Vintage Photos of Old Hollywood Stars & Celebrities Celebrating Holidays Throughout History
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There are holiday parties, and then there are Old Hollywood holiday parties. Something about a New Year’s Eve celebration with Mae West in attendance or a Halloween bash with Jayne Mansfield on the guest list is just inherently glamorous. These stars brought the allure wherever they went. To get in the festive spirit—whether a holiday is quickly approaching or not—check out these vintage snaps of stars celebrating over the years.
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1920: New Year’s Eve
Richard Tauber and Lee Perry ring in 1920 with streamers and balloons. It was the last New Year’s Eve for quite some time where the champagne flowed—a few weeks later, the Prohibition Era began and didn’t end until 1933.
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1928: New Year’s Eve
A group of rising stars in the ’20s—Richard Taber, Agnes Esterhazy, Liane Haide, Grit Haid, Walter Rilla, and painter Rauscher—celebrate New Year’s Eve together.
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Circa 1930s: Thanksgiving
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney split a giant wishbone in the spirit of Thanksgiving. The inseparable duo starred opposite one another for years. “There was more than a love affair,” Mickey once said of their relationship, “It was so special. It was a forever love.”
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Circa 1930s: Thanksgiving
Joan Crawford carves a turkey for a Thanksgiving photoshoot. This was a common photo pose for stars of the era.
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1932: Christmas
Frankenstein star Boris Karloff and Academy Award winner Ginger Rogers hit it off at a Christmas party in Los Angeles. The celebration was attended by 200 of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities.
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1933: Easter
Years before actress Heather Angel voiced Mary Darling in the original Peter Pan, she posed as the Easter Bunny.
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1933: Halloween
Actress Lona Andre sits by a row of cornstalks for a Halloween photoshoot. It was an incredibly busy year for her, as she appeared in 10 different films.
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1935: New Year’s Eve
New York socialite Gloria Baker and producer Howard Hughes attend a party together at the Pation Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
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1935: New Year’s Day
A 5-year-old Shirley Temple breaks into 1935 with a smile. The year before had been a big one for the child actress, who appeared in her first major feature film Stand Up and Cheer!
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1935: Valentine’s Day
Actress June Allyson smiles at the camera during a heart-themed photoshoot. Just a few years later, she’d go on to make her Broadway debut in Sing Out the News.
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1936: New Year’s Eve
Actress Mae West poses for the camera in her usual glitz and glam. Years later, she released a holiday album titled Wild Christmas, featuring the song “My New Year’s Resolutions.”
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1936: Halloween
Louis Armstrong gets spooked while playing “Skeleton in the Closet,” a song from the 1936 movie Pennies From Heaven.
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1938: Thanksgiving
Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant pose in the garden of the S.S. Normandie, the French ocean liner that took them from Europe back to America just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
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Circa 1940s: Halloween
Ann Rutherford looks Halloween-ready holding a jack-o’-lantern on top of a pile of pumpkins. In 1939, she skyrocketed to fame in Gone with the Wind.
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1946: St. Patrick’s Day
Actress Adele Mara brought plenty of luck with her into 1946. Her hit film, The Inner Circle, was released just a few months after the holiday.
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1946: Easter
Joan Crawford and her 7-year-old daughter, Christina, model their matching Easter bonnets while vacationing in La Quinta, California. The accessories were made with pink straw, sweet peas, and turquoise bows.
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1946: Halloween
Ava Gardner casts a spell on Hollywood in this gorgeous Halloween look from 1946.
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1949: Easter
Bette Davis and her artist husband, William Grant Sherry, along with their daughter, Barbara, stroll through Central Park on their first Easter in New York. They were in the Big Apple for Sherry’s first New York art exhibit at the American British Art Center.
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Circa 1950s: Thanksgiving
Lucille Ball arrives at LaGuardia Airport in the freezing New York winter. She was so eager to get inside for Thanksgiving, she loaded some of her luggage into the limousine herself.
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1950: Thanksgiving
Marilyn Monroe takes on a turkey in this festive 1950 photoshoot. She was promoting her new film All About Eve.
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1950: Christmas
Elizabeth Taylor made the nice list in 1950 thanks to this gorgeous Christmas advertisement.
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1951: Valentine’s Day
Marilyn Monroe is a Cupid cowgirl for Valentine’s Day in 1951. She brought the popularity of Westerns in the ’40s to the next decade with her getup, complete with a fringed top, hat, and boots.
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1951: Christmas
Once again, Marilyn Monroe didn’t leave much to the imagination in this 1951 holiday snap, wearing a two-piece bathing suit and standing inside an oversized nylon Christmas stocking.
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1952: Valentine’s Day
It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without America’s sweetheart, Audrey Hepburn. The play that fueled her rise to fame, Gigi, would continue on for a few more months before its final curtain call on May 31, 1952.
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1952: Valentine’s Day
Marilyn Monroe was in yet another iconic Valentine’s Day shoot. This time, the snaps were taken to promote her upcoming movie, We’re Not Married, which debuted on July 11, 1952.
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1953: Russian New Year
Arthur Street, actress Anne Baxter, dancer Tamara Geva, and Count Woronzov toast at the Sherry Netherland, in celebration of the Russian New Year.
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1953: Fourth of July
Marilyn Monroe sure knows how to rock a holiday photoshoot. Here, she smiles for a July 4th photo, while promoting How To Marry a Millionaire, which came out just a few months later.
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1954: St. Patrick’s Day
Grace Kelly shines in an emerald strapless dress and white shawl during a St. Patrick’s Day photoshoot in 1954.
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1954: Christmas
Robert Sterling of Topper fame pulls out some mistletoe for a kiss from his wife, Anne Jeffreys. The lovebirds remained married until his passing in 2006.
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Circa 1955: Christmas
Dinah Shore, Burl Ives, and Gale Storm (and their ukuleles), film a TV Christmas special.
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