image009A young guest coloring paper ornaments at Victorian Christmas 2018. This year, families can pick up Victorian ornament kits at the Silver City Museum Dec. 7-19, then on December 19 at 11am, tune in live for a demonstration.Although the Silver City Museum is unable to invite hundreds of gaily dressed revelers into its halls for music, cider and cookies this year, part if its annual Victorian Christmas celebration lives on in 2020: the Victorian Ornament Workshop. 

Victorian ornament-making kits will be available for pickup on the museum porch from now through Dec. 19. On this day, the fabulous Phyllis McQuaide will be hosting a zoom workshop at 11am to demonstrate and guide participants in the creation of traditional holiday ornaments, such as Orange Pomanders, Foil Garland, and Gilded Walnuts. 

To pick up a kit, email education@silvercitymuseum.org or call 575-597-0227. Include name, number of kits, and time of pickup. Weekdays only, 24 hours notice please.

Register and attend the workshop at www.silvercitymuseum.org or https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aakwBT-0QWuJjKSKqCdzIQ.  

In Victorian England, ornaments were typically made from scraps found around the house or from food items like dried nuts and berries. Orange pomanders were a favorite treat that served multiple functions. Besides looking festive, they also left a cheerful odor of citrus and cloves wafting through the air. Fresh fruit was often hard to come by in these times, so the orange itself was thought of as quite a gift. Delicious, and helpful in warding off scurvy.

image010Victorian Ornament Activity Kits include makings for Orange Pomanders, Gilded Walnuts, and Foil Garlands. Families can pick up Victorian ornament kits at the Silver City Museum Dec. 7-19, then on December 19 at 11am, tune in live for a demonstration.Gilded Walnuts are another Victorian tradition that we are happy to be able to replicate today. In many Victorian households it was traditional to create gilded (gold-covered or painted) walnuts with small tokens inside or rolled up slips of paper and hang them on Christmas tree as decorations. These tokens or paper contained tiny messages foretelling love, money, travel or other such futures to the lucky individuals that open them. They are then left on the tree until New Year’s Day when revelers can open one to reveal their fortune for the new year ahead.

Participants are encouraged to open their own Gilded Walnuts in the New Year and post the fortunes inside them on Facebook, tagging @thesilvercitymuseum with the hashtag #GoldenWalnuts2021.

These and other interesting tidbits of information about Victorian Christmas will be included in kits with instructions and supplies. Make sure to check out our website throughout the month of December for various holiday-related recipes and more!

For more another holiday activity families can do together from home, folks can tune in December 20 at 7PM. Two guest readers of Christmas Past, Mayor Ken Ladner and County Assessor Raul Turrieta, will return to Bilingual Storytime “with bells on” to read the classic Twas the Night Before Christmas/Era la Vispera de Navidad. You can register and attend at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_k8kSuHVNRPWWb7kOKB4IUw or sign up on the museum website, www.silvercitymuseum.org.   

The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand, and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting the region's unique history. It is nationally recognized through its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.

For more information, please contact the museum at (575) 538-5921 education@silvercitymuseum.org, or visit the museum's website: www.silvercitymuseum.org  

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.