Thing House is an online fanzine dedicated to museums; the things we love, the things we hate, the things we want to see more of, the things we'd like to change. We're always on the look-out for new contributors. If you have idea for a one-off or series of posts, please get in touch with the editor at [email protected] or @house_thing.
If you fancy a festive outing this holiday season, why not consider a visit to one of these Christmas-themed exhibitions and museums!
Christmas in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Wikimedia Commons.
1. German Christmas Museum (Deutsches Weihnachtsmuseum), Herrngasse 1, 91541, Rothenburg, Bavaria, Germany
As many worldwide Christmas traditions have their roots in central Europe, what better place to learn about the history of Christmas celebrations than at Rothenburg’s German Christmas Museum?
Open every day from 10am to 5.30pm in the run up to Christmas Eve, the Museum’s permanent displays show Christmas-themed objects dating from between 1870 and 1950, with a particular emphasis on decorations made in the Erzgebirge region, renowned for its unique Christmas folk art.
2. Charles Dickens Museum, 48-49 Doughty Street, London, WC1N 2LX
In many respects, the Victorians are responsible for the ways in which we, in Britain, celebrate Christmas today. And aside from Victoria & Albert, who has had a bigger influence on how we imagine Christmas than that literary giant, Charles Dickens.
Every year, Dicken’s role in fixing our ideas of the festive season, is recognised at the Museum based in his one-time family home. ‘A Very Dickensian Christmas’ features a series of events, including ghost stories, a retelling of ‘A Christmas Carol’, and costumed Christmas walks, as well as room settings decorated for Yule. It all sounds delightful!
Christmas at the Charles Dicken’s Museum, Wikimedia Commons.
3. Blackler’s Father Christmas, Museum of Liverpool, Pier Head, Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool, L3 1DG.
The 5 metre tall #giantsanta, once the main attraction at Blackler’s department store in the city, has been restored and is back on display in the Museum’s atrium this year. Originally made in 1957, Father Christmas was once part of Blackler’s Winter Wonderland Grotto, which, in its heyday, was visited by 10,000 people per week during the festive season.
To see #giantsanta, get to the Museum by 6th January 2019, after which he goes back to the North Pole (*ahem* storage).
Blacker’s Father Christmas, on display at Liverpool Museum, Wikimedia Commons.
4. Black Country Living Museum, Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands,DY1 4SQ.
This year, the Black Living Living Museum is offering visitors the opportunity to go back through time and explore family Christmases across the ages. There’s the chance to experience a Victorian Christmas and how about a visit to the 1920s Limelight Cinema, to watch a seasonal Laurel & Hardy or Mickey Mouse film? You can also see what it was like to 'make do and mend’ through a 1940s wartime Christmas. There are festive activities and events for children and adults too.
Christmas through Time at the Black Country Living Museum is on until Christmas Eve.
Black Country Living Museum, Christmas 2012. Neil Crump on Flickr.
5. American Museum and Gardens, Claverton Manor, Bath, BA2 7BD.
Last but not least, the American Museum in Bath, is giving visitors the opportunity to experience the festive season through the stories of three different all-American characters. For the first time, the Museum’s gardens have been dressed for the season. Wrap up warm!
Themed events include a Winter Trail, a wreath-making workshop, and a Cosy Christmas Craft Fair. A particular draw has to be Bath’s tallest indoor Christmas tree!
Be quick though; the festivities are only on until the 16th December!
The American Museum ... not at Christmas. evil nick on Flickr.
Have I left anywhere out? What’s your favourite Merry Museum? Leave us a comment!
On second thoughts, today’s post is a rather sad tale of festive misfortune; one that could double as a Museum Misdemeanour.
It’s the story of how the spectacularly named Sherman’s Caprine Paradox came to an untimely end.
Not one of Sherman’s performing goats, but festive nonetheless. Source: Lisa BC on Flickr.
