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Christmas During the Cold War: A Curated Vision

December 17, 2019 by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe

(All videos courtesy of YouTube. If you have trouble loading just refresh your page.)

This Video from British Pathe shows Christmas in America and West Berlin 1963. The original title reads: “‘Season Of Giving And Cheer Is Here Again’. American voiceovered newsreel material.” The Christmas season is a bright one around the Free World. Shopping is a task for the brave as stores are crowded with Santa’s helpers. In Germany, for example, the streets are bright with Christmas lights. A tree is decorated on the Free side of the Wall of Shame.

Here’s what Christmas looked like in East Berlin that same year — from British Pathé.

This video from Rathergood is all you need to watch to understand a Communist Christmas.

Here’s a vision of Christmas from the 1950s — courtesy of Recollection Road.

Like retro toys? Here’s an hours worth of Christmas toy commercials from the 1950s,1960s, and 1970s. Thanks to Classic TV Commercials.

Christmas commercials from the 70’s including M&M’s Christmas Commercial — courtesy of
haikarate4.

Do they Know it’s Christmas ~ Band Aid 1984 from PhoneixRising100. Billed as the most important music video to be made in the last 40 years. What do you think?

Finally, there’s Gorbachev’s resignation and the fall of the Soviet Union on December 25,1991. SOVIETICO1917 presents a summary of the ITN news from United Kingdom, showing the global reaction to the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet withdrawal of the flag of the Kremlin and takeover of nuclear warheads by Boris Yeltsin.

I hope you have lots of fun watching. Here’s to the spirit of Christmas!

Filed Under: Culture

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