Each year, the Museum’s National Historic Landmark, The Ballantine House, offers visitors a look at how Christmas was celebrated in late Victorian Newark.
This historically accurate installation offers the opportunity to step back in time to learn about 19th-century life and traditions. From the Christmas tree (a German tradition) to the wooden shoes by the hearth (a Dutch tradition) to the stockings on the chimney and plum pudding in the dining room (English traditions), visitors can get a sense of how Christmas evolved into a home-based secular holiday in the 19th century.