“An Old-fashioned Christmas Holiday at Home and in England:

Country and City Views in Miniature”

at the Old Deerfield Christmas Sampler

ESE’ Better Living Center

West Springfield, MA 01089

www.deerfield-ma.org

November 19, 20 & 21, 2010

The exhibit, created by Beverly Kidder, with assistance from the Mini's 'R Us, National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts

Club #C-728, is based on personal interests, collections, and inspiring authors.

Created in one inch to the foot scale, these carefully crafted displays, fully lit, capture a moment in time, tell a story, and convey our holiday traditions. There is something about the name of Charles Dickens that inspires people to think of holly and mistletoe, plum pudding, and Tiny Tim. Take a walk down a street of Dickens' London and visit five scenes from “A Christmas Carol.”

Then take a step back in time to see a village in Western Massachusetts, circa 1897, preparing for their country Christmas celebrations.

Dollhouses and miniatures depict daily home life, and therefore offer a view into the customs and culture of the past and the present. The earliest known dollhouses date from the 1600's and mainly come from northern Europe, especially Germany, Holland, and Britain. These "baby houses" were built and furnished to teach young girls about managing a home. Other "cabinet houses" were the collections of well-to-do women. Later, dollhouses were mass produced in 20th century America for children by such companies as Bliss of Providence, Rhode Island; Schoenhut of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Converse of Winchendon, Massachusetts.

A highlight of the exhibit is a series of scenes from Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol, which was and still is widely read and beloved by Americans. See Scrooge as he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come and the effect that the stop at the graveyard has on him.

In 1841, Charles Dickens came to America and was enthusiastically received. When he returned to London, needing money, he hastily dashed off The Christmas Carol, and many people believe that this little book showed America, especially New England, how Christmas could (or should) be celebrated.

Box 1 - Scrooge and Marley’s Ghost

“’Hear me! My time is nearly gone.”

‘I will. But don’t’ be hard upon me!’

‘I am here tonight to warn you that you have yet a

chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance

and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer . . .

You will be haunted by Three Spirits.’

‘I - I think I’d rather not.’

‘Without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect the first tomorrow night, when the bell tolls One. Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third, upon the next night, when the last stroke of Twelve has ceased to vibrate.’”

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Box 2 – Fezziwig’s Warehouse (Christmas Past)

“The Ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door, and asked Scrooge if he knew it. ‘Know it! I was apprenticed here! . . . Why, it’s old Fezziwig! Bless his heart, it’s old Fezziwig, alive again!’

“Old Fezziwig laid down his pen, and looked up at the clock. ‘Yo, ho, there? Ebenezer! Dick!’

“A living and moving picture of Scrooge’s former self, a young man, came briskly in, accompanied by his fellow-apprentice. ‘Yo ho my boys!’ said Fezziwig. ‘No more work tonight. Christmas eve. Let’s have the shutters up . . . Clear away, my lads and let’s have lots of room here!’

“In came a fiddler with a music book . . . and in came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile . . . in came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable . . . in came all the young men and women employed in the business. . . There were . . . dances, and there were forfeits, . . . and there was cake, . . . and there was a great piece of cold Roast, . . . and a piece of Cold Boiled, and there were mince-pies and plenty of beer . . . A small matter,’ said the Ghost, ‘to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.’”

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Box 3 – The Cratchits’ Christmas Dinner (Christmas Present)

“Scrooge and the Ghost passed on, invisible, straight to Scrooge’s clerk’s; and on the threshold of the door the Spirit smiled, and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit’s dwelling . . .

“Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating house and a pastry cook’s next door to each other, with a laundress’s next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered, --flushed but smiling proudly, --with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half a quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.”

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Box 4 – Deserted Graveyard with a Tombstone marked Ebenezer Scrooge

(Christmas Yet to Come)

“No, Spirit! Oh no, no! Spirit! Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been . . . Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life . . . I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

Box 5 – Christmas Dinner at the Home of Scrooge’s Nephew

When Scrooge woke up he discovered it was Christmas Day—the three spirits had all visited him the same night. In keeping with his promise to the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, he sent a large turkey to the Cratchits, gave a large donation to charity, and accepted his nephew’s invitation to Christmas dinner—an invitation he had previously declined.

“’Why bless my soul! cried Fred, ‘who’s that?’

‘It’s I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?’

“Let him in! It is a mercy he didn’t shake his arm off. He was at home in five minutes. Nothing could be heartier . . . Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, wonderful happiness!.”

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Guide to the Main Street of Green Valley

Later in time is the scene during the week before Christmas in 1897, in a small town in Western Massachusetts. Join us in a walk down Main Street and we will meet some of the people and see how they are preparing for the holidays.

