The Festive Season in pictures from the GNM Archive

Christmas 1957 in the surgical ward at the Duchess of York Hospital for Babies
Photograph: Guardian

The crew of the frigate Amazon and a distinguished auxiliary sailor take on a cargo of Christmas trees and presents for delivery to service personnel in Gibraltar Photograph: Guardian

An advert by London Midland and Scottish Railway encouraging readers to spend the festive season in London. Published by the Manchester Guardian, 3 December 1925 Photograph: Guardian

Original artwork for the front page of the 1992 Christmas TV Guide by Posy Simmonds. In 2006 the GNM Archive acquired a large collection of Posy's original artwork from 1977 to 2004
Illustration: Posy Simmonds for the Guardian

Lighting up London. In 1978 Trafalgar Square’s famous Christmas tree was switched on by the Norwegian Ambassador Mr Frithjof Jacobsen
Photograph: Frank Martin for the Guardian

Choosing a good one, selecting a Christmas tree from Delemere in Cheshire, November 1985
Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian

Boys of Donhead Lodge Choir, Wimbledon College, sing Christmas carols in Trafalgar Square in aid of Save the Children in 1967
Photograph: Peter Johns for the Guardian

An advertisement for the National Children's Home published in the Manchester Guardian, 17 December 1935
Photograph: Guardian

Police constable Gil Boyd dressed as Santa pauses to talk to a young patient while abseiling down the eight storey Great Ormond Street Hospital building. His 1983 descent raised £1,000 for the hospital
Photograph: E. Hamilton West for the Guardian

Sleigh out of service Santa? British Railway Father Christmas talks to passengers on a platform in 1962. This picture is just one of thousands taken by Jane Bown for the Observer now catalogued and preserved in the GNM Archive
Photograph: Jane Bown for the Observer

Six of the fifty Christmas trees to be displayed at the Hayward Gallery in London, 1986
Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

The 1959 Observer Christmas card designed by Haro Hodson depicts a Yuletide scene with a gentleman reading a copy of the Observer. Haro's artwork appeared in The Observer between 1948 and 1964 and the GNM Archive is now home to 1600 of his original illustrations
Illustration: Haro Hodson for the Observer

Fun in a cold climate in 1971. Eighty children from the National Children’s Home at Harpenden spent two days in Iceland as guests of the Alpine Everest Group
Photograph: Frank Martin for the Guardian

Getting into the festive spirit, Santa hands out sweets to jockey Ian Shoemark at Lingfield Park in 1988
Photograph: Kenneth Saunders for the Guardian

Look out behind you! Training at a Santa school in 1995
Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Seasonal signs, a brisk trade in Christmas trees at a Forestry Commission selling point in Oxfordshire, 1977 Photograph: Guardian

Fortnum and Mason advertising Christmas hampers to send to the troops in wartime. The advert lists two types of hampers, the 'services food hamper' and the 'comfort hamper' with the last posting date for both being the 12 December. Published in the Manchester Guardian, 10 December 1939 Photograph: Guardian

First page of The Little Match Girl comic strip illustrated by Posy Simmonds and published in the Observer Colour magazine on the 23 December 1984. The draft sketches and the final illustrations for the Little Match Girl make up part of the Posy Simmonds collection held by the GNM Archive
Illustration: Posy Simmonds for the Observer

The 1975 Christmas tree at London's South Bank was the focus of a £3.5million appeal for the preservation of Canterbury Cathedral Photograph: Guardian

In 1980 the Guardian corporate Christmas card, illustrated by Les Gibbard, went to print as usual but a rather obvious problem was soon spotted. At that time the paper had a reputation for typos and the Christmas cards were instructed to be pulped. Luckily for the GNM Archive, one young employee in the Marketing department managed to smuggle a card out the building. It was graciously returned to the editor in 2011 and has now joined the Guardian archive collection
Illustration: Les Gibbard for the Guardian

'It is not too late to shop with the customary ease and freedom with which one associates the name Kendals.' Advertisement placed in the Manchester Guardian, 8 December 1919 Photograph: Guardian

All together now... Ho Ho Ho! Lessons at a Santa School in 1995
Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

'Christmas drinky' by Berger and Wyse published by the Guardian on the 9 December 2011. The cartoons of Berger and Wyse have entertained readers of the Guardian since 2003 and the GNM Archive now hold a collection of their original artwork
Illustration: Berger and Wyse for the Guardian

Children traveling on the Worth Valley Railway, the five mile preserved track running through the heart of Bronte Country in Yorkshire, all received a present from the line’s own Father Christmas, 1979. The GNM Archive holds a considerable photographic collection of Denis Thorpe's work from 1950 to 2000
Photograph: Denis Thorpe for the Guardian

Please help the Salvation Army to help others this Christmas. Advertisement placed in the Manchester Guardian, 17 December 1932 Photograph: Guardian

A game to help Edward Heep find his way home from the pub on Christmas Eve. 'All you need is a dice and counters.' Original artwork illustrated by Posy Simmonds in 1980
Illustration: Posy Simmonds for the Guardian