London: Christmas Card Fun
There was a time not that long ago, when people sent out hundreds of Christmas Cards every year to family and friends. As a kid, I remember having Christmas cards strung all around the house - literally hundreds of them. And if my Mom got a card for someone she didn’t send a card to, she would quickly write one and send it off and immediately add them to next year’s Christmas card list.
I think we use to get mail delivery twice a day at Christmas as there were so many cards to be delivered the mailman (yes they were all men in those days) couldn’t possibly carry and delivery them once a day. And everyone knew when the deadline was to send mail and packages so they would get there on time for Christmas. It was a critical deadline as Canada Post was the only game in town.
As kids we would often boast to our friends how many Christmas cards we got. Not dissimilar to how people today boast how many friends they have on Facebook or followers on Twitter and Linkedin. While technology has changed how we interact with family and friends, it hasn’t changed the primordial human need to celebrate our lives with others.
While I am not a big Christmas Card guy, I do love to take lots of photos of urban Christmas decorations and activities, so I thought a photo essay of the fun Christmas decorations from my recent visit to London could serve as as my modern Christmas Card to family, friends and followers. And give you a sense of how Londoners celebrate the Holidays.
Happy Happy Holidays Everyone!
That is the question????????
How playful is this entrance to a London hotel?
Every pedestrian street or plaza should have something like this?
Department stores like Fortnum & Mason still dominate the shopping culture in London. They are packed with shoppers at Christmas time - it is a feeding frenzy!
Detail of F&M’s Christmas facade.
Fortnum & Mason had London’s best traditional Christmas windows.
Another Fortnum & Mason window
Hamleys’ toy store is famous for its windows.
London’s City Centre had dozens of street with light displays strung around the road. At night they become very festive with thousands of people jamming the streets to eat, drink, shop and be merry.
There are dozens of pedestrian streets in London’s City Centre like this one that are bustling with shoppers and gawkers every night. The entire month of December seems like one huge Christmas festival.
Ugly Christmas sweaters were very popular in London this year.
You can’t tell from this photo but there was about 2 inches of water on the ice of this rink at the Natural History Museum. It was 12 degrees and raining but people were out skating. There are 7 temporary ice rinks created in London for the holidays.
Part of London’s Hyde Park becomes a huge Winder Wonderland midway (think Stampede midway) from late November to the new year.
It is not uncommon to see people walking home with a Christmas tree. The trees were very healthy, bushy and green, you had to double check they weren’t artificial.
London has dozens of street markets at Christmas, many of which are called “Christmas Markets” but are really just arts, crafts and trinkets markets.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Last Word
This is just a glimpse of how London’s retailers continue the tradition of decorating their streets, parks and windows for the Holidays. And how the public and tourist flock to their city centre to celebrate.
Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and fun and safe travels in 2020.