The people in the street scene live only in the imagination of the creator of the exhibit; any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Miss Prim’s Academy. Miss Prim is considered to do an excellent job of “finishing” young ladies to be ornaments of society. In the Domestic Economy room, the girls are learning to pour afternoon tea under Miss Prim’s supervision; the morning class made the tea sandwiches. Upstairs, Mademoiselle Janine is drilling the French class in the correct pronunciation of Joyeaux Noel – with emphasis on the “ eaux.” In the next room Miss Scribble’s class in English composition is practicing the art of letter writing.

Introducing Mrs. Loudvoyce. Leaving the Post Office is Mrs. Lotta Loudvoyce, President of the Ladies Aid and Home Missionary Society, Vice-President of The Wednesday Afternoon Sewing Circle, Secretary of the Literary League and Treasurer of the Drama Reading Group. She visits the sick and bereaved whether they want to see her or not, and in her spare time, keeps an eye on the morals and manners of the minister and his family. She has just met the minister, the Rev. Tryon Makepeace, leaving the Emporium and has pried out of him the information that he has just purchased a workbasket for his wife for Christmas. Mrs. Loudvoyce condescends to approve – “useful and not too expensive.

The Post Office. Inside the post office, Cyrus Goodfellow has been reading his paper, waiting for Mrs. Loudvoyce to leave. Cyrus is the county’s most prosperous farmer and, for the past 10 years, it’s most eligible bachelor. The Wednesday Sewing Circle, to say nothing of the Ladies Aid Society, has been trying for 10 years to marry him off to their daughters, granddaughters, nieces and cousins without success. “Hopeless!” says Mrs. Loudvoyce. However, Cyrus, all on his own, has become enamored of the Postmistress, Ima Stampe, who has been looking for a husband nearly as long as Cyrus has been looking for a wife. He has finally decided to ask Ima to the New Year’s Eve dance as soon as he has her alone. She has suspected this would happen and has already order a new dress for the event!

The General Store. Peter Parsley, Proprietor. The Parsleys have kept a store at this location since 1800, when bigger boats were able to come up the Connecticut River bringing more luxuries than the people in the Valley had known in the 18^th century. Originally, the Parsleys carried drygoods as well as groceries, but now Peter limits his stock to foodstuffs, feed and grain, tools and farm implements.

The Milliner. Harriette Hatpyne is the town milliner. She makes all her own hats and is very proud of the fact that they are never more than two years behind New York City styles. Her customer is Miss Iva Goodbody, a lady of somewhat questionable reputation. The gentleman with her, who will pay for her hat, has been introduced around town as her Uncle Charlie from Oshkosh – actually he is her Uncle Charlie from Oshkosh, buying his niece a new hat for Christmas, but no one wants to believe it, least of all Lotta Loudvoyce.

Three Children. These children are singing in the streets for pennies, hoping to earn enough for a Christmas treat. No one knows anything about them – they appeared in town recently with their widowed mother who speaks no English. “Foreigners,” sniffs Mrs. Loudvoyce, but Rev. Makepeace has arranged to send food, clothing, and firewood.

First National Bank. Mr. J. Phillips Pennypacker is the President of the bank, assisted by Mr. Smart, the teller, and Mr. Cash, the bookkeeper. Mr. Pennypacker is very conscious of his position in the community and even Mrs. Loudvoyce considers him a model of propriety.

Elsie and Ephraim. Elsie and Ephraim’s families have farmed in the hills of the Western Massachusetts since 1760. Their ancestors always come down from the hills on market day bringing produce and things they had made to sell, and Elsie and Ephraim are pleased to continue this tradition.

Henrietta Hemstitch. Henrietta is the town dressmaker and she keeps very busy this time of year. She carefully studies Paris fashions – then puts her own interpretation on them. Ima Stampe’s dress for New Year’s Eve can be seen on the form in the window.

One Room Schoolhouse. It is the last day of school before the holidays and the students are speaking pieces. Priscilla Parsley (daughter of Peter) is giving a fine rendition of her selection, complete with appropriate gestures. Afterwards, the teacher, Miss Letty Learner, will give each student a bag of candy and a candy cane from the tree.

The First Church of Green Valley stands at the end of Main Street and is well attended on Sunday mornings. The young minister, The Rev. Tryon Makepeace, and his wife came to Green Valley two years ago and have found it a pleasant place to live even though the parsonage is next door to the home of Mrs. Lotta Loudvoyce who runs all church affairs. She also considers it her duty to keep an eye on the manners and morals of the minister and his family.