Jon Morgan

Over the last decade I’ve put together a large collection of photos of Christmas decorations. Many of them are the classics - things like Santas, reindeer, stars and Christmas trees. But this time round I wanted to share some of the more unusual ones, including nominating the most unusual for each year.

2020: Santa’s ocean steed

One fine evening I was out minding my own business - and I suddenly saw Santa riding a shark:

Being 2020 and all, I don’t know if that should have been an ominous sign, but we seemed to survive it.

I think this is the perfect start to a collection of unusual Christmas decorations - clearly Christmas related, but far enough from normal to catch the attention.

2021: Trouble in the winter wonderland

By the end of 2021, we’d officially had our final lockdown in Victoria and were moving into a “new normal”. I don’t remember too many unusual decorations that year, but this one in an inner city department store caught my eye:

What makes it a Christmas decoration? I could point to the Christmas hats or the candy-cane like scarf, but there’s really no need: Christmas is the only valid excuse for having a snowman in a Melbourne summer.

2022: The skeleton’s revenge

I’m not exactly sure why this skeleton is combining a Christmas hat with a Bunnings wide-brim hat:

Perhaps they’ve got some home renovation in mind for the summer break? Or maybe they just realised the importance of being sun smart? (after all, better late than never…).

My personal theory is that Santa suddenly realised he was over 2,000 years old and died of the shock. No “Ho, ho, ho” left in the skeleton, of course, but there’s definitely a smile there 😁.

Let’s take a closer look at what he’s reading:

I guess Santa decided red was a bit over-rated, and so wanted to pass the torch on to Bluey. The Australian elves are probably green with envy.

2023: Shark chasing penguin

For 2023, on my favourite street for Christmas decorations, I couldn’t go past this particular decoration:

Personally, I’m not sure why the penguin isn’t more worried, but I guess they’re pretty cool customers. Perhaps it would be more worried if it were a leopard seal?

What makes it a Christmas decoration? Well, apart from the fact that it’s on display in a street full of Christmas decorations, the parcels the shark is carrying are probably the biggest clue. But penguins are also a common Christmas decoration here. I think that, like snowmen, it’s supposed to show Christmas as an icy celebration, in defiance of our summery weather. Add the red scarf, and it clearly says “I’m a Christmas penguin”.

2024: Turns out Mario is into Christmas

As I walked down the main street, I was expecting to see some classic Christmas decorations. I was not expecting Mario to be involved.

I think it works surprisingly well, though:

What makes this one a Christmas decoration? Well, pretty much everything. The cart has become a sleigh, the turtles have grown antlers, there’s a decorated Christmas tree, a star, a candy cane, an elf, and the key villain friendly neighbourhood character is in a Christmas hat distributing presents from a sack. All we need is a chimney to slide down to complete the picture 😉.

2025: Even the trains stop for Christmas

We’re not far into the 2025 Christmas season, so I haven’t seen enough decorations to find the really unusual ones, but I have got a story to share.

Last weekend, I was on a train into the city, and it stopped at a station for longer than usual. After a couple of minutes, the driver’s voice came through:

Apologies, there will be a short delay because someone just threw a Christmas tree on the tracks. Staff are removing it, and we should be underway in a few minutes.

It’s a cautionary tale, though. One moment they throw Christmas trees on the rails, next you know they’ll be throwing the entire festival under the bus.

Still, if you want to see an actual decoration from this year, I saw this at my local Woolies yesterday:

What makes it a Christmas decoration? Well, it’s undoubtedly a Christmas tree, but it would probably taste better than most Christmas trees…

Woolies also wanted us to know they continue to offer their Direct to Boot service - just with a Christmas twist:

Even Santa has to worry about logistics

There are a lot of people in the world now, and that means lots of presents to be managed. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to find Santa moving presents around with his trusty forklift:

Santa the bear rider

I should have known Santa wouldn’t be content just riding a shark. What should he try next but a polar bear?

At least this one’s a little more seasonally appropriate than the shark - like penguins, I think polar bears are favoured because of their relationship with snow and the cold.

It’s also got at least a little precedent: Tolkien had the Great Polar Bear in his Father Christmas Letters in the 1930s (actually, now I think about it, one of those letters has penguins in as well…).

The marsupials are coming to town

You might think Santa would ride a kangaroo in Australia - and he has been known to - but surely it’s better to get a Santa Koala to ride a kangaroo instead?

Bluey

I said Santa was passing on the torch to Bluey. Have a look at this:

The Christmas hats, the candy cane, the Christmas tree and the presents - it’s clearly Christmas.

Happy Grinchmas!

Like so many Christmas stories, the Grinch has become part of the broader Christmas canon. But I still thought it worth noting here, since in 2022 I saw a few places celebrating its 65th anniversary.

Santa in the bath

Even Santa has to have a break from time to time. With all that snow about, that means a warming bath from time to time. And what better time to burst into song?

I’ll spare you the video, but suffice it to say that he sings a version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, rocking as he goes.

(Perhaps this should have been my “most unusual” entry for last year, but I thought a Christmas Mario was more novel).

Are you in need of underwear?

Do people have difficulty finding gift ideas for you? Do you struggle to keep your underwear drawer stocked?

Never fear - here’s what you need to know:

It’s pretty easy, really - you can’t make yourself believe just because you want to.

Marvel Stadium’s “Tree of Heroes”

Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium has been sponsored by Marvel for the last few years. Part of what that meant last year was that we got a 9m high “Tree of Heroes”:

What makes it a tree of heroes? Superheroes, of course! A closer look gives some idea of how it’s decorated:

And in case you’re wondering what the other trees in the first picture were about, it’s also an Aussie Rules football stadium, so each of the 18 AFL teams had a tree decorated with their team colours.

I hear this year the 9m tree will be Pixar themed (I mean, it’s all Disney, right?!?). I’ll head along to see it if I get a chance.

Jellycat London

I saw this last year:

I didn’t know what Jellycat was - and I still don’t, really, despite looking at their website - but it was a Christmas display that was a bit different and I liked it.

Rudolf the red-nosed doughnut

Feeling hungry? Decorations don’t have to be limited to plastic. Here’s a doughnut I had last year:

Thanks to Walker’s Doughnuts for graciously providing me this doughnut - at market rates.

The mailbox

Here’s a classic Santa mailbox, with snow and all:

But there’s also the Australian twist, with Australian animals in Christmas hats The card on display is clearly set in summer, with a sand man replacing a snowman, and many more Australian animals.

Perhaps not as unusual as all that, but I like the Australian feel.

Conclusion

Hopefully you enjoyed this collection of Christmas decorations.

Here’s to more unusual Christmas decorations this Christmas season!