Merchant’s House Museum Announces Holiday Events

This holiday season, the Merchant's House Museum (NYC's "best-preserved" mid-19^th century home) again time travels back 100 years to celebrate Christmas in the 1950s -- when the traditional American Christmas hit its mass-produced, post-War-prosperous peak. The halls will be retro-decked with an authentic tinsel tree trimmed with bubble lights and vintage ornaments; molded-plastic, lit-from-within Santas, Rudolphs, and Frostys; iconic Lefton "Holly" china and vintage holiday cooking paraphernalia; toys (Mr. Potato Head! Cooti! Slinky! Tinkertoys!), and Christmas cards.

Strains of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will drift through the House. The exhibit will feature Deb O'Nair's extensive vintage holiday collection.

Many of the quintessential Christmas celebrations that we associate with the 1950s – trimming trees, singing carols, sending cards, exchanging presents, and holiday feasting – had their roots in the mid-19^th century.  And the 1950s gave rise to a number of new traditions in their own right. Learn how the holiday innovations of the 1850s created and inspired the traditions of the 1950s when you visit the exhibition; toast the season at the "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 12; swing to the rhythms of carols and songs from 1850 to 1950 at a concert by the Tinseltones on Saturday, December 22; or celebrate the New Year, '50s style, at the annual New Year's Day Open House on Tuesday, January 1.

Event Details

Exhibition: From Candlelight to Bubble Light: A 1950s Christmas in an 1850s Home
Dates: Thursday, December 6, through Monday, January 7
Time: Noon to 5 p.m. (closed Tuesday & Wednesday)
Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)
Description: The halls of the 1850s Merchant's House will be retro-decked with vintage trees, over-the-tinsel-top decorations, and holiday memorabilia from the golden age of Christmas, while strains of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" drift through the House. Indulge in the nostalgia of Christmas past and see how the holiday innovations of the 1850s became the traditions of the 1950s - and today.
From the Collection of Deb O'Nair. Included with regular admission, $10, $5 Students & Seniors.

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Holiday Party
Date: Wednesday, December 12
Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)
Description: Toast the holidays with 1950s flair in a mid-19th century house, retro-decked with over-the-tinsel-top vintage decorations and holiday memorabilia. Enjoy classic 1950s Christmas cocktails and canapés, swing with the rhythms of the Tinseltones, and enter Rudolph's Raffle. Vintage cocktail attire encouraged (prizes awarded). Featuring the collection of Deb O'Nair.
$30, Free for MHM Members. Reservations required; to purchase tickets visit www.merchantshouse.org/calendar or call 212-777-1089.

Cocktails & Cartoons: Christmas Classics from the 1950s
Frosty Night!
Date: Saturday, December 15
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)
Description: Enjoy classic 1950s cocktails and canapés, then watch holiday cartoons and video projected in the 1850s Greek revival parlors retro-decked with over-the-tinsel-top vintage decorations.
We open with the 1953 black & white animated short, followed by the classic Frosty the Snowman with narration by the great Jimmy Durante. Look at Frosty go, thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump! Vintage cocktail attire encouraged.
$25, $15 for MHM Members. Reservations required; to purchase tickets visit www.merchantshouse.org/calendar or call 212-777-1089.

Classic 1950s Holiday Animations and Rare Cartoons, with Commercials
Date: Saturday, December 15
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)
Description: Enjoy classic 1950s cocktails and canapés, then watch holiday cartoons and video projected in the 1850s Greek revival parlors retro-decked with over-the-tinsel-top vintage decorations. Early Rudolph, Suzy Snowflake, Santa's Surprise, and more. Santa sells cigarettes, too. Vintage cocktail attire encouraged. $25, $15 for MHM Members. Reservations required; to purchase tickets visit www.merchantshouse.org/calendar or call 212-777-1089.

Tinsel Tunes by the Tinseltones
Date: Saturday, December 22
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)
Description: A concert of holiday favorites, from 1850 to 1950, performed in an 1850s parlor filled with 1950s Christmas decorations and vintage holiday memorabilia.
$20, MHM Members $10. Reservations required; to purchase tickets visit www.merchantshouse.org/calendar or call 212-777-1089.

New Year's Day Open House
Date: Tuesday, January 1
Time: 3 to 6 p.m.
Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)
Description: Come follow the centuries-old New York tradition of paying New Year's Day calls, this year with a vintage-twist. Take a tour of the 1850s Merchant's House Museum, retro-decked with 1950s ornaments and memorabilia, enjoy a cup of holiday punch and canapés in the cozy period kitchen, take a walking tour of the neighborhood, and enter our raffle. Featuring the collection of Deb O'Nair.
$20, MHM Members $10. Reservations required; to purchase tickets visit www.merchantshouse.org/calendar or call 212-777-1089.