Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

With the holidays right around the corner, it's the perfect time to see what an old-fashioned American holiday season looked like. The Boston Public Library has a collection of photos by Leslie Jones, a photographer who documented daily life in the city for The Boston Herald-Traveler for 39 years.

"In those 39 years, Jones left a comprehensive visual portrait of Boston’s people, events and built environment," curators at the Boston Public Library's print department wrote in an email to Business Insider. "He had an eye for whimsy as well as an ability to capture the pathos of the human condition."

Allen & Co. Fruit and Produce selling Christmas Trees, 1930.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Boston City Hall decked for the holidays, 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Filene's department store in the Downtown Crossing shopping district in Boston, 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Gilchrist's flagship store in downtown Boston, 1950.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Houghton & Dutton department store on Washington Street in downtown Boston, 1915.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Jordan Marsh department store in downtown Boston went with a nativity scene, 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

RH White department store in downtown Boston, 1952.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Secular decorations on another entrance of the Jordan Marsh department store, 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Selling wreaths at Quincy Market in downtown Boston, 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

St. Francis Seminary in Boston, taken somewhere between 1936 and 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

The Mural Lounge in Kenmore Square had a display complete with Santa and his sleigh, 1939.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

The sign on another entrance to Boston City Hall called for "A Happy, A Holy, A Joyous Christmas To All," 1954.

Vintage Photos of Christmas in Boston

Trinity Church in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, 1954.