Christmas around the world, throughout history
Christmastime; mill races, cutting the Christmas cheese, turkey auctions and sidewalk Santas.
From the traditional yuletide rituals to the more unique, here are just some of the ways the festive season has been celebrated throughout the years around the world.
Britain's King George VI and his family attended Christmas morning service in the Sandringham Estate Church, Norfolk, Dec. 25, 1936. From left to right; King George VI; Princess Elizabeth; Princess Margaret Rose and Queen Elizabeth. Other members of the royal party are not identified. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)
Mrs Frances Corless and her daughter "Chickie" are loaded down with bundles after doing some last minute shopping at Macy's on Christmas Eve in New York, Dec. 24, 1946. (AP Photo/Carl Nesensohn)
A Christmas Eve shopper with his daughter and a crated rocking horse tries to hail a cab outside Macy's department store in New York, Dec. 24, 1946. (AP Photo/Carl Nesensohn)
Robert May, a Chicago advertising writer, places his hand on his creation "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" in front of his home in Skokie, Ill., Dec. 19, 1949. May dreamed up "Rudolph" in 1939, at the request of his boss. The firm used the character as a Christmas promotion. (AP Photo/Ed Maloney)
Last minute Chistmas Eve shoppers gather in front of Macy's window display in New York, Dec. 24, 1946. (AP Photo/Carl Nesensohn)
The scene at Smithfield, London's famous meat market, on Dec. 23, 1962, the last Sunday before Christmas, as shoppers attended turkey auctions following reports that the birds were being sold at giveaway prices. (AP Photo/Bob Dear)
Berkshire farmer W.G. Humphreys and his wife pictured outside 10 Downing Street, London, on Dec. 19, 1963, before presenting the traditional Christmas turkey to the Prime Minister. The bird, a gift from the British Turkey Federation, weighed 38lb. (AP Photo/Bob Dear)
Pope Paul VI smiles as he holds a white lamb given to him as a Christmas gift in suburban Fidene, outside Rome, Dec. 25, 1965. Pope Paul celebrated Mass in the local church of Santa Felicita. (AP Photo)
The Christmas tree market of Kotche, Czechoslovakia, on Dec. 19, 1968. (AP Photo)
John, played by David Morris, Peter Pan, played by Dawn Addams, Wendy, played by Alison Fraser, and Michael, played by Douglas Mann, make their first flight during a rehearsal for the Christmas pantomime Peter Pan at the Scala Theatre, London, on Dec. 14, 1964. This is the first time Addams has appeared in the role. (AP Photo/Brian Calvert)
Using a Sergeant Major's sword, Fred Shears, right, a 96 year old Chelsea Pensioner, performs the age old ceremony of cutting the English Christmas cheeses at London's famous Royal Hospital, Chelsea, on Dec. 10, 1970. The tradition dates back to 1691 when the hospital instructed a London cheese monger to supply pensioners with "cheese from Gloucestershire at 3 pence a pound". (AP Photo/Eddie Worth)
Christmas is a busy time in Japan too and a festive time for the people who make decorations. Shops & stalls are overflowing as the colorful decorations are put on display in the central wholesale area, Asakusabashi, Dec. 4, 1968. The toys and decorations are mostly for export sales but there is large business for domestic use too. (AP Photo)
Vienna's Christkindlmarkt, Christmas market, in front of the City Hall, background, was opened at the end of November, seen on Dec. 1, 1976. (AP Photo)
A picturesque windmill sets the scene as skaters take part in the traditional mill race on a frozen canal on the outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Boxing Day, Dec. 26, 1961. A second mill is seen in the far background. The mill races are a traditional Christmas event in the Netherlands. (AP Photo)
Lights transform Paris’ world-famous Eiffel Tower into a giant Christmas tree on Dec. 7, 1978. View is from the Palais de Chaillot, with Iena Bridge in foreground. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy)
Pictured here is a view of St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Dec. 24, 1984, with a Christmas tree and a nativity scene. (AP Photo)
Each year in the pre-Christmas time the citizens of the Bavarian village Andechs stage a living crib to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. Seen here on Dec. 6, 1983, several hours each day they pose with the animals even in temperatures below zero. (AP Photo/Wolfgang Rattay)
Thousands of pilgrims gather in Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve to observe high mass in the town of Christ's birth in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 25, 1985. (AP Photo/Anat Givon)
Sidewalk Santas line up at the Lincoln Center in New York City on Nov. 27, 1987, to kick off the Volunteers of America annual fundraising effort in New York who have used the Santas for 80 years. Behind them is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Animals destined for the stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York on Nov. 13, 1986 are led to the stage door by their co-stars, the Rockettes dancers. A variety of animals, including camels, sheep and donkeys, will star in an annual Christmas production. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett)
Regent Street, one of London's busiest shopping districts, is decorated for Christmas, 1989. (AP Photo)
A view of St. Peter's Square filled with tourists and faithful during the Pope's "Urbi et Orbi" blessing, delivered from the window of his apartment in the Apostolic Palace, not visible in the photo, at the Vatican, Monday, Dec. 25, 1995. At left, at the foot of the obelisk, the Nativity scene with life-size figures and a giant Christmas tree. (AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti)
Thousands of Christmas revellers flock to Australia's Bondi Beach in Sydney, Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, in what has become a Christmas tradition for holiday-makers and travellers from the northern hemisphere. Here flags from the United States, England and Canada are flown to mark territory on Australia's most famous beach. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)