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Mission Houses Museum
Christmas dinner by candlelight and other rituals
are recreated as part of the Mission Houses
Museum celebration this holiday.

Glimpse of
Christmas past at
Mission Houses Museum

Commercialism of the season getting to you? Then stroll over to the Mission Houses Museum this Saturday and next, as they return to the heart of the holiday, back to when 19th-century family celebrations were intimate with minimal glitz.

"Candlelight Christmas" from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. both Saturdays will feature living history vignettes. Costumed dramatists will recreate the rituals of Christmases past as based on journal entries of the missionaries who were stationed here.

The earliest missionaries regarded Christmas as a time for prayer, and their 1820s to '30s celebrations will be reflected in the Frame House. The Chamberlain House will have a Christmas tree to mark the post-1860s era and the start of modern traditions.

There will be re-enactments of actual events, such as a wedding ceremony conducted in Hawaiian and a doctor tending to a sick individual.

A flautist and harpist will perform for carolers, and there will be journal readings and refreshments as well.

Admission is $10 general for adults and $9 for youths 5 to 17. Children under 5 will be admitted free. For information or reservations, call 531-0481.

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