This has always been the time of year when people splurge on presents for loved ones to open on the big day.
Join us, then, as we look through our photo archives for the shopping frenzies of Christmas past.
Back in 1996, it looked like the St Nicholas Centre was the place to be to pick up those all important gifts, judging from this hectic scene.
The 60s were a bit more sedate when it came to Christmas shopping, but stores pulled out all the stops with their festive displays. Check out Northern Co-op’s famous arcade on Loch Street in Christmas in 1969.
Sharp elbows must have been the order of the day for the spending spree on the last Saturday before Christmas in 1971.
Even Christmas shoppers need a bit of a break from all that buying. In 1989, Oodly Doodly the clown was on hand to entertain youngsters in Union Street.
Not even snow and ice could put off these hardy shoppers, picking up last minute presents just three days before Christmas in 2010.
Shops weren’t the only things going like a fair in 1988. Courtesy of the Aberdeen City Centre Association, street entertainment was on offer each Sunday in the run up to Christmas Day, with Punch and Judy shows, silver bands and carnival rides.
Christmas shopping has to include a trip to see Santa for the little ones. In his Smurfs’ Cave in Arnotts store in 1983.
Job done for these shoppers, who raised their parcels for the camera at a bus stop in Union Street, with Bon Accord Round Table members in close attendance to raise funds for charity, on December 23 1985.
Let there be light… and shopping. People flocked to the Bon Accord Centre in 1990 to watch the festive lights being switched on, then immediately got down to the serious business of Christmas shopping.
It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Esslemont and Macintosh in 1968, with its twinkling decorations, designed to bring in the shoppers.
