Popcorn balls and paper chains … fruits and nuts
in their stockings … carols by the fire … a cedar
tree cut in the nearby woods – that’s the
Christmas most rural Appalachian children knew.
And it's the Christmas we recreate each year
throughout the Museum village at our special
Christmas in Old Appalachia.
This year's holiday dates are December 3
through 24--with a very special Christmas Open
House on Sunday, December 2 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Check the link above for the schedule of music,
crafts, and holiday cheer!
Join us as we recreate a meaningful holiday of
simpler pleasures and homelier joys.
Traditional trees and homemade decorations,
typical of austere pioneer days, transform
the Museum’s authentic log buildings; and in the
one-room, dirt-floored “Dan'l Boone” cabin,
strings of popcorn and cotton bolls circle a
dormant tree. Paper chains and other ornaments
trim the tree in the Little Tater Valley
Schoolhouse.
Sweet gum and sycamore balls are strung
throughout the Mark Twain Family Cabin, and a
traditional silver star tops a native red
cedar Christmas tree in the turn-of-the-century
Peters Homestead House. Apples, nuts, homemade
toys, and oranges fill stockings hung in the
cabins.
Sing Christmas carols along with musicians in
the Homestead House, where they'll be singing
holiday and traditional songs every day during
December. Sit and visit with the kids over
some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies from the
Museum Restaurant.
Pick up some stocking stuffers in the Museum Gift
and Antique Shop, which features everything from
hand-crafted ornaments, locally made muscadine and
moonshine jellies, and beautiful pottery, along
with baskets, quilts, and plenty of Appalachian
specialties. Or just come relax in a rocking
chair by the cozy, crackling fire in the big stone
fireplace.
You'll want to make our Christmas in Old
Appalachia part of your family's annual holiday
tradition!
