Do you have any photographs of Christmas parades in Canterbury? If so, feel free to contribute to our collection.
Kete Christchurch is a collection of photographs and stories about Christchurch and Canterbury, past and present. Anyone can join and contribute.
A picture is worth a thousand words and there are few things more mesmerising than that tradition of perusing old photograph albums.
As Hal Boyle (1971) put it:
Memory is more than a dustbin of time, stuffed with yesterday’s trash. Rather, memory is a glorious grab at the past from which one can at leisure pluck bittersweet experiences of times gone by and relive them.
Christchurch City Libraries has a wealth of digitised photography, and who doesn’t like a good trip down memory lane?
New Zealanders have been celebrating Christmas in style and with flair for many moons, so in the spirit of the season, here are some highlights from our Christmas Images collection:
Father Christmas delights Cantabrians whether arriving in his old fashioned automobile or in his blow up dinghy:
The fashion phenomenon of the onesie goes way back:
They dressed up for the occasion:
The tradition of the Christmas Parade in Christchurch began in the 1930’s with T.J Armstrong & Co. Then around 1947, the Christchurch Santa Parade was launched by retailer James Hay. Hay’s Christmas Parade was immensely popular with children and families:
Today, the custom continues:
Where to go to find more Christmas Images?
Is it the same Superman who was in the 2007 Santa Parade? I think so!
Explore our sampler of Christmas photographs from our collection. We also have images of the Hay’s Christmas Parade.
Browse DigitalNZ sets of images:
More images
Explore our sampler of Christmas photographs from our collection. We also have images of the Hay’s Christmas Parade.
Browse DigitalNZ sets of images:
More images
![Photo of T. Armstrong & Co's Christmas float outside their High Street store [ca. 1930]](https://i0.wp.com/christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Photos/Disc16/IMG0052.jpg)
Explore our sampler of Christmas photographs from our collection. We also have images of the Hay’s Christmas Parade.
Browse DigitalNZ sets of images:
More images
A Christmas parade passes along Colombo Street, Christchurch. Circa 1930
Like what you see? Complete this form to order an image. If you have any further information on any of the images, or if you would like to donate images to our collection please contact us. Want to see more? You can browse our collection here.
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