Welcome to the Another Kind Of Advent Calendar! Every day until Christmas Eve, I’ll be posting a little something unexpectedly Christmassy for you in honour of the festive season. It’s been the weirdest year, so let’s have a bit of fun…

Is it just me, or is this photograph decidedly creepy? All those dolls… The fact that there’s very little information available about it makes it even more mysterious – and most of what I can tell you is frustratingly vague and incomplete.

Taken some time between 1910 and 1915, possibly in New York City, and distributed via the Bain News Service, this image shows a department store Christmas display window absolutely chock-full of a disturbing number of dolls.

The darker side of Christmas presents?

Don’t have nightmares…

If you’re feeling festive, you can find lots more Christmas reading and watching from me here – there are now over a decade’s worth of seasonal posts to explore…