Did you know the bright red poinsettia, which looks so festive in front of a snow-frosted window, comes from Mexico? Or that “Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving song? What about the fact that both Christmas trees and Christmas cookies were first popularized by British royalty? When and why did people start sending Christmas cards? Or cheese boxes?
All these festive questions, and much more, are explained in full at the Christmas Museum inside Willow Springs Gardens’ historic red barn in Maine, a few miles north of Wausau. The lower level of the barn is decorated to the nines with traditional Christmas decorations, giving the rustic building even more old world charm. Overall, it presents a charming experience that re-ignites the Christmas spirit for family members young and old.
“We probably see the most delighted people that are older because they see stuff they remember and are happy to see it shared with other people,” said owner Peggy Griffin, who did all the research for the displays. “There are some people who have come in that said it was like coming into Grandma’s house. There’s familiar things.”
But it’s not just a pretty display. Each area is an educational station with plaques detailing what traditional element of Christmas is being displayed, how it came to be and the meaning behind it.
“My hope is that people learn something here, they write it down and they take it to their Christmas and when they’re sitting around talking about stuff, they bring up what they saw at Willow Springs and ask ‘Did you guys do this?’” Griffin said.
Visitors enter the barn (which is not heated, a word of warning) and are greeted with a heartwarming dinner table and Christmas tree display. The rise of the Christmas tree tradition, according the Willow Springs, dates back to 1846 when fashionable royals Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were sketched in Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. The craze took off and by the end of the century, Christmas ornaments (including real candles) were being shipped from Germany across the Atlantic to America, where the full-size trees tended to be larger than the European counterparts, which were usually no taller than four feet.
“Back in the day when they didn’t have regular ornaments and such they would use tinsel,” Griffin explained. “They got rid of the tinsel because it would cause lead poisoning and then they went down to the garland, which people use to this day … They used to put real candles on the trees, but the trees weren’t like this, they were airy – there weren’t as many branches on it.”
Nearby, the barn windows are decorated with a variety of displays — a callback to the much anticipated holiday window displays that department store’s like Prange’s would roll out after Thanksgiving. Griffin remembers leaving the farm after Thanksgiving weekend to go into town and visit Prange’s to see the new window displays for the year.
“It was a big deal to go watch each window do an animated thing or tell a story. They are now kept in a museum in Green Bay,” she said.
Further into the museum, a Christmas card station is decorated with vintage cards and details the history of the first Christmas card, which was designed in Britain in 1843. The price for a Christmas card back then? Eight cents.
One of the most surprising stations features a decorative horse and sleigh bells. The station reveals that the classic Christmas tune, “Jingle Bells,” was actually written about the Thanksgiving holiday.
“It wasn’t written for Christmas, but people who sang it, like Bing Crosby and such, popularized it for Christmas,” Griffin said. “That’s why it gets connected to Christmas, but it’s really talking about going to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving.”
Griffin started the Christmas museum last year, dubbing that effort a “trial run.”
“It was pretty popular, we got a few of our sleigh ride people to stop in, some families,” she said. “This year we had it open for our Christmas festival. Lots of visitors, lots of thank yous and good impressions. We’re trying to teach and open people’s eyes to this and make Christmas special to them again.”
Over the past year, Griffin collected even more items to expand the display and open it for more dates throughout December. One of the most interesting pieces on display is a 1930 Santa Claus costume, complete with an unsettling mask that is probably more suited for Halloween than Christmas.
“This lady had it in her home and said it needs to be displayed. It is not attractive,” Griffin joked, “but back in the day in 1930 it was cool, it was Santa Claus.”
Griffin also received help from a class of students at St. Peter Lutheran School in Schofield, who helped decorate a schoolhouse and Christmas tree display.
“They came out and decorated this tree, they made a paper chain, paper candles, old fashioned cinnamon ornaments,” she said. “We taught them how this all happened and how we used to decorate trees.”
There are some interactive stations, too, that allow visitors to learn how decorations were created. One is an old fashioned wreath making station, complete with all the traditional decorative elements.
“Back in the day they would decorate them with what they had available, which was nuts, berries, oranges and pine cones and things like that,” Griffin said. “Then you would hand-tie them by putting greenery on it and keep wrapping until you had a wreath. You used what you had at the time.”
Near the end of the museum is Griffin’s kitchen history exhibit, which has been modified to cover all kinds of Christmas cooking staples, like popcorn balls and cookies. According to Willow Springs, cookie cutters likely came into popularity during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who wanted gingerbread cookies to be made to resemble her guests. By the 1870s, German cookie cutters (made of tin, and later aluminum and copper) were being imported into the U.S. in holiday shapes.
Some of Griffin’s favorite displays are the Christmas card station and the Sears Christmas Wish Book Catalog display.
“The Sears book brings back memories for me, hanging out with my brothers and sisters, sitting on the couch picking out our Christmas presents,” Griffin said. “It was a fun time. I actually got stuff from that catalog [on display].”
While the Christmas Museum will only be open one more weekend, Dec. 27 and 28, the winter fun continues at Willow Spring Gardens with sleigh ride bookings through February. Now with adequate snow cover, you can book a 12-person sleigh ride at Willow Springs on Saturdays and Sundays — in a real sleigh pulled by a two-horse team.
The sleigh rides start just outside Willow Springs’ historic town hall building, where participants board the sleigh and ride around the grounds into the woods. This first part takes about 30 minutes. In the woods there is a bonfire and a place to rest for another 30 minutes.
“There’s hot cider, hot chocolate. You can visit, be silly, do whatever you want to do,” Griffin said. “There’s a little sledding hill for the kids to slide down.”
The ride back to the town hall lasts another 30 minutes, depending on the route. Parties have the option to book a catered meal at the town hall upon their return.
“What makes it a blast is just the freedom of being out there, going through the woods in an enchanting way,” Griffin said. “Riding the sleigh, it’s quiet, you’re just gliding through the snow. It’s just enchanting, a little bit like a Hallmark movie.”
Parties need to call in to reserve private rides ahead of time, but there are open ride days for smaller groups on Jan. 11, Jan. 24, Feb. 1 and Feb. 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“The open days are intended for people who have small groups that would never fill a sleigh, but they still want to do sleigh rides,” Griffin said. “A team goes out every half-hour all day until about three o’clock … they’re very popular.”
Whether it’s sleigh rides throughout the winter, or a cozy afternoon discovering the meaning behind Christmas traditions, Griffin’s goal at Willow Springs Gardens is to bring families and friends together.
“It’s intended for families, intended for memories, intended for creating new traditions with family,” Griffin said about the museum. “It’s something to share at home and talk about at home. Who knows, maybe some of them will start a new tradition or pick up a tradition that they didn’t do before.”
The Christmas Museum is open at Willow Springs Gardens on Saturday, Dec. 27 and Sunday, Dec. 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The museum suggests a $5 donation per person or $10 per family. For more information on sleigh rides, visit willowspringsgardens.com.
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