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Vintage collection at historical society museum features wind-up dolls, posters and books

December 21, 2009

Display on Santa is anything but ho-ho-hum

CAMILLE FIOTI Times Leader Correspondent

WILKES-BARRE -- “Those eyes light up maniacally,” said Lissa Bryan-Smith at an exhibit at the Luzerne County Historical Society Museum on Friday night.

“I don’t know how he wasn’t scary to children,” she said.

It may have been an unusual comment about the beloved Santa Claus, but in this particular case it seemed well deserved.

The 1950s battery-operated toy Bryan-Smith spoke of featured a creepy-looking Santa sitting on a rooftop ringing a bell. It was part of a huge collection of vintage Santa memorabilia and artifacts that Bryan-Smith and her husband, Richard Smith, loaned to the museum for the unusual exhibit that runs through the end of January.

The wind-up toys have to be wound every year, or they won’t work, said Lissa.

“Sometimes they go off in a box by themselves in the basement and you hear ‘ding, ding, ding’ and you know Santa’s either flipping a page or moving a phone.”

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Andrea Petrasek, who attended Friday’s reception at the museum, which coincided with the city’s “Third Friday Art Walk.” A wind-up Santa on skis was Petrasek’s favorite.

“They remind me of many toys I had as a child,” she said.

The Smiths have been collecting Santa Claus toys, advertisements, books and artwork for more than two decades.

The pieces on exhibit represented just a fraction of their huge collection. The rest decorate their Wilkes-Barre home.

When the season is over, every Santa is wrapped in cloth and stored in a humidity controlled environment, Lissa said.

As well as the extensive Santa collection, the Smiths also have large collections for the other holidays, with Easter being the next largest.

“We’re still buying all of the holidays,” said Richard.

Beginning with an icon of St. Nicholas dated 1800, the “History of Santa Claus” exhibit features original pieces from around the world, including Civil War-themed artwork from Harpers Weekly dated 1863-1885.

“It’s very, very interesting,” said Anne Sherwood, of Harveys Lake, who said she was touched by the magazine’s vignettes of a soldier being reunited with his family after the war.

St. Nicholas lived in Myra, (known as Turkey) during the fourth century. There are numerous tales detailing his generosity and giving to those in need, especially children.

Legends tell of Nicholas dropping gold coins down fireplaces and putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus he became the model for Santa Claus.

The gift-giving spirit of St. Nicholas extended around the world in the years after his death on Dec. 6, 343 A.D.

With the exception of Holland, where his legend continued as “Sinterklass,” each country developed their own form of Santa Claus.

During the 1500s, England began revering another gift-giving figure called Father Christmas, who was known to their ancestors as Christmas himself.

Emily Brookes-Novakowski,of Forty Fort, said she enjoyed the entire collection, particularly the antique Christmas books.

“I especially love ‘The Night before Christmas,’ because I know the book by heart,” she said. “I recite it every year.”

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