<!-- wp:html --><p>A family gathers around the Christmas tree while a young girl opens her present.</p>
<p class="copyright">Mike Kurtz/Getty Images</p>
<p>Through the years, families have decorated their homes for the holidays.Tinsel-covered <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/day-in-life-professional-christmas-decorator-business-celebrity-houses-2020-12" rel="noopener">Christmas trees</a> and brightly colored stockings are trends that now seem dated.However, holiday light displays have only become more spectacular.</p>
<p>With the holiday season in full swing, many families are decking the halls.</p>
<p>However, some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-christmas-photos-historical-2017-12" rel="noopener">decorating trends</a>, like tinsel, ceramic Christmas trees, and colorful stockings, feel more nostalgic than on-trend.</p>
<p>Take a look back at how people decorated their homes for the holidays in years past.</p>
<div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">By the 1920s, some families were decorating their Christmas trees with electric lights, instead of the long-held tradition of attaching lit candles to branches.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A family with a Christmas tree, between 1921 and 1924.
<p class="copyright">Universal History Archive/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">By the 1930s and '40s, families were decorating their Christmas trees with festive candy canes and strands of tinsel.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A young girl helps to decorate a Christmas tree in Newton, Massachusetts, in December 1939.
<p class="copyright">Archive Photos/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">However, wartime shortages in the 1940s also meant families had to conserve with handmade ornaments and less tinsel than usual. </div>
<div class="slide-image">A family looking at a Christmas tree in 1948.
<p class="copyright">Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Christmas stockings were typically made of red or green felt and trimmed with bells.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A girl hangs a stocking on a fireplace in 1951.
<p class="copyright">Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">By the mid-1950s, tinsel and other elaborate decorations were back in full swing.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A boy and his sister decorate a Christmas tree with tinsel in 1955.
<p class="copyright">Orlando/Three Lions/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Hanukkah tables were decorated with ornate tablecloths.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A table setting for Hanukkah in Los Angeles, California, mid-1950s.
<p class="copyright">Underwood Archives/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Ornaments became more uniform, and colored lights came into fashion.</div>
<div class="slide-image">American actress Jayne Mansfield decorates a Christmas tree, circa 1960.
<p class="copyright">Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">For holiday meals, families would break out a red tablecloth and festive-colored taper candles.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A mother bringing a large turkey to the table for Christmas dinner, circa 1965.
<p class="copyright">L. Willinger/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Strands of pearlescent beads were used to decorate Christmas trees in the 1960s ...</div>
<div class="slide-image">Children looking at a Christmas tree in 1965.
<p class="copyright">Bettmann/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">... and some families, like President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, decorated their trees with strands of popcorn, colorful flowers, and mismatched ornaments.</div>
<div class="slide-image">Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, on the eve of her 55th birthday, standing in front of the White House Christmas tree in 1967.
<p class="copyright">Bettmann/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">"Flocked" trees covered in fake snow were also trendy in the 1960s. People DIY-ed the look by dipping their tree branches in laundry starch.</div>
<div class="slide-image">People stand in front of a flocked tree in 1963.
<p class="copyright">Denver Post/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Lawn ornaments like snowmen and reindeer also grew in popularity.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A residential street decorated for Christmas in 1962.
<p class="copyright">William Gottlieb/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Families in the 1970s embraced colorful decorations with tinsel garlands and knit stockings.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A family sits by a fireplace and a Christmas tree in 1975.
<p class="copyright">Photo Media/ClassicStock/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">One popular decoration was the light-up ceramic Christmas tree. The lights were often multicolored and in the shape of miniature birds.</div>
<div class="slide-image">Vintage tabletop glazed ceramic bisque Christmas tree with multicolored lights in dark.
<p class="copyright">Joseph Connors/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">Christmas villages were also popular, and people would collect different scenes to create a miniature town for their mantel.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A Christmas village scene shows a church and people ice skating.
