Only a few railroads took the opportunity to advertise around Christmas. Given limited advertising budgets, most aimed for the summer tourist season instead. But the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Pullman, and Union Pacific all did some creative Christmas-themed ads, and a few other roads ran an ad or two with Christmas or at least winter in mind. Click any image for a larger view.

This 1898 ad from the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern–a part of the New York Central empire–is the oldest Christmas ad I can find by a railroad. Compared to later ads it offers a nice soft sell.

This Pullman ad from just before World War II provides a gentle reminder that many people will visit home by train.

During the war, the Union Pacific ran a series of ads describing its contribution to the war effort. Like the others, its Christmas ad aimed more at boosting morale than generating business.

After the war, Pullman got a little more into the hard sell, such as in this ad from the December, 1948, Holiday magazine.

The New York Central and its rival the Pennsylvania ran a series of competing ads in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Not strictly a Christmas ad, this Pennsylvania ad reminds readers that trains run in almost any weather.

The New York Central echoes this theme in many of its ads.

No doubt influenced by Coca-Cola’s homey ads, the Pennsylvania ad would have us believe that children getting off streamliners finish their journeys home in one-horse open sleighs.

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“Give tickets–the gift that brings them home,” urges the New York Central.

Contrary to popular belief, our modern conception of Santa Claus wasn’t invented by the Coca-Cola Company, but these Santa-based ads look a lot like Coca-Cola ads. Partly this is just because of the illustration styles that were popular in the 1950s.

Another Santa Claus ad.

Except for the lack of a one-horse open sleigh, this New Haven ad resembles one of the Pennsylvania ads.

Speaking of the New Haven Railroad, this ad from Budd doesn’t mention Christmas but certainly offers a Christmas-like setting in the Leslie Ragan painting featuring New Haven Rail Diesel Cars.

The Baltimore & Ohio modified its summer portrait of the strata-dome Columbian by adding snow and Christmas-like trees. Note also the floodlights on the car, which weren’t yet mounted for the summer portrait.

The only Great Northern Christmas ad I could find bragged that most Christmas trees in the U.S. came from the Pacific Northwest. From the picture of the train in the lower righthand corner, the ad is from the period between 1951 and 1954.

Western Pacific included a Christmas theme in one of its cartoon ads. Rather than the California Zephyr, this ad focused on Western Pacific freight service.

Finally, the Union Pacific relies on the soft-sell for its December, 1953 ad in National Geographic.