Not a Creature Was Stirring – Christmas Animals, Toys and Thomas Nast

Contact: Karen Hollywood, Public Relations and Program
Coordinator Macculloch Hall Historical Museum / khollywood@maccullochhall.org /
www.maccullochhall.org / (973) 538-2404 ext 15

This year’s second floor
Christmas exhibit at Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, “Not a Creature Was Stirring” –
Christmas Animals, Toys and Thomas Nast”, will be available to view on
Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoons during touring hours, 1pm – 4pm,
until December 22nd.  The
Museum will reopen on January 2nd and
the exhibit will remain on display until Thursday, January 30th.  This second floor gallery exhibit
features several of the Museum’s holiday-themed Thomas Nast images, as well as
toys and ornaments from a century ago.  This
is the fifth year antique dealers and local collectors have assembled unique
treasures to create a universally charming Christmas holiday exhibit.  This year’s display features an animal
theme, presented in the form of toys, animal shaped ornaments and
decorations.  The exhibit
has been created through generous object loans from Joe and Sharon Happle of Sign of the Tymes Antiques,
Lafayette NJ , Lauren
V. Rethwisch of Wooly Sheep
Antiques, Robbinsville NJ,
and Barbara Silverstein, a local collector and member of the museum, and was
curated by Museum Curator Ryan Hyman and Mrs. Silverstein.

The Museum’s period rooms will be decorated for the holidays in
traditional style by the Garden Club of Morristown with fresh holly and
boxwood, greenery and other live decorations including a historically-inspired
Christmas tree throughout December.  Enjoy
docent-led tours through the period rooms to learn the history of the
Macculloch family and W. Parsons Todd, the philanthropist who transformed this
family home into a museum with a superb collection of fine English and American
decorative arts.  During
tours of the gorgeous historic home visitors will view seasonal decorations as
well as the Museum's collection of holiday-themed original artwork by
caricaturist Thomas Nast.  Nast,
a well-known political cartoonist who popularized the Democratic Donkey and the
Republican Elephant, also contributed to America’s contemporary image of Santa
Claus.  Visitors will find
more than thirty of Thomas Nast’s original Santa and Christmas images
throughout the Museum’s galleries and period rooms.  Macculloch Hall Historical
Museum has the largest collection of Nast originals in the nation.

Guided tours and visits to exhibits are offered on Wednesday,
Thursday and Sunday afternoons during touring hours, 1pm – 4pm, from December
7th until December 22nd.  The Museum will reopen for holiday
tours on January 2nd when
visitors will still be able to enjoy the Assumption tree, the second floor “Not a Creature Was
Stirring” Christmas exhibit, and Thomas Nast images. This will remain on view
through January 30th.  The
galleries and gift shop, which stocks a range of Thomas Nast and other
Christmas items including cards, prints and ornaments as well as other gift
items, are open until 4pm on tour days.  For
more information about programs and exhibits please visit our website or
Facebook page, accessible through the website.  Macculloch Hall Historical
Museum preserves the history of the Macculloch-Miller families, the Morris area
community, and the legacy of its founder W. Parsons Todd through its historic
site, collections, exhibits, and educational and cultural programs.  The Museum is open for house and
exhibit tours on Wednesdays, Thursdays & Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.  The last tour leaves at 3pm.
Adults $8; Seniors & Students $6; Children 6 – 12 $4. Members and children
under 5 are free.  The
gardens at Macculloch Hall Historical Museum are open Monday to Friday 9am -
4pm and Sundays 1pm - 4pm unless posted otherwise.  The gates are secured at all
other times.  Call (973)
538-2404 ext. 10, visit our website www.maccullochhall.org or find us on
Facebook.  Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, 45 Macculloch Ave.,
Morristown, NJ 07960.  Macculloch Hall Historical Museum received an
operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division
of the Department of State.  Macculloch
Hall Historical Museum is a nonprofit educational affiliate of the W. Parsons
Todd Foundation.

Image courtesy of Stan Freeny