On the 21st December 1899, the New York Times reported that a troupe of performing goats, who had been trained by one Professor Sherman to ‘climb ladders, leap hurdles, walk atop rolling barrels and balls, jump through hoops, walk on their hind legs and knees, and balance on a seesaw’,* had all died in the second week of a fortnight’s engagement at the Ninth and Arch Street Museum in Philadelphia.^ The first week had passed off without a hitch but then, one fateful Sunday morning, the goats ‘discovered that by standing on their hind legs and stretching their necks as far as possible they could get at the Christmas decorations which festooned the curio hall.’#
The decorations were made from laurel branches - a plant poisonous when ingested by humans and, as it transpired, also to goats.
‘Alas’, declaimed the New York Times, ‘the six little goats will never finish their engagement’, despite the best efforts of ‘Two of the best veterinary surgeons in town ... they had nothing in their medicine chests which was an antidote for the Christmas decorations’.#
A post-mortem examination determined that the poor animals had died from heart failure induced by laurel poisoning, leaving Professor Sherman ‘goatless and $2,500 out’.#
Quite the cautionary tale.
Some splendid photographs of the Caprine Paradox in much happier times, engaged in ‘almost impossible things’, while wearing the fanciest of costumes, can be seen on the Sideshow World website, alongside a portrait of Sherman who, by the way, looks far too young to be a genuine professor!
Do you have a festive museum story or image you would like to share on Thing House? Get in touch!
^ There’s more about Philadelphia’s Ninth and Arch Street Museum and, I’m sad to say, some of the people who comprised the Museum’s exhibits, here: https://www.swordswallow.com/Ninth&Arch-Dime-Museum.pdf
# Anon., ‘Laurel Killed His Goats: Sherman’s Acting Animals Ate the Christmas Decorations in a Philadelphia Museum and Died’. New York Times, Dec 21, 1899, p. 1.
Our regular features, Museum Postcard of the Week and Ghastly Museum Mannequin of the Week, are taking a break over the holidays. In their place we bring you ... Merry Museum! A series of images and stories about Yuletide festivities in or involving museums and galleries.
First up is this lovely shot from the Vatican Museum (2014).
Ghastly Museum Mannequin of the Week ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Our final offering from the Icelandic Fire Museum, kindly submitted by @garunw. This miserable typist appears to be the hose-wielding fireman’s twin brother. 🤔 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #museum #mannequin #terrifying #terrifying #iceland🇮🇸 #fire #typist https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq7Vvt2gB3Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=uj6x3tvi7d5t
Here’s a particularly terrifying example submitted by Guðrún D Whitehead, spotted during her recent visit to the Isle of Man in search of Vikings. Instead, she found a swiveling, disembodied head. Cripes!
Gudrun says:
This mannequin is at the Old House of Keys, Isle of Man. It represents the speaker who leads the proceedings.
It is, quite frankly, rather scary, because while the mannequin is motionless, the face sort of swivels around in almost-lifelike fashion. Yet, I don't want to call this mannequin horrifying, rather, I like to think of it in terms of how quickly museums adapt new technology to enhance visitor experiences. Here, audiences are able to partake in parliamentary (þing) debates with (now-outdated and somewhat obscure) technology and learn about laws, parliamentary proceedings and more.
So, that’s the next nightmare sorted.
Have you got a ghastly museum mannequin you’d like to share? Get in touch!
Museum Postcard of the Week ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Black swans at Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, c. 1930-1945. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Source: Boston Public Library https://tinyurl.com/yaeky87v ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #museum #postcard #swans #artmuseum #sarasota #florida https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqhb9rAAyl3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jko5ekc3horl
Ghastly Museum Mannequin of the Week. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Another mannequin from the Icelandic Fire Museum submitted by @garunw. This one is wielding his hose. 🤭 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Sent via @planoly #planoly #museum #mannequin #terrifying #terrifying #fire #iceland🇮🇸 #hose https://www.instagram.com/p/BqXIP5dAn0i/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1bhb82pgw886c
Museum Postcard of the Week . Postcard from Osaka Electric Science Museum, before 1941. . Source: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guide_in_Osaka_Electric_Science_Museum_Scan10020.jpg ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #Museum #postcard #vintage #Osaka #Japan #sciencemuseum https://www.instagram.com/p/BqP6JzJAIi4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a12hakkooszw
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