<p class="copyright">Crispin la valiente/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
<div class="slide">
<div class="slide-title">While many trends have stayed the same through the years, elaborate light displays are one trend that would have seemed out of place 100 years ago.</div>
<div class="slide-image">A house decorated with Christmas lights in the early 2000s.
<p class="copyright">J. Irwin/Classicstock/Getty Images</p>
</div>
<div class="slide-content"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-houses-decorated-for-holidays-christmas-decorations-2023-12">Business Insider</a></div><!-- /wp:html -->
A family gathers around the Christmas tree while a young girl opens her present.
Mike Kurtz/Getty Images
Through the years, families have decorated their homes for the holidays.Tinsel-covered Christmas trees and brightly colored stockings are trends that now seem dated.However, holiday light displays have only become more spectacular.
With the holiday season in full swing, many families are decking the halls.
However, some decorating trends, like tinsel, ceramic Christmas trees, and colorful stockings, feel more nostalgic than on-trend.
Take a look back at how people decorated their homes for the holidays in years past.
By the 1920s, some families were decorating their Christmas trees with electric lights, instead of the long-held tradition of attaching lit candles to branches.
A family with a Christmas tree, between 1921 and 1924.
Universal History Archive/Getty Images
By the 1930s and ’40s, families were decorating their Christmas trees with festive candy canes and strands of tinsel.
A young girl helps to decorate a Christmas tree in Newton, Massachusetts, in December 1939.
Archive Photos/Getty Images
However, wartime shortages in the 1940s also meant families had to conserve with handmade ornaments and less tinsel than usual.
A family looking at a Christmas tree in 1948.
Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images
Christmas stockings were typically made of red or green felt and trimmed with bells.
A girl hangs a stocking on a fireplace in 1951.
Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images
By the mid-1950s, tinsel and other elaborate decorations were back in full swing.
A boy and his sister decorate a Christmas tree with tinsel in 1955.
Orlando/Three Lions/Getty Images
Hanukkah tables were decorated with ornate tablecloths.
A table setting for Hanukkah in Los Angeles, California, mid-1950s.
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Ornaments became more uniform, and colored lights came into fashion.
American actress Jayne Mansfield decorates a Christmas tree, circa 1960.
Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
For holiday meals, families would break out a red tablecloth and festive-colored taper candles.
A mother bringing a large turkey to the table for Christmas dinner, circa 1965.
L. Willinger/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Strands of pearlescent beads were used to decorate Christmas trees in the 1960s …
Children looking at a Christmas tree in 1965.
Bettmann/Getty Images
… and some families, like President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, decorated their trees with strands of popcorn, colorful flowers, and mismatched ornaments.
Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, on the eve of her 55th birthday, standing in front of the White House Christmas tree in 1967.
Bettmann/Getty Images
“Flocked” trees covered in fake snow were also trendy in the 1960s. People DIY-ed the look by dipping their tree branches in laundry starch.
People stand in front of a flocked tree in 1963.
Denver Post/Getty Images
Lawn ornaments like snowmen and reindeer also grew in popularity.
A residential street decorated for Christmas in 1962.
William Gottlieb/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images
Families in the 1970s embraced colorful decorations with tinsel garlands and knit stockings.
A family sits by a fireplace and a Christmas tree in 1975.
Photo Media/ClassicStock/Getty Images)
One popular decoration was the light-up ceramic Christmas tree. The lights were often multicolored and in the shape of miniature birds.
Vintage tabletop glazed ceramic bisque Christmas tree with multicolored lights in dark.
Joseph Connors/Getty Images
Christmas villages were also popular, and people would collect different scenes to create a miniature town for their mantel.
A Christmas village scene shows a church and people ice skating.
Crispin la valiente/Getty Images
While many trends have stayed the same through the years, elaborate light displays are one trend that would have seemed out of place 100 years ago.
A house decorated with Christmas lights in the early 2000s.
