Holly Walk returns to Morristown area
Never mind Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Area residents can get a taste of how the holidays were celebrated 100 or even 200 years ago – without a Wayback Machine.
Sunday marks the return of the Holly Walk, a self-guided tour of five historic sites in the greater Morristown area.
Each location is decorated to reflect how Christmas was celebrated during a different period in American history, from the Colonial era to the early 1900s.
That diversity makes the Holly Walk a special event, according to Leslie Bensley, executive director of the Morris County Tourism Bureau.
“We like having each (site) interpret the holiday season its own way,” says Bensley. “You won’t see the same thing at each house.”
The five sites on the Holly Walk reflect Morris County’s rich history:
• Schuyler-Hamilton House will present a history of doll-making in America, from the corn husks and rag dolls of the Colonial period through the current Barbie fashions. Visitors are welcome to bring their own dolls.
• Ford Mansion at Morristown National Historic Park will be decorated as if General Washington and his men had just finished a holiday meal. Musicians in period garb will perform period music on the mansion’s grounds.
• Morris County Historical Society at Acorn Hall features a Victorian holiday, with such unusual touches as an upside-down Christmas tree suspended from the ceiling.
•Macculloch Hall Historical Museum has a late 19th Century display, including a variety of images by the cartoonist Thomas Nast. Bensley points out that Nast’s drawings are responsible for the modern depiction of Santa Claus.
• Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms offers a look at Christmas in the early 20th Century. Visitors will tour the current exhibit, “Live, Play Eat: Around the Table at Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms” inside the museum’s restored Log Cabin.
The gift shops will be open, and visitors on the tour will receive gift bags. The homes may be visited in any order, and visitors may stay as long as they wish at any site.
Bensley admits that the name “Holly Walk” is a bit of a misnomer, because visitors will have to drive to the visit the five sites.
The Holly Walk was first instituted some 20 years ago, Bensley says. For various reasons, it has not been held in five years, but she says that it always maintained a loyal following.
Specifically, Bensley mentions the popularity of the Broadway musical “Hamilton.” “One of our stops, the Schuyler-Hamilton House, is where Alexander Hamilton met his wife, and we know people will be interested in that,” she says.
Bensley says that response to this year’s Holly Walk will warrant its return to becoming an annual holiday tradition.
“We hope that, after the period of dormancy when we didn’t offer it, the interest in the Holly Walk will be high,” Bensley says. “It’s a unique event.”
HOLLY WALK 2015
WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday (Snow date: Dec. 13)
WHERE: Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, Morris County Historical Society at Acorn Hall, Schuyler-Hamilton House, Ford Mansion at Morristown National Historic Park.
ADMISSION: $25 (in advance, online), $30 (day of event, only at Macculloch Hall). Free for children under age 12.
INFO: 973-631-5151 or
www.morristourism.org/events/holly-walk-2015