Archived newsletter
This newsletter is archived. The information contained within the newsletter was correct at the time of publication.
Looks like our ancestors loved a Christmas bargain, too
We have all become familiar with the modern pre-Christmas marketing hype surrounding shopping events like Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
These bright, brash sales tend to add a nostalgic glow to the seasonal commercialism of yesteryear, but no doubt the desire to make a sale or bag a bargain was as strong then as it is now.
This issue’s images from the North Yorkshire County Record Office archive offer snapshots of the build-up to Christmas over the past 100 years or more, from high-quality sales to church bazaars.
These archive images are among more than 6,500 available at the County Record Office. Browse the collection or buy photos.
If you have any further information about any of the images on this page, our archivists would be keen to hear about it. Please email yny@northyorks.gov.uk
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The cover of the Times Book Club Christmas Catalogue from 1943, again from the Furness family of Otterington Hall archive.
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A Kays of Shetland knitwear brochure from the archive of the Furness family of Otterington Hall. The date is unknown, but probably mid-20th century.
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The cover of a programme from 1905 for a Christmas bazaar in aid of the organ fund at All Saints' Church, Northallerton.
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Pages from a programme from 1905 for a Christmas bazaar in aid of the organ fund at All Saints' Church, Northallerton.
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Pages from a programme from 1905 for a Christmas bazaar in aid of the organ fund at All Saints' Church, Northallerton.
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A Christmas circular from W Rowntree & Sons of Scarborough from 1882, promoting “their first extensive show of this kind” for which they would “much esteem a visit of inspection”.
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That first show must have gone well, because W Rowntree & Sons were back the following year with this Christmas Fancy Goods Show circular.
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A Thirsk Traders’ Association Christmas notice about closing over the Christmas and New Year period, between 26 December, 1921, and 4 January, 1922. It suggests longer periods of closure than most traders would expect these days.
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An advert for Christmas cards, on the back page of The Young Ladies’ Journal, from 1 December, 1886.