There’s so much tradition to pack into December that it’s no wonder Christmas seems to start before autumn does these days. London has always been crazy for Christmas, though – just check out the gallery below, which shows the city in festive trim from the past.

A children’s Christmas party at the Hoxton Mission, London, 18th November 1933

A family look at the sparkling lights on the Christmas tree at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, 16th November 1938

Christmas at night on Regent Street, 1960

Christmas atmosphere on Electric Avenue, Brixton, London, 1908

Christmas decorations on Electric Avenue, Brixton, 1911

Christmas lights on Regent Street, 1955

Christmas shopping on Oxford Street, London, 1937

Christmas trees in Covent Garden Market, 1952

Crowds of Christmas shoppers on Oxford Street, London, December 1936

Father Christmas delivering presents to the Children’s Aid and Adoption Society at Leytonstone, 20th November 1931

Father Christmas hands out presents to children at the Aid And Adoption Society home at Leytonstone, 1938

Father Christmas walks on the streets of wartime London, 23rd December 1940

Mod Christmas decorations on London’s Carnaby Street, 1967

Sandbags are placed outside the shop window at Selfridges to protect it during the first Christmas of World War II, 1939

Santa Claus drives a motorcycle past a bus through Oxford Street, London using the sidecar to hold his toys, 1949

Taking the Christmas tree home, Chelsea, London, 1915

The Regent Street Christmas lights on evening, London, 1960