Winterthur’s Yuletide Tour Inspires and Delights
Visitors Glimpse Treasured Traditions and Holiday Celebrations
WINTERTHUR, DE, November 27, 2007. The Yuletide Tour at Winterthur Museum & Country Estate showcases rooms dressed in seasonal finery for holiday celebrations both old and new, offering visitors inspiration for decorating and celebrating in their own homes (November 23, 2007 to January 6, 2008).
The tour features Winterthur's famed dried flower tree and d'ecor, as well as whimsical topiaries and interesting ways to display and distribute gifts. Among the highlights of the tour are a special selection of dog paintings including Ides of March by Andrew Wyeth, and Jack Russell Sleigh and Ziggy on Ice by Jamie Wyeth.
"The holiday season is rooted in family celebrations, with treasured traditions that bring back nostalgic childhood memories," says Jeff Groff, Winterthur's director of public programs. "This year's tour, with its focus on children and pets, is sure to spark happy reminiscences." Several rooms on the tour take their inspiration from Winterthur's current K is for Kids exhibition and Pets in America: The Story of Our Lives with Animals at Home.
Among the displays on the tour are a re-creation of a Moravian pyramid, the first tree documented in America (1740s); "Visions of Sugarplums," the evolution of children's holiday gifts from 1860 to 1965; and a re-creation of the Christmas tree Archie Roosevelt made in secret for the family's animals after his father, President Theodore Roosevelt, announced that the White House would have no Christmas tree due to his commitment to conservation efforts.
The Conservatory celebrates garden fun with topiary animals, blooming trees, and live songbirds. The sweeping Montmorenci staircase features 22 stockings, recreating the holiday celebration of a Mississippi family in 1860. One room features a "ribbon web," in which colored streamers are draped from the chandelier and woven around the room, with each color leading to the gifts of one family member.
Two whimsical trees by artist Mack Truax evoke the March Bank, celebrated for its yellow, white, and blue spring bulbs, and the Peony Garden, bursting with ivory, yellow, pink, and red. Another tree's decorations feature glass ornaments, or kugels, like those imported from Germany at that time (ca. 1865). A table-top tree from the late 1840s recreates the American version of the Christmas tree of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their family, as seen in Godey's Lady's Book, a popular magazine of the day.
Special events include choral and chamber music performances, 'Tis the Season Tuesdays, with how-to demonstrations; and Breakfast with Santa on Saturdays in December. Winterthur will be open Mondays throughout the Yuletide season and will offer extended hours Tuesday evenings.
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