ny by A.A. Wright. This is the front and back cover of the greeting card. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
5/56 A photograph of the Miller family at Christmas in Maryborough, 1900. This was a card sent by Mr T. Miller to the MacKeller family in the early 1900’s. Mrs T. Miller is wearing the large hat. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
6/56 Men, women and children gathered around a wooden dinghy on the banks of the Noosa River at Christmas, 1904. The women are dressed in long skirts, blouses and hats. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
7/56 Christmas in the bush (Smoko), 1905. A group of workmen enjoying a tea break after the billy has boiled somewhere in the bush in Queensland during Christmas, 1905. The postcard was sent to Roy Arnold from his brother Charlie and is titled Smoke O! Credit: State Library of Queensland.
8/56 Santa Claus on his way to the Hospital for Sick Children in 1905. The caption with the photo reads: With her usual kindness Mrs. Marchant has presented £5 worth of toys to the inmates of the Hospital for Sick Children this year. These were conveyed to the Hospital on Friday in a pretty little cart drawn by the smallest pony in Queensland - Mr. J. Kilroe’s Sir Hercules. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
9/56 Christmas at Wellington Point, 1906. Wellington Point was a popular resort for Queenslanders, especially for people from Brisbane. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
10/56 Christmas Day at the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, Stradbroke Island, 1906. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
11/56 Camping at Wellington Point during Christmas, 1906. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
12/56 1907. Norma, Ronald and George Linning at ‘Baroona’ in Glamorgan Vale, taken at Christmas, 1907. The children sit in perambulators on the grass in front of the house. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
13/56 The families of C. and D. Whitehouse and J. and W. Brimblecombe together for Christmas at the Tupcott property in Laidley, 1908. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
14/56 Christmas postcard featuring a coloured view of Queen Street, Brisbane during Christmas 1908. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
15/56 Harold and Amy Blaxland with Dorrie and David, Christmas 1908. Inglenook, Mt Jukes Coffee Plantation, near Mackay. Credit: State Library of Queensland
16/56Aross the years: Rathdowney State School Christmas picnic, 1909. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
17/56 Immigrants’ first Christmas in Queensland. Photo taken at an unknown location in 1911. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
18/56 Christmas swimmers, Wellington Point, 1911. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
19/56 Christmas at the L’Estrange family’s home, Coralyn, in Herston, 1912. The caption with the photo reads: Back row, left to right: Elizabeth L’Estrange; Mary; Harry Alder; William L’Estrange; Guy, first on the horse, with Geoff Alder behind, Will Alder; Dolly Alder; Sis Canefort the nurse. Centre seated, left to right May Alder; Polly L’Estrange; Edgar L’Estrange, Grandma Alder with Joyce on her knee; Edward Barton; Doreen, (Billie) L’Estrange. Front seated on the ground left to right: First four Alder family. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
20/56 Game of rounders on Christmas day at Baroona, Glamorgan Vale, 1913. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
21/56 Christmas in Queensland Unidentified family on Christmas day in Queensland, 1918. The family group consists of two adults and five children. The lunch is taking place outside, with the side of a truck being used as a seat for three of the family. Pineapples are part of the meal. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
22/56 Unidentified family celebrating Christmas in Brisbane in 1920. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
23/56 Christmas Eve in Roma in 1922. Every Christmas Eve, the children of Roma were given an outing with Father Christmas by Hunters Ltd. According to the State Library of Queensland archives, this photo was published in the Sydney Mail newspaper on January 10, 1923. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
24/56 Christmas dinner with John Ledlie and family in Herberton, Far North Queensland, in 1924. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
25/56 A Christmas gathering at Harlin, outside of Kingaroy, in 1926. Credit: State Library of Queensland
26/56 A community Christmas tree, strewn with toys and gifts, is mounted on top of a cart in this Christmas, 1928 photo taken in the former Brisbane suburb of Cribb Island. One of the residents is dressed as Santa Claus. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
27/56 Camping at Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast during Christmas 1928. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
28/56 The Martin family in Cribb Island, Christmas 1928. Cribb Island is a former suburb of Brisbane. Credit: State Library of Queensland
29/56 Santa Claus getting ready to visit the Lady Musgrave Sanatorium for sick children in Shorncliffe, north of Brisbane, date unknown. The sanatorium closed in 1931. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
30/56 Two unidentified young women relaxing under a beach umbrella at Main Beach, Southport, during Christmas 1931. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
31/56 A group of people in front of a timber home during Christmas in the former Brisbane suburb of Cribb Island, 1931. Santa Claus is standing on a dais and there is a Union Jack flying in the background. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
32/56 Three unidentified young women sitting at Main Beach, Southport, during Christmas 1932. Credit: State Library of Queensland
33/56 A large crowd of men, women and children gathered outside the McWhirter’s building on Christmas day, 1933 while they wait for free food during the Great Depression. Free parcels of food were handed out to more than 4500 people. The McWhirter’s building was bordered by Brunswick, Wickham and Warner Street’s in Fortitude Valley. The view is of the Warner St face of the building. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
34/56 An unidentified little girl sits next to the Christmas tree on Christmas day somewhere in Queensland in 1935. Next to the girl is a doll’s bassinet on a stand, with a mosquito net attached. A model plane is on the floor, alongside a boxed tea-set and a small house. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
35/56 A Christmas party for incapacitated soldiers, possibly held in Brisbane, in 1939. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
36/56 Santa Claus on his plane as he entertains the children of RAAF personnel stationed at Archerfield in 1940. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
37/56 A Christmas party held at Nasco House in 1940. Nasco House was a welfare centre for members of the fighting services, providing meals and entertainment. It was near All Saints Church in Ann St, Brisbane. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
38/56 Little Pat Westman got a helping hand from Santa Claus at the Red Cross Fete held at Government House in Brisbane, 1940. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
39/56 Santa Claus arrives by a goat-drawn cart at the Queensland Musical Literary and Self-Aid Society for the Blind yuletide party in 1940. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
40/56 1942 The Morgan Family celebrate Christmas in an unidentified town in Queensland in 1942. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
41/56 A boat loaded with children enjoying a Christmas party in 1943. The boat is pictured on the South Brisbane reach of the Brisbane River. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
42/56 A Christmas party at the St George Shire Hall, December 1950. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
43/56 Lady Sybil Lavarack with her grandson, William, arranging Christmas cards in Brisbane in 1950. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
44/56 Unidentified guests at a Christmas party at Anzac House, Wickham Terrace, Brisbane, in 1954. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
45/56 Ladies examining material at a Christmas party at Anzac House on Wickham Tce in Brisbane, 1954. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
46/56Aross the years: Pre-Christmas rush at the Commonwealth Bank on the corner of Adelaide and Albert Streets in Brisbane in 1959. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
47/56 Birdsville children greeting Santa Claus after he arrived via a Royal Flying Doctor aircraft in 1960. Credit: Peter Godbolt.
48/56 Christmas decorations in Everton Park, Brisbane in 1965. Credit: State Library of Queensland.
49/56 Ellen Filmer, Doreen Scott, Mavis Sheppard, Sybil Gibson at a family Christmas in Wavell Heights in 1967. Credit: Paula Scott af Uhr.
50/56 The Scott family of Wavell Heights with extended family members on Christmas Day in 1967. Credit: Paula Scott af Uhr.
51/56 Elaine Sinnamon leaning against a palm tree on Christmas Eve, Thursday Island, Queensland, 1969. Credit: Elaine Sinnamon.
52/56 A large hoop pine acts as Brisbane’s Christmas tree in King George Square in December, 1971. Credit: Brisbane City Council.
53/56 Members of the Rolley and Croker families cooling off under the house and in toddler Neil Rolley’s blow up pool. The photo was taken in the Rolley’s backyard in Beaudesert on Christmas Day, 1972. It was Brisbane’s hottest Christmas day on record at the time, with the temperature hitting 39 degrees. Credit: Ailsa Rolley.
54/56 Women decorating Brisbane’s Christmas tree in King George Square, 1973. Credit: Brisbane City Council.
55/56 Christmas in Queensland Christmas tree, King George Square, Brisbane, 1981. Credit: Brisbane City Council.
56/56 Christmas tree, King George Square, Brisbane, 1985. Credit: Brisbane City Council.
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