Holiday memories dating back to the 1920s include Joske’s Fantasyland and giant Santa, the Alamo Plaza Christmas tree, Elf Louise and more.
Editor's note: This story has been updated from its original version, which published Dec. 1, 2021. Next to Fiesta , Christmas in San Antonio may be the most puro picture-perfect time of the year. That holiday spirit is captured in these photos of the Alamo City from Christmas es Past.
Back when those old visions were new, it was as if the River Walk shined a little brighter with its Christmastime bulbs blinking in trees and luminarias lining the banks. Santa seemed even larger than life, thanks to a giant replica of the big guy on the old downtown Joske’s store. And who could forget all those decades of Las Posadas, the re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter on the eve of Jesus’ birth, and how its ties to both Catholicism and Mexican culture are so entwined in the city’s very DNA? Just like that postcard sentiment, we wish we were there. Here are several vintage seasons greetings from San Antonio to take you back. Christmas tree in Alamo Plaza, circa 1925 A giant Christmas tree in Alamo Plaza was a San Antonio staple for generations. This photo shows a tree going up circa 1925, though news archives trace the tradition back to 1914. But there wasn’t always a towering Christmas tree near the Cradle of Texas Liberty. The city briefly ditched the idea in the mid-1970s to focus more on decorating the downtown streets and River Walk for the holidays. Less than a decade later, then-Mayor Henry Cisneros revived the tradition. Then in 2017, the city moved its official Christmas tree and lighting ceremony to Travis Park in anticipation of changes to the plaza. The move prompted a small grassroots protest with tiny Christmas trees across from the Alamo. The following year, H-E-B, which has long donated the giant 50-foot tree, added a smaller tree to the plaza. Snow in San Antonio, December 1929 It may be the closest we ever got to a white Christmas. Published Dec. 22, 1929, by the San Antonio Light, this photo of the former Municipal Auditorium, now the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, shows a huge Christmas tree in front with honest-to-goodness snow. “San Antonio’s municipal Christmas tree was completed just in time to receive the genuine decoration from the hands of Old Jack Frost himself,” the accompanying caption read. On Dec. 21, 1929, San Antonio got about 3 inches of the white stuff. The powder was part of a historic Texas snowstorm, which dropped as much as 2 feet of snow in 24 hours in Clifton just north of Waco. Downtown San Antonio, 1947 Long before the River Walk first saw Christmas lights along its banks, the downtown streets have welcomed all with all sorts of holiday illumination. Here’s a 1947 view of East Houston Street looking east from St. Mary’s Street. Christmas lights on the River Walk, 1975 The first River Walk lighting ceremony occurred Nov. 28, 1975. Here’s how the River Walk looked in December that year. Fun fact: When the River Walk Association, back then called the Paso Del Rio Association, ran out of money to finish the lighting job, KTSA Radio helped save the day with a fundraiser that sold sponsorships of River Walk light bulbs to listeners for 55 cents each. River Walk luminarias, 1983 Christmas luminarias, Spanish for “little lanterns,” go back to 16th century Mexico as a means of lighting the way for a Las Posadas procession. Today, the Ford Fiesta de las Luminarias lights the River Walk with more than 2,000 luminarias. Pictured is the Fiesta de las Luminarias in 1983. Giant Santa on Joske’s, 1956 Boys and girls of a certain age in San Antonio still remember the 30-foot mechanical Santa Claus that once sat atop the former downtown Joske’s department store, which closed in 1987. Here, the supersized St. Nick overlooks Alamo Plaza in December 1956. It’s unclear when the bearded giant first took a seat above the flagship Joske’s store, but for years his real-life counterpart joined him topside as part of an elaborate show. On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a Joske’s Santa would appear at San Antonio International Airport to meet children. Then the San Antonio Fire Department would rush him downtown to Joske’s in a fire engine. There he’d climb a ladder up to the Joske’s roof, where he’d wave alongside his giant twin and then slide down a 25-foot chimney. Joske’s Fantasyland, 1965 Joske’s elaborate Fantasyland display dates back to at least 1960; the bygone department store advertised “the greatest Christmas attraction ever seen in the Southwest” in the San Antonio Express on Nov. 15, 1960. Pictured is the Fantasyland at the downtown San Antonio Joske’s in 1965. The attraction more than lived up to its billing. Fantasyland featured a kid-friendly train that transported two dozen tykes around a snowy forest full of silver Christmas trees. Meanwhile, more than 100 animatronic animals danced at the miniature bakery, toy shop and other stores that lined Christmas Lane. North Star Mall Santa, 1992 San Antonio’s oldest mall has had its own Santa since its first holiday season in 1960. A few months after North Star Mall opened in September 1960, the mall unveiled giant candy cane displays and Santa on a big throne to chat with the children. North Star pics with Santa have pretty much been the norm ever since. In this December 1992 photo, Sarah Bickham holds her 16 month-old-son Brin as he figures out what Santa Claus is all about. Las Posadas, 1971 The Christmas pageant known as Las Posadas dates back to late 1500s Mexico as part of country’s winter solstice festival. The re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter on the eve of Jesus’s birth gets its name from the Spanish word for “lodging.” In this Dec. 22, 1971 photo, a Las Posadas procession features performers as Mary and Joseph followed by children as they travel down the street near St. Frances Cabrini Church. San Antonio has held such a procession from the River Walk to San Fernando Cathedral since the 1960s. Blue Santa, 1990 San Antonio’s Blue Santa program started in 1976 when police officer Tom Preston and some fellow officers bought and distributed toys to underprivileged children. Preston later brought Blue Santa to life with a special navy blue version of Santa’s garb. In this 1990 photo, Preston as Blue Santa collects toys from San Antonians on the steps of City Hall with SAPD Sergeant Frank Stanford. Elf Louise, 1974 Santa’s other special helper in San Antonio is Louise Locker, better known as Elf Louise. Locker launched the gift-giving Elf Louise Christmas Project in 1969 while a student at Trinity University. What started with just a few friends collecting gifts for kids in 13 families has since brought smiles to 1.5 million children. Today the program has around 5,000 volunteers, who each year deliver gifts to 20,000 kids. Locker, a breast cancer survivor, retired from the program in 2020. In this 1974 photo, she poses with Christmas gifts yet to be wrapped. rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz
Vintage San Antonio Giant Santa KTSA Radio Catholicism Blue Santa Alamo San Antonio Light Texas Liberty Paso Del Rio Association Tobin Center For The Performing Arts San Antonio Fire Department River Walk Association North Star North Star Mall Santa SAPD Trinity University Elf Louise Las Posadas Jack Frost St. Nick Joseph Jesus Mary Brin Henry Cisneros Sarah Bickham Tom Preston Frank Stanford H-E-B Fantasyland San Antonians Louise Locker @Reneguz San Antonio Alamo Plaza River Walk Blue Santa Alamo City Downtown San Antonio Mexico Mexican Cradle St. Mary's Street East Houston Street Blue Santa Texas North Star Mall Clifton Waco Spanish Travis Park Municipal Auditorium San Antonio International Airport San Fernando Cathedral St. Frances Cabrini Church Fantasyland San Antonio Joske City Hall Fantasyland Southwest Christmas Lane Christmas Christmastime Alamo Plaza Christmas Tree Christmases Past Snow Elf Louise Christmas Project Twitter Locker Fiesta Ford Fiesta De Las Luminarias
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