Dec 10, 2012

A holly jolly Bawlmer Christmas to you

Stokely Baksh 0 Comment From the Vault, Retrospective, The Baltimore Sun A. Aubrey Bodine, Baltimore, Baltimore Sun, Christmas, holidays, Jed Kirschbaum, Lloyd Pearson, Maryland, Richard Stacks, Walter McCardell, Weyman Swagger

11 photos

What does Christmas in Baltimore mean to you? Can it be viewing the wonderful light displays on 34th Street, visiting Santa for wishes of toys and puppies, amazed by intricate Christmas gardens or listening to merry tunes like “Crabs For Christmas.” In the latest retro installment from The Darkroom, we highlight Christmas trees, Santas, and decorations of years past. Take a stroll through memory lane or find tips for your holiday style. Photos featured include those from Sun photographers A. Aubrey Bodine, Lloyd Pearson, Walter McCardell, Richard Stacks, Weyman Swagger and Jed Kirschbaum.

: Joe and Donna Roberts of Timonium carry the first Christmas tree of their young married lives at the Locksley Tree Farm in the Jacksonville area of Baltimore. Dec. 14, 1981. (Jed Kirschbaum/Baltimore Sun)

: Santa Claus (Albert Magowski) waves from a mail truck in front of City Hall. Dec. 18, 1959. (Walter McCardell/Baltimore Sun)

: Youngsters who attend the Salvation Army Day Nursery sang Christmas carols when the doll display was shown to the public before being released for distribution. Dec. 20, 1960. (Albert D. Cochran/Baltimore Sun)

: A snow-covered Dutch village, featuring homes and windmills made by men at the station, is on display at the Brooklyn Park Fire Company. There also is a mural in the backdrop that was painted by a fireman’s wife to give the garden illusion of added depth. Dec. 27, 1964. (Richard Stacks/Baltimore Sun)

: Jake Ruppert, 3, kept a respectful distance for his conversation, showing the gamut of reaction to a Christmas symbol, Santa Claus. His sister Nicole Ruppert, 4, looks on. Dec. 1, 1976. (Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun)

: Charmaine Simms, 2, got a little frightened by a heavy Ho! Ho! Ho! from Santa Claus at the Sears department store on North Avenue. Dec. 1, 1976. (Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun)

: Residents of the 1100 block of Boxwood Lane in the Essex area have cooperated in setting up a Christmas display that has a Santa and his reindeer spanning five porch tops. Vernon Church adjusts the Nativity scene on the roof on one house in the block. Dec. 22, 1971. (Richard Childress/Baltimore Sun)

: The countryside has lost the leaves of summer and its beauty is now the stark and wintry kind, with bare trees seen silhouetted against the cold sky, but downtown Baltimore has sprouted its own seasonal foliage — Christmas tinsel and lights — as here in Lexington Market. Dec. 7, 1977. (Carl D. Harris/Baltimore Sun)