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The holiday-shopping season is here.
Though Black Friday itself is becoming less and less important thanks to the rise of online shopping and frequent discounting year-round, many retailers have been prepping for the shopping season for months. In some cases, stores set their Christmas displays up as early as October .
This year, holiday spending is expected to top over $717 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. And the holiday shopping craze isn't new — long lines and hectic crowds have always accompanied holiday shopping, long before the term "Black Friday" was coined.
The photos below show how holiday shopping has changed — and stayed the same — since the early 1900s:
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Macys has long been a destination for holiday shoppers.
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AP Photo
This 1933 photo shows shoppers in New York City, admiring the window displays of a department store.
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Library of Congress
Men dressed as Santa stood in the streets, collecting charity donations ...
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Library of Congress
... and children gathered around the windows to see the extravagant displays.
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Library of Congress
The streets would be packed with shoppers ...
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Library of Congress
... and vendors would set up shop, selling Christmas postcards for as little as one cent.
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Library of Congress
Window displays became more extravagant through the years. This photo from 1946 shows shoppers gathered around a "Nutcracker Prince"-themed display window.
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AP Photo
Massive crowds are something that has remained the same throughout the years. This photo from 1995 shows shoppers in a hectic Macys store around the holidays.
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AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
Stores were absolutely packed. This Macys store in San Francisco was as hectic and crowded in 2004 as stores were a decade prior.
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2004 AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Department stores have always had extravagant holiday decorations inside, too, in addition to the festive windows.
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AP Photo/Ed Bailey
Window displays at department stores continued becoming more lifelike and intricate.
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AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Not all holiday displays are as over-the-top as those in department stores. Many shoppers now go to stores like Walmart and Target for their holiday shopping instead of the more high-end department stores.
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AP Photo
And it seems like Christmas displays are set up earlier and earlier this year. This year, holiday displays hit some stores in early October.
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Kena Betancur / Getty Images
But one thing that has remained the same is the crowds of shoppers that come to stores throughout the holiday season.
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Gunnar Rathbun / AP Images
See Also:
- These are the best stores to shop for toys now that Toys R Us has died
- A doll with a bizarre name has become the biggest toy of the holiday season by taking over YouTube with unboxing videos
- We visited Family Dollar, the store that analysts say is becoming Dollar Tree's biggest problem. Here's what we found.
SEE ALSO: Here are the most over-the-top gifts on Neiman Marcus' guide for the ultra-wealthy