Visiting Santa Claus at the local mall isn’t the only way to celebrate the approaching Christmas holiday. Area historical societies are encouraging residents to experience the traditions and joy of past holiday seasons by visiting special Christmas displays at their museums.
The Mt. Prospect Historical Society’s Dietrich Frederichs House Museum features German Christmas traditions. German families made up much of the village’s early population. Christmas trees, Advent wreaths, nutcrackers and gingerbread houses are some of the customs that were brought from their homeland.
As displayed in the museum, table-top Christmas trees were common in Germany and were decorated with candles, glass ornaments and foil icicles. The museum’s display features a wooden pyramid tree and wooden nutcrackers, both familiar to German families.
The Hoosier Grove Museum in Streamwood will celebrate Christmas from two distinctive time periods during an open house today.
Upstairs in the restored 1904 one-room school classroom, visitors will learn about holidays at the turn of the century by making a reproduction Victorian ornament and sampling holiday treats.
The lower level features “Streamwood: Your Town of Tomorrow.” Guests can enjoy a circa 1957 aluminum tree with its flashing color wheel, see photos of early suburban holiday celebrations and make a 1950s-style tree decoration.
