An Old-Fashioned Christmas is the second Christmas album and twelfth studio album by the American music duo the Carpenters, released on October 26, 1984. It is also the second posthumous release after the 1983 death of singer and drummer Karen Carpenter.
The album project had its genesis in six unused tracks featuring Karen's vocals from the Carpenters' previous Christmas album, 1978's Christmas Portrait. Richard Carpenter took these tracks and recorded new material of instrumental and choral music to make it into a full-length album. The album includes the slower version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", a different version of which was previously released on Christmas Portrait.
A 1984 expanded CD reissue of Christmas Portrait included eight tracks from An Old-Fashioned Christmas. In 1996 a two-CD set, Christmas Collection, was issued containing both albums in their original running order. The album has been repeatedly re-issued; it was issued in Japan in 2022.
Billboard noted "the duo's second Christmas album, following their gold Christmas Portrait, consists of previously unreleased tracks, save for a shimmering version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Although less consistent than the earlier set, this collection features several indispensable tracks with the late Karen Carpenter singing lead, most notably a heartbreaking "Little Altar Boy."
Allmusic rated it four and a half stars out of five, noting that "their second Christmas album, with more of the soft sounds of the season, is made for mistletoe and someone you love."
All lead vocals by Karen Carpenter, except where noted; all tracks produced by Richard Carpenter except "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by Jack Daugherty, Richard Carpenter, and Karen Carpenter.
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