Ebenezer Scrooge here. All I have to say about 2020 is, “Bah humbug.”
Just kidding, but we are going to have a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past this morning — past pictures that is. Asheville has a few holiday photos worth a share to remember the good times of togetherness + the holidays of years long past.
Pictures hold a lot of memories, including everything from the good, the bad, and the down right holly jolly. Let’s see what Asheville looked like in previous years around the holidays.
Antler Hall, Biltmore Christmas party, 1903 or 1904. Cornelia (age 3 or 4), Edith, and George Vanderbilt are standing in the front row on the right. | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Oteen Hospital, 1920 | Photo via Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville
Wilma Dykeman and her father, 1929 | Photo via Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville
Asheville firemen and children, 1929? | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Christmas Hop dance card, 1931 | Photo via Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville
Denton’s Department Store after-Christmas sale flyer, 1932 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Mary Lee and Betty Cecil George, 1934 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Christmas tree in a private home, 1940s | Photo via Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville
Man and woman in military uniforms wrapping presents at the Grove Park Inn, 1944 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Kitchen staff at Tingle’s cafe at Christmas, 1947-55? | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Christmas party at Leath House on Grove St., 1948 | Photo via Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville
Downtown Asheville in 1960 | Photo via Special Collections, D. H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville
Practical nurses Christmas party, 1960s | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Christmas tree decorating at the Brooks-Howell Home for “retired Missionaries and Deaconesses,” 1974 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Christmas at Biltmore, 1974 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Asheville Christmas Parade, 1985 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Pack Library’s Bookmobile decorated for the Asheville Christmas Parade, 1989 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
“Art Deco Meets Gingerbread,” 1989 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
The riders of the ABLS float before Asheville’s Christmas Parade, 1998 | Photo via NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library
Check out more context for the photos from the D.H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville here. Browse the NC Collection, Pack Memorial Library (and find even more holiday photos) here.
Asheville restaurants, cafes, and diners serving up all the eggs, pancakes, shakshuka, mimosas, and other brunch favorites that will start your day off right.
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