Ah, the Christmas shopping rush of a century ago, before malls, online shopping and big-box stores.

On Thursday, Dec. 24, 1925, most stores in downtown Victoria stayed open from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. just to catch the last-minute stragglers.

The local economy was strong; the newspapers reported that businesses were doing well and fewer people were living in poverty. That prosperity was reflected in the busy aisles of stores.

The Daily Colonist built excitement with a vivid description of shopping that Christmas season.

“Yesterday and the day before the streets and shops were a joyously bewildering spectacle to the ‘country cousin,’ unaccustomed to so much movement and clamour as the shopping district presented any time between 4 and 6 o’clock in the afternoon or in the early part of the evening,” the Colonist said.

“Even the town dweller, seasoned to average commotion and bustle, caught a pleasant titillation of excitement from the unusual coming and going and elbow-rubbing became a part of the technique of the great Christmastide paean of goodwill.”

Those people were ready to buy, it seems.

“All the indications were of free-handed spending,” the Colonist reported. “Not on very big things at this late hour, but on cups and saucers, lampshades, calendars, the latest novel, candies and........

© Times Colonist