After the long Christmas and New Year break, it seems a good moment to feature those who have brought us those indespensible items we associate with the festive season over the years – and those whose work does not stop on the 24th of December and resume on the 2nd of January.

Animals are no respecters of the holiday season as this photo from December 1949 shows. This cat is being rescued from a roof in Yarmouth (1).

Aldeby Apple Factory staff turn their hands to the out-of-season manufacture of Christmas crackers in this shot from the 1950s (2).

Parcel relief provides a happy moment for the staff of Trinity House light vessel in 1956, featuring some well-know brand names of today and yesteryear (3).

More Christmas crackers are being made up, this time at Caley's chocolate factory in 1956 (4).

The mayor of Yarmouth visits the children's ward of the local hospital on Christmas Day in 1960 where two young patients have set up a board game (5).

These extraordinarily life-like turkeys are being sent from Pettitt's Rural Industries Ltd of Reedham to Nottingham, where they will be used for Christmas decoration in a large store (1961) (6).

A policeman is on points duty after a traffic lights failure in Red Lion Street Norwich in December 1964 (7). Oven-ready turkeys are being packed at Bernard Matthews' factory in 1965 for festive meals throughout the country (8).

Norwich Sorting Office staff look remarkably cheerful, despite the deluge of Christmas mail to be sorted in 1965 (9).

The first Norwich Open Christmas meal and entertainment was held exactly 20 years ago at Blackfriars Hall in Norwich and our photographer was there to mark the occasion – happily, we have the names of all those who feature in this photograph (10).

If you recognise anyone in the pictures or would like to tell us more about them then you can email rosemary.dixon@archant.co.uk

To get a copy of one of our old photographs, visit www.edp24.co.uk/buyaphoto or telephone Diane Townsend on 01603 772449.