A 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.

Victorian 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