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“Memories of Christmas Past” opens Saturday
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Yearly visitors to “Memories of Christmas Past” at the Arms Family Museum will see the peacock, the snowman building and the storefront decor come back this year.
For the 10th anniversary of the exhibit, Anthony Worrellia, buildings and grounds supervisor for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and Christmas architect, and volunteers brought back fan favorites of the past nine installments.
“Memories of Christmas Past” opens Saturday.
“There’s just nothing like it in this area,” Worrellia said. “It’s actually very reminiscent of the way they would have decorated the downtown stores. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind exhibit. There’s very rare pieces. These decorations are pretty much long gone. Collectors cherish them for the quality of craftsmanship and the rarity and uniqueness.”
The Arms Family Museum, 648 Wick Ave., is the 1905 arts-and-crafts home of Olive A. and Wilford P. Arms. The home was bequeathed to the historical society in the 1960s.
Worrellia, a collector of antique Christmas decor, began to transform the home for the holidays 10 years ago.
“The first year, we got about 1,500 people,” Worrellia said.
As many as 6,000 visitors have toured “Memories of Christmas Past” in one season.
The exhibit takes a year to develop and eight weeks to set up.
“It’s brought in people and developed audiences that we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” said Bill Lawson, historical society executive director.
The museum has several rooms decked with different themes of decorations, but each room has a favorite display from previous seasons.
In the reception room, where guests would have been greeted, is a large diorama with German decorations from the early 1900s and a dollhouse made of fruit crates Worrellia found at an estate sale in Poland. The inspiration of this scene came from a 1912 photograph.
“People created little villages under their trees,” Worrellia said. “These are very typical scenes that people would have done in the 1900s.”
In the library is a beloved 8-foot crystal-covered Christmas tree.
The solarium is filled with holiday displays the former downtown Youngstown stores Strouss, McKelvey’s and others put up.
The sitting room has hundreds of shiny bright ornaments – ones that would have been sold at the five-and-dime stores across the U.S.
Next is the dining room, where the arts-and-crafts style of the home is highlighted.
“The peacock was a typical motive of the movement,” Worrellia said.
The stained-glass windows in the room have peacock feathers. In the center of the dining room table is a peacock surrounded by Mrs. Arms’ china.
“A lot of people have said, ‘When is the peacock coming back on the table?’” Worrellia said. “It was very typical of that era to decorate with taxidermy animals.”
In the pantry, the “build-your-own” snowman display is back.
The second floor will be like a walk down Federal Street during Christmas, and in the basement there will be activities at Santa’s Workshop – a new exhibit element. “Kids can go and make an ornament,” Worrellia said.
There also will be a gift shop with holiday decor for sale. Funds from tickets to tour the exhibit and sales in the gift shop support the programming and operations at the Arms Family Museum.
“Memories of Christmas Past” closes after Jan. 7.