THE WONDER REMAINS
Museum of Science and and Industry’s Industry’s ‘ ‘ Christmas Christmas Around the World’Around the World’ exhibit, exhibit marking 75 years, still delights adults who loved it as children
Every December, we’d start asking, “When are we going, Dad?” My family was big on traditions, and as a child, December heralded a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the “Christmas Around the World” exhibit.
It was the 1970s. I was growing up on the Near South Side, a stone’s throw from the Hyde Park museum, and this was one of our favorite seasonal outings.
My father would throw us kids in the station wagon, listen to us chatter all the way about which Christmas trees we’d loved best last year.
Was it the pine representation of China, France, Italy? Maybe India, or Germany?
The Christmas exhibit had started in 1942, during World War II, as a United Nations Day salute to the Allies fighting alongside America. That year, the museum had decorated a single tree to honor a different country, every day for 12 days.
From there, the exhibit at one of the largest science museums in the world has grown to 50 different trees, celebrating the customs by which other families keep Christmas across the globe.
It’s marking its 75th anniversary this year.
As a child, I’d ooh and aah with siblings over eclectic ornaments and decorations, vibrant splashes of color and textures, tin, paper and fabric lessons in tradition and culture. We’d dart from one tree to another, shouts beckoning each other to each cool find. Then would come hot cocoa.
My father, who passed away the year I graduated high school, made this a tradition for a decade. Wewent every year until we moved out of the city. I hadn’t been back in decades.
Hearing the frequent ads for the exhibit on the all- Christmas music station I listen to during the holidays ( yeah, I’m that person) always brings back fond memories.
So it being the 75th year and all, I coerced my 90- year- old mother and sister into a walk down memory lane.
First thought: How big the trees seemed when I was little. It always felt like a forest back then.
Next thought: The wonder remains.
The beauty triggered holiday glee as soon as we entered the domed rotunda with its 45- foot tree in the center and the international trees fanning in every direction.
Each tree lovingly decorated by volunteers from Chicago’s many ethnic communities and cultural organizations was a feast for the eyes: handcrafted ornaments and revered photos, sculptured flowers and multicostumed dolls, some decorations passed down through generations.
Belgium boasted waffle ornaments and photos of its king and queen. China featured origami ornaments and lanterns showcasing the paper- folding art that is a holiday tradition passed down for centuries. Croatia’s tree has ornaments made of cookie dough, conserved for years to come.
Then there’s Italy, with ornaments reflecting colors of the Italian flag; Mexico, featuring perforated paper ornaments of chiseled, colored tissue paper, a traditional Mexican folk art; and Ukraine, with silver spiders and handmade spider web ornaments of traditional Ukrainian embroidery patterns.
We were transported back, oohing and aahing; an occasional, “Hey, check this out!” beckoning mother or sister to cool finds; huddling, pointing, necks craned upward at Bolivia’s tree and its ornaments of llamas, totora boats and native Cholita dolls. It’s been decorated by the same family for 12 years, with 160 handmade ornaments collected from trips back to Bolivia.
New trees have been added over the years. This year, trees were added for Assyria, Australia and Nigeria, my country of origin, its tree decorated with handmade, multicolored Nigerian lace fabric and garlands created from blackeyed peas and beaded jewelry.
The Czech Republic tree has been a part of Christmas Around the World since its 1942 inception, a glowing vision of candlelights and traditional gingerbread ornaments. And the U. S. tree, a fan favorite, is topped not with a star but an eagle, decorated with large, hand- quilted stockings, crocheted snowflakes, and shadow box ornaments depicting Christmas memories.
The exhibit runs through Jan. 7, with weekend live performances by local ethnic and cultural groups offering native music and dance in the main auditorium through Dec. 17.
Ending our visit, we eschewed hot chocolate for tea, sipping as we sat there savoring the beauty of the trees in this 75- year tradition, and the deeper lesson my parents sought to impart, only now understood. Through Christmas Around the World, they’d reminded us of our global commonality at this time of Christmas while nurturing in their children an appreciation for other cultures.