Christmas on the beach

Sun, sea, sand ... and Santa

Chris Wild

c. 1890-1978

A vintage colour illustration featuring children playing at the seaside and Christmas greetings. Credit: Popperfoto/Getty Images

Beauty queen as Christmas tree: Girl in her bathing suit with Christmas tree dressing on a Californian beach. Credit: Imagno/Austrian Archives/Getty Images

Visitors staying at the Branksome Towers Hotel in Bournemouth enjoying an unseasonable swim on a private beach at Christmas time. Credit: J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Christmas on the beach - bathers with medicine balls. Credit: Imagno/Getty Images

Santa Claus posing surrounded by young women in bathing suits on the beach of Venice, California. In fact, it is Fred Robert, a shoe seller who made a fortune. Dressed as Santa Claus, he shared his wealth by organizing a Christmas party to which hundreds of children were invited. Credit: Keystone-France

British soldiers tuck into a Christmas pudding at their post on the British coast, during the second Christmas of World War II. Credit: David Parker/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A group of women decorating a Christmas tree on the beach. Credit: Popperfoto/Getty Images

A family decorates their Christmas tree with balloons on the beach, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia. Credit: Howell Walker/National Geographic/Getty Images

Santa Claus on Miami Beach surrounded by young women In swimsuits. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

A Christmas tree on Saint-Petersburg beach in Florida. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Crowded beach at Christmas time in Playa Del Carmen on the Riviera Maya in Mexico. Credit: Rolf Adlercreutz/Getty Images

Father Christmas arrives at Cypress Gardens, Florida, on his surfboard. Credit: Alan Band/Fox Photos/Getty Images

Santa Claus on a beach in Florida